Abstract
In cognitive processing of sexual stimuli a distinction was made between analysis of stimuli and generation of the sexual response. The distinction was derived from the theories of Lang and others. Using a within- Ss design, 24 men and 24 women listened twice to an erotic story. Prior instructions encouraged Ss to attend to the description of situations and events (stimuli: S) or to attend to images of sexual feelings in such situations (stimuli + response: SR). Subjective sexual arousal of both men and women was higher after the SR-instruction than after the S-instruction, which corroborated our hypothesis. In addition, correlations between the ability to generate the sexual response and the frequency of sexual behavior and fantasies outside the laboratory were studied. Certain correlations were predicted from social learning theory. Sexual arousal after the SR-instruction correlated with frequency of masturbation, but not with the taking of initiatives in sexual interactions. Unexpectedly, sexual arousal correlated negatively with frequency of sexual contact with a partner. Sexual arousal correlated near- significantly with sexual daydreaming and fantasies during masturbation. Ss stimulated themselves also by means of fantasy in the absence of an erotic tape—almost identical correlations between sexual arousal and sexual behavior and fantasies were found.
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