Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Validation of the Sexual Inhibition and Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES) in Portugal: Assessing Gender Differences and Predictors of Sexual Functioning

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Sexual Inhibition and Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES) were developed to assess individual propensities for sexual excitation and sexual inhibition in men and women. The objective of the present study was to validate the Portuguese version of the SIS/SES and to investigate the degree to which SIS/SES scores predict different dimensions of Portuguese men’s and women’s sexual functioning. Gender differences were also examined. A community sample of 370 Portuguese men and 373 women completed self-report measures of sexual function (IIEF, Rosen et al., 1997; FSFI, Rosen et al., 2000) and of the propensity for sexual inhibition and sexual excitation (SIS/SES, Janssen et al., 2002a). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor solution further supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The three factors identified resemble the original ones, and reliability analyses indicated they have both satisfactory internal consistency and stability over time. Age and Sexual Inhibition Due to the Threat of Performance Failure (SIS1) were both significant negative predictors of men’s sexual desire, erectile function, and orgasm. Sexual Excitation (SES) was a positive predictor of sexual desire in both men and women and of men’s erectile function and of women’s lubrication and orgasm. Age was also a significant and negative predictor of women’s sexual desire. Significant gender differences were found for all three SIS/SES scales with men having significantly higher excitation and lower inhibition scores as compared to women. The Portuguese version of the SIS/SES was shown to be suitable for use within the Portuguese population in both clinical and basic research. Our findings provide further cross-cultural validation of the Dual Control Model of Sexual Response and underscore the importance of the role of excitatory and inhibitory processes in women’s and men’s sexual functioning and response.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Similar three higher-level factor structures were found when conducting separate second-order EFAs for men and women, explaining 68 and 60% of the total variance, respectively.

  2. Correlations between SIS/SES scales when scores were based on the original and the Portuguese factor structure were high, rSES.ORIGINAL-SES.PORTUGUESE = 1, p < .001, for SES; rSIS1.ORIGINAL-SIS1.PORTUGUESE = .89, p < .001, for SIS1; and rSIS2.ORIGINAL-SIS2.PORTUGUESE = .95, p < .001, for SIS2.

References

  • Bancroft, J. (1999). Central inhibition of sexual response in the male: A theoretical perspective. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 23, 763–784.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft, J., Graham, C. A., Janssen, E., & Sanders, S. A. (2009). The Dual Control Model: Current status and future directions. Journal of Sex Research, 46, 121–142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft, J., & Janssen, E. (2000). The Dual Control Model of Male Sexual Response: A theoretical approach to centrally mediated erectile dysfunction. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 24, 571–579.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft, J., & Janssen, E. (2001). Psychogenic erectile dysfunction in the era of pharmacotherapy: A theoretical approach. In J. Mulcahy (Ed.), Male sexual function: A guide to clinical management (pp. 79–89). Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft, J., Janssen, E., Carnes, L., Goodrich, D., Strong, D., & Long, J. S. (2004). Sexual activity and risk taking in young heterosexual men: The relevance of sexual arousability, mood, and sensation seeking. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 181–192.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft, J., Janssen, E., Strong, D., Carnes, L., Vukadinovic, Z., & Long, J. S. (2003). Sexual risk-taking in gay men: The relevance of sexual arousability, mood, and sensation seeking. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 555–572.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barlow, D. H. (1986). Causes of sexual dysfunction: The role of anxiety and cognitive interference. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 140–148.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Basson, R. (2000). The female sexual response: A different model. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 26, 51–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Basson, R. (2002). A model of women’s sexual arousal. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 28, 1–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Browne, M., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. Bollen & J. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation modeling (pp. 136–162). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, E. (2001). Evidence for the importance of relationship satisfaction for women’s sexual functioning. In E. Kaschak & L. Tiefer (Eds.), A new view of women’s sexual problems (pp. 23–26). New York: Haworth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cappelleri, J. C., & Rosen, R. C. (2005). The Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM): A 5-year review of research and clinical experience. International Journal of Impotence Research, 17, 307–319.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, D., Janssen, E., Graham, C., Vorst, H., & Wicherts, J. (2008). Women’s scores on the Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES): Gender similarities and differences. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 36–48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, C., Sanders, S., & Milhausen, R. (2006). The Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women: Psychometric properties. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 397–409.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Model, 6, 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janssen, E., & Bancroft, J. (2007). The Dual Control Model: The role of sexual inhibition and excitation in sexual arousal and behavior. In E. Janssen (Ed.), The psychophysiology of sex (pp. 197–222). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janssen, E., Vorst, H., Finn, P., & Bancroft, J. (2002a). The Sexual Inhibition (SIS) and Sexual Excitation (SES) Scales: I. Measuring sexual inhibition and excitation proneness in men. Journal of Sex Research, 39, 114–126.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janssen, E., Vorst, H., Finn, P., & Bancroft, J. (2002b). The Sexual Inhibition (SIS) and Sexual Excitation (SES) Scales: II. Predicting psychophysiological response patterns. Journal of Sex Research, 39, 127–132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Malavige, L. S., Wijesekara, P. N., Jayaratne, S. D., Kathriarachchi, S. T., Ranasinghe, P., Sivayogan, S., … Bancroft, J. (2013). Linguistic validation of the Sexual Inhibition and Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES) translated into five South Asian languages: Oxford Sexual Dysfunction Study (OSDS). BMC Research Notes, 6, 550.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, H. W., Hau, K. T., & Wen, Z. (2004). In search of golden rules: Comment on hypothesis testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in over-generalizing findings. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 11, 320–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milhausen, R., Graham, C., Sanders, S., Yarber, W., & Maitland, S. (2010). Validation of the Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women and Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 1091–1104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nobre, P. J. (2010). Psychological determinants of erectile dysfunction: Testing a cognitive-emotional model. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 7, 1429–1437.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nobre, P. J., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2006). Dysfunctional sexual beliefs as vulnerability factors for sexual dysfunction. Journal of Sex Research, 43, 68–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Panzeri, M., Dèttore, D., Altoè, G., Zanella, F., Baldetti, M., & Janssen, E. (2008). Factor structure of the Italian Sexual Inhibition/Excitation (SIS/SES) Scales. Sexologies, 17(Suppl. 1), S54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pechorro, P., Diniz, A., Almeida, S., & Vieira, R. (2009). Validação portuguesa do Índice de Funcionamento Sexual Feminino (FSFI). [Portuguese validation of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI)]. Laboratório de Psicologia, 7, 33–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ping, R. A. (2004). On assuring valid measures for theoretical models using survey data. Journal of Business Research, 57, 125–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinxten, W., & Lievens, J. (2015). An exploratory study of factors associated with sexual inhibition and excitation: Findings from a representative survey in Flanders. Journal of Sex Research, 52, 679–689.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quinta Gomes, A. L., & Nobre, P. J. (2012a). The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-15): Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9, 180–187.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quinta Gomes, A. L., & Nobre, P. J. (2012b). Early maladaptive schemas and sexual dysfunction in men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 311–320.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quinta Gomes, A. L., & Nobre, P. J. (2014). Prevalence of sexual problems in Portugal: Results of a population-based study using a stratified sample of men aged 18 to 70 years. Journal of Sex Research, 51, 13–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, R., Brown, C., Heiman, J., Leiblum, S., Meston, C., Shabsigh, R., … D’Agostino, R. (2000). The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): A multidimensional self-report instrument for the assessment of female sexual function. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 26, 191–208.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, R. C., Cappelleri, J. C., & Gendrano, N. (2002). The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF): A state-of-the-science review. International Journal of Impotence Research, 14, 226–244.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R package for structural equation modelling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48, 1–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, S., Graham, C., & Milhausen, R. (2008). Predicting sexual problems in women: The relevance of sexual excitation and sexual inhibition. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 241–251.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Varjonen, M., Santtila, P., Höglund, M., Jern, P., Johansson, A., Wager, I., … Sandnabba, N. K. (2007). Genetic and environmental effects on sexual excitation and sexual inhibition in men. Journal of Sex Research, 44, 359–369.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wincze, J. P., & Barlow, D. H. (1997). Enhancing sexuality: A problem solving approach: Client workbook. San Antonio, TX: Graywind.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Ana Luísa Quinta Gomes & Pedro J. Nobre

  2. Department of Neurosciences, Institute for Family and Sexuality Studies, KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium

    Erick Janssen

  3. Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Erick Janssen

  4. Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Pablo Santos-Iglesias

  5. Research Centre of the Study and Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    José Pinto-Gouveia

  6. Department of Psychiatry, Coimbra University Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal

    Lígia M. Fonseca

  7. Rua do Académico, Lote 1, Nº16, 2ºEsquerdo, 3045-004, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana Luísa Quinta Gomes

Authors
  1. Ana Luísa Quinta Gomes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Erick Janssen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pablo Santos-Iglesias
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. José Pinto-Gouveia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lígia M. Fonseca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Pedro J. Nobre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Luísa Quinta Gomes.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Human and Animal Rights

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Quinta Gomes, A.L., Janssen, E., Santos-Iglesias, P. et al. Validation of the Sexual Inhibition and Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES) in Portugal: Assessing Gender Differences and Predictors of Sexual Functioning. Arch Sex Behav 47, 1721–1732 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1137-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1137-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation