Abstract
The Sexual Inhibition Scales and Sexual Excitation Scales (Janssen et al., 2002a), based on the dual control model by Bancroft and Janssen (2000), are part of a 45-item self-report questionnaire evaluating individual tendencies to sexual inhibition or excitation according to three factors: two inhibition factors, SIS1, threat of performance failure, and SIS2, threat of performance consequences, and one excitation factor, SES. In this paper, we aimed to validate and explore psychometric properties of the SIS/SES in a sample of 2260 Italian men and women aged 18 to 75 years. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the three-factor structure proposed in the original version of the scales fit with our sample. Moreover, our data confirmed the results of the original validation sample: Women scored higher on the SIS and lower on the SES than men did, but no significant differences appeared in the factor scores by age group, except for a gender × age interaction, where younger women had higher SIS2 scores. The SIS/SES appeared to be an effective, appropriate cross-cultural measurement of human sexuality in Italian samples, also shedding light on sexual arousal differences in women and men in our country. We also discuss clinical and therapeutic aspects.
Highlights
Researchers have studied sexual arousal as an important stage in sexual response cycles for decades, ever since Masters and Johnson (1966) described it
The authors noted that no study so far has investigated relationship aspects or emotional intimacy, variables known to be related to sexual excitation (SE) and sexual inhibition (SI) (Basson, 2000, 2002; Byers, 2005). These results showed that gender-related differences were found in relation to SIS/sexual arousal (SES), and Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory (SESII) subscales in every sample of every country, but regarding sexual orientation differences, the literature is quite lacking in significant results
Sample 1 consisted of 2032 undergraduate students, of whom 61 did not write their age on the preliminary personal and social particulars form, and three completed SIS/SESs were not valid according to the authors’ Script Scoring, leaving us with 1968 subjects
Summary
Researchers have studied sexual arousal as an important stage in sexual response cycles for decades, ever since Masters and Johnson (1966) described it. Sexual arousal has been conceptualized as the outcome of an adaptive process involving psychological, physiological, and behavioral aspects, as synthesized in the dual-control model (DCM) proposed by (Bancroft & Janssen 2000; Bancroft et al, 2009; Janssen & Bancroft, 2007). People vary in their propensity for sexual excitation (SE) and sexual inhibition (SI), and these two aspects have been determined to be independent of one another (Janssen et al, 2002a, 2002b). Individuals with a high propensity for excitation and/ or a low inclination for inhibition are more likely to engage in high-risk or problematic sexual behavior, such as unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (Macapagal et al, 2011). Sexual functioning complications and sexual risk-taking behaviors are health-related issues of significant personal, relational, and social concern, and the DCM can create a conceptual framework for the way individual differences contribute to these situations (Unterhorst et al, 2020)
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