Abstract
In this experimental study, we investigated how recalling positive, negative, and affectively neutral autobiographic sexual experiences in their personal history affected the current sexual response of sexually functional male volunteers. Based on an attentional-capacity account of sexual arousal, we predicted that affectively charged autobiographic sexual memory recall, both with negative and positive valence, would negatively impact genital arousal, compared to recalling affectively neutral sexual experiences. We expected that subjective sexual arousal would not be differentially affected by emotional memory valence. We measured subjective and genital response to erotic video fragments in sexually functional volunteers (N = 24) in a within-subjects, repeated-measures design. For the memory manipulation, participants received instructions to visualize and mentally re-experience positive, negative, and neutral sexual episodes from autobiographic memory. Memory instructions were found to result in the expected affective states. As predicted, compared to recalling neutral memory, mean genital response was significantly lower during recalling positive and negative memory. However, contrary to prediction, subjective sexual arousal was affected, when multilevel analysis was performed, including a time effect. The implications of the findings were discussed with respect to the advancement of theory and therapeutic intervention.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bargh, J. A. (1994). The four horsemen of automaticity: Awareness, intention, efficiency, and control in social cognition. In R. S. Wyer & T. K. Srull (Eds.), Handbook of social cognition, Vol. 1: Basic processes; Vol. 2: Applications (2nd ed., pp. 1–40). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Barlow, D. H. (1986). Causes of sexual dysfunction: The role of anxiety and cognitive interference. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 140–148.
Barlow, D. H., Becker, R., Leitenberg, H., & Agras, W. S. (1970). A mechanical strain gauge for recording penile circumference change. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 3, 73–76.
Becker, M. A., & Byrne, D. (1988). Type A behavior, distraction, and sexual arousal. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 6, 472–481.
Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., Lalumière, M. L., Laan, E., & Grimbos, T. (2010). Agreement of self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal in men and women: A meta-analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 5–56.
Cranston-Cuebas, M. A., & Barlow, D. H. (1990). Cognitive and affective contributions to sexual functioning. Annual Review of Sex Research, 1, 119–161.
de Jong, D. C. (2009). The role of attention in sexual arousal: Implications for treatment of sexual dysfunction. Journal of Sex Research, 46, 237–248.
Derogatis, L. R., & Cleary, P. A. (1977). Factorial invariance across gender for the primary symptom dimensions of the SCL-90. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 16, 347–356.
Elliott, A. N., & O’Donohue, W. T. (1997). The effects of anxiety and distraction on sexual arousal in a nonclinical sample of heterosexual women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 607–624.
Geer, J. H., & Fuhr, R. (1976). Cognitive factors in sexual arousal: The role of distraction. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44, 238–243.
Gilet, A. L. (2008). Mood induction procedures: A critical review. L’Encephale, 34, 233–239.
Janssen, E. (2011). Sexual arousal in men: A review and conceptual analysis. Hormones and Behavior, 59, 708–716.
Janssen, E., Everaerd, W., Spiering, M., & Janssen, J. (2000). Automatic processes and the appraisal of sexual stimuli: Toward an information processing model of sexual arousal. Journal of Sex Research, 37, 8–23.
Kedde, H., & de Haas, S. (2006). Problemen met het seksueel functioneren. In F. Bakker & I. Vanwesenbeeck (Eds.), Seksuele Gezondheid in Nederland 2006 (pp. 123–137). Delft: Eburon.
Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1998). Emotion, motivation, and anxiety: Brain mechanisms and psychophysiology. Biological Psychiatry, 44, 1248–1263.
Legrain, V., Crombez, G., & Mouraux, A. (2011). Controlling attention to nociceptive stimuli with working memory. PLoS ONE, 6, e20926.
McNally, R. J. (1995). Automaticity and the anxiety disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 747–754.
Meisler, A. W., & Carey, M. P. (1991). Depressed affect and male sexual arousal. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 20, 541–554.
Meston, C. M. (2006). The effects of state and trait self-focused attention on sexual arousal in sexually functional and dysfunctional women. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 515–532.
Mitchell, W. B., DiBartolo, P. M., Brown, T. A., & Barlow, D. H. (1998). Effects of positive and negative mood on sexual arousal in sexually functional males. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 27, 197–207.
Nobre, P. J., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2008). Cognitions, emotions, and sexual response: Analysis of the relationship among automatic thoughts, emotional responses, and sexual arousal. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 652–661.
Nobre, P. J., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2009). Cognitive schemas associated with negative sexual events: A comparison of men and women with and without sexual dysfunction. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 842–851.
Parrott, W. G. (1991). Mood induction and instructions to sustain moods: A test of the subject compliance hypothesis of mood congruent memory. Cognition and Emotion, 5, 41–52.
Parrott, W. G., & Sabini, J. (1990). Mood and memory under natural conditions: Evidence for mood incongruent recall. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 321–336.
Przybyla, D. P., & Byrne, D. (1984). The mediating role of cognitive processes in self-reported sexual arousal. Journal of Research in Personality, 18, 54–63.
Putman, P., & Berling, S. (2011). Cortisol acutely reduces selective attention for erotic words in healthy young men. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36, 1407–1417.
Quinta Gomes, A. L., & Nobre, P. (2012). Early maladaptive schemas and sexual dysfunction in men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 311–320.
Rosen, R. C., Riley, A., Wagner, G., Osterloh, I. H., Kirkpatrick, J., & Mishra, A. (1997). The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF): A multidimensional scale for assessment of erectile dysfunction. Urology, 49, 822–830.
Sakheim, D. K., Barlow, D. H., Beck, J. G., & Abrahamson, D. J. (1984). The effect of an increased awareness of erectile cues on sexual arousal. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 22, 151–158.
Salemink, E., & van Lankveld, J. J. D. M. (2006). The effects of increasing neutral distraction on sexual responding of women with and without sexual problems. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 175–186. doi:10.1007/s10508-005-9014-2.
Sbrocco, T., & Barlow, D. H. (1996). Conceptualizing the cognitive component of sexual arousal: Implications for sexuality research and treatment. In P. M. Salkovskis (Ed.), Frontiers of cognitive therapy (pp. 419–449). New York: Guilford Press.
Segal, W. A., Pirnazar, J. R., Arens, M., & Pepose, J. S. (2001). Disinfection of Goldmann tonometers after contamination with hepatitis C virus. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 131, 184–187.
Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (1999). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage Publications.
Spiering, M., Everaerd, W., & Janssen, E. (2003). Priming the sexual system: Implicit versus explicit activation. Journal of Sex Research, 40, 134–145.
Stoléru, S., & Mouras, H. (2007). Brain functional imaging studies of sexual desire and arousal in human males. In E. Janssen (Ed.), The psychophysiology of sex (pp. 3–34). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Travison, T. G., Sand, M. S., Rosen, R. C., Shabsigh, R., Eardley, I., & McKinlay, J. B. (2011). The natural progression and regression of erectile dysfunction: Follow-up results from the MMAS and MALES studies. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8, 1917–1924.
van Lankveld, J. (2010). Attentional mechanisms in sexual arousal and sexual dysfunction: A review and new data. Paper presented at the 10th Congress of the European Federation of Sexology, Porto, Portugal.
van Lankveld, J., & van den Hout, M. A. (2004). Increasing neutral distraction inhibits genital but not subjective sexual arousal of sexually functional and dysfunctional men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 33, 549–558.
van Lankveld, J., & van den Hout, M. A. (2005). Aandachtsprocessen bij genitale seksuele opwinding: Een etiologisch model van seksuele opwindingsstoornissen [Attentional processes in genital sexual arousal: An etiological model of sexual arousal disorders]. Tijdschrift voor Seksuologie, 29, 69–81.
Wiegel, M., Scepkowski, L. A., & Barlow, D. H. (2007). Cognitive-affective processes in sexual arousal and sexual dysfunction. In E. Janssen (Ed.), The psychophysiology of sex (pp. 143–165). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
van Lankveld, J., Martin, A., Hubben, D. et al. The Effects of Autobiographic Sexual Memory Recall on the Sexual Response of Sexually Functional Men. Arch Sex Behav 42, 973–983 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0075-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0075-3