Abstract
Erogenous zones of the body are sexually arousing when touched. Previous investigations of erogenous zones were restricted to the effects of touch on one’s own body. However, sexual interactions do not just involve being touched, but also involve touching a partner and mutually looking at each other’s bodies. We take a novel interpersonal approach to characterize the self-reported intensity and distribution of erogenous zones in two modalities: touch and vision. A large internet sample of 613 participants (407 women) completed a questionnaire, where they rated intensity of sexual arousal related to different body parts, both on one’s own body and on an imagined partner’s body in response to being touched but also being looked at. We report the presence of a multimodal erogenous mirror between sexual partners, as we observed clear correspondences in topographic distributions of self-reported arousal between individuals’ own bodies and their preferences for a partner’s body, as well as between those elicited by imagined touch and vision. The erogenous body is therefore organized and represented in an interpersonal and multisensory way.
Highlights
From an evolutionary perspective, sexual arousal is thought to be primarily elicited by tactile stimulation of the genitals (Gallup, Towne, & Stolz, 2018)
Nummenmaa et al (2016) mapped erogenous zones in two different situations, by asking participants to rate the sexual arousal elicited by tactile stimulation of different body parts when having sex with a partner and while masturbating
Mean ratings for each body part, split by gender, modality, and target body, are visually displayed in Fig. 1, with descriptive data found in the Supplemental Information
Summary
Sexual arousal is thought to be primarily elicited by tactile stimulation of the genitals (Gallup, Towne, & Stolz, 2018). During sexual interaction, human partners often mutually caress other body parts that have no anatomical links to the genitals. An important feature of erogenous zones is their interpersonal function. Nummenmaa et al (2016) mapped erogenous zones in two different situations, by asking participants to rate the sexual arousal elicited by tactile stimulation of different body parts when having sex with a partner and while masturbating. A significantly larger overall area of the body surface
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