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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–5Cite as

Four-Stage Model of the Sexual Response

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Synonyms

Human sexual response; Sexual response pattern; The sexual response cycle

Definition

The four-stage model of the sexual response is a descriptive model of the physiological changes which correspond with human sexual arousal and sexual behavior. In the four-stage model of the sexual response, the typical markers of arousal are organized into a temporal framework. This model was proposed by Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson (1966) and made possible by their groundbreaking research, including the systematic physiological recordings of individuals and couples engaging in sexual contact in the laboratory. The four stages of the human sexual response cycle, as defined by Masters and Johnson (1966), are (1) excitement, (2) plateau, (3) orgasm, and (4) resolution.

Introduction

This entry will detail the four-stage model of the sexual response and will explain the physiological changes associated with human sexual arousal, particularly emphasizing the 1966 work of Masters and...

Keywords

  • Pelvic Floor
  • Plateau Phase
  • Seminal Fluid
  • Sexual Response
  • Physiological Arousal

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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References

  • Dixson, A. F. (2012). Primate sexuality: Comparative studies of the prosimians, monkeys, apes, and human beings. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  • Masters, W., & Johnson, V. (1966). Human sexual response. New York: Bantam Books.

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  • Pinel, J. (2014). Biopsychology (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

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  • Puts, D. A., Dawood, K., & Welling, L. L. M. (2012). Why women have orgasms: An evolutionary analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 1127–1143. doi:10.1007/x10508-012-9967-x.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lyon College, Batesville, AR, USA

    Lora E Adair

Authors
  1. Lora E Adair
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lora E Adair .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, 492 Bluemont Hall, Manhattan, KS, USA

    Gary L Brase

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Adair, L.E. (2016). Four-Stage Model of the Sexual Response. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1892-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1892-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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