Sexual Stimuli Cause Behavioral Disinhibition in Both Men and Women, but Even More So in Men

Abstract

In our society men are considered more impulsive than women, especially in the violent and sexual domain. This correlation of sex and impulsivity might trace back to enhanced male impulsivity in general or a domain specific effect of emotions on impulsivity. The evidence for sex differences in the interaction of emotional or sexual stimuli and impulsivity has been relatively inconclusive so far. In this study, we investigated the effects of various emotional stimuli on responsivity in a Go/No-Go task. Participants had to respond quickly to a visual cue and withhold their response to another visual cue, while different emotional pictures were presented in the background, including sexual stimuli, non-sexual positive stimuli and negative stimuli. Both men (N = 37) and women (N = 38) made most commission errors in the sexual condition, indicating a disinhibiting effect in both genders. On top of this, men made even more commission errors than women, specifically in the sexual condition and not in other conditions. Men rated sexual stimuli as more positive, but did not differ from women in arousal ratings and pupil dilation. These findings may partly indicate increased impulsive behavior under sexual arousal in men, most likely driven by enhanced approach motivation due to more positive value but not higher arousal of sexual stimuli. The results are consistent with the theory of evolutionarily based concealment of sexual interest in women.