Androphilic Women Research Articles

Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Androphilic Women and Gynephilic Men in Response to the Copulatory Movements of Different Animal Species

Research has repeatedly shown marked differences in men’s and women’s sexual response patterns; genital response in men tends to be elicited by cues that correspond to their sexual preference (preferred gender), while women’s genital response is less sensitive to gender cues and more sensitive to the presence and intensity of other sexual cues (e.g., sexual activities). We tested whether the cue of copulatory movement in a general sexual context elicited a genital response in androphilic women but not in gynephilic men. If so, women should react to stimuli depicting not only the non-preferred gender but also other animal species differing in phylogenetic distance to humans. We studied the genital and self-reported arousal of 30 gynephilic men and 28 androphilic women to two sexual videos depicting penetrative human sexual intercourse (female-male and female-female) and nine videos depicting animal copulation. Neither women nor men showed genital or subjective sexual arousal to non-human sexual stimuli. Moreover, both sexes demonstrated a highly cue-specific pattern of arousal. Our results suggest that copulatory movement displayed in non-human species is not a sexual cue that can elicit genital or subjective sexual arousal in humans.

Eye-tracking does not reveal early attention processing of sexual copulatory movement in heterosexual men and women

Men and women respond differently when presented with sexual stimuli. Men's reaction is gender-specific, and women's reaction is gender-nonspecific. This might be a result of differential cognitive processing of sexual cues, namely copulatory movement (CM), which is present in almost every dynamic erotic stimulus. A novelty eye-tracking procedure was developed to assess the saliency of short film clips containing CM or non-CM sexual activities. Results from 29 gynephilic men and 31 androphilic women showed only small and insignificant effects in attention bias and no effects in attentional capture. Our results suggest that CM is not processed differently in men and women and, therefore, is not the reason behind gender-nonspecific sexual responses in women.

The Role of Attractiveness in Gendered Sexual Response Patterns

ABSTRACT Previously documented sexual response patterns of gender-specificity among gynephilic men and gender-nonspecificity among gynephilic women could be explained by women responding more strongly to non-gendered aspects of sexual stimuli. Cues of attractiveness are known determinants of sexual decision-making, yet have not been directly tested as determinants of sexual response. The current study investigated the role of attractiveness cues in explaining gender-based patterns of sexual response. Thirty-one gynephilic men and 60 androphilic women were presented slideshows of images depicting individual nude men and women that were pre-rated in a pilot study as either attractive or unattractive. The men and women were posed with legs spread and aroused genitals displayed prominently. Images were isolated against a white background and included minimal contextual information. Three sexual responses – genital arousal (via photoplethysmographs), self-reported arousal, and visual attention (via eye-tracking) – were recorded continuously. Across all three response modalities, men’s and women’s responses were stronger for the attractive versus unattractive images and for their preferred versus non-preferred gender. For men’s arousal and women’s self-reported arousal, the effect of attractiveness was stronger for their preferred versus non-preferred gender. Thus, both men and women demonstrated preference-specific patterns of sexual response. Gender cues had the strongest effect on men’s visual attention, whereas attractiveness cues had the strongest effect on women’s visual attention. Findings establish the importance of target attractiveness in arousal to sexual stimuli and add to mounting evidence that androphilic women’s sexual responses are sensitive to gender, but may be more sensitive to non-gendered features of sexual stimuli.

Implicit Sexual Cognitions in Women with Ambiphilic Sexual Attractions: A Comparison to Androphilic and Gynephilic Women

Previous research using indirect cognitive measures (sometimes referred to as implicit measures) of sexual attraction have shown that women who are attracted to men (androphilic women) show category non-specific responses, whereas those who are attracted to women (gynephilic) show a category-specific bias to women. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether women who explicitly report approximately equal attraction to men and women (ambiphilic) would show similar non-category specific attraction at this implicit level or whether their responses would be more similar to those of gynephilic women. An implicit association task and a priming task were given to 169 women alongside measures of their self-labelled sexual orientation and an explicit measure of their sexual attraction to men and women. The results replicated previous findings of little bias towards either gender in androphilic women and of a strong bias towards females in gynephilic women. The ambiphilic women also showed a strong bias towards females. The findings clearly show that early automatic associations to sex are biased towards females in ambiphilic women and are not consistent with their explicit statements of preference.

Automatic Attention to Sexual Images of Men and Women in Androphilic, Ambiphilic, and Gynephilic Women

Attentional resources might be automatically attracted to highly motivational stimuli such as a possible sexual partner. We tested whether attention would be automatically attracted to images of men vs women in women with a self-reported sexual attraction to men (androphilic), women (gynephilic) or to both men and women (ambiphilic) in a dot-probe paradigm. While androphilic women showed a small bias toward the female images, both ambiphilic and gynephilic women showed a strong bias toward the female images. The results show that these early automatic processes of attention are toward women in this sample of ambiphilic women and therefore inconsistent with their self-report sexual preferences.

Kin-directed altruism and the evolution of male androphilia among Istmo Zapotec Muxes

Male androphilia (i.e., sexual attraction and arousal to adult males) is considered an evolutionary puzzle because it reduces direct reproduction, but is influenced by genetic factors, reliably occurs across cultures, and has persisted over evolutionary time. The kin selection hypothesis states that genes for male androphilia can be maintained in a population if the costs of not reproducing directly are offset by enhancing the reproduction of kin. We tested this hypothesis among the Istmo Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, where transgender and cisgender androphilic males are known as muxe gunaa and muxe nguiiu , respectively. We compared altruistic tendencies towards kin and non-kin children between muxe nguiiu ( n = 106), muxe gunaa ( n = 106), gynephilic men (i.e., men sexually attracted and aroused to adult females; n = 172), and androphilic women ( n = 130). We also assessed whether the sisters of muxes ( n = 96) reported receiving more childcare support from their muxe sibling compared to women with only gynephilic brothers ( n = 65). The results showed that cisgender and transgender muxes reported more kin-directed altruistic tendencies than men. Muxe nguiiu also reported more kin-directed altruistic tendencies than women. When controlling for altruistic tendencies towards non-kin children, both muxe types exhibited more kin-directed altruistic tendencies than men and women. Women with muxe siblings reported receiving more childcare support from these relatives compared to women with only gynephilic brothers. These findings provide support for the kin selection hypothesis and highlight its potential role in elucidating the evolutionary paradox of male androphilia.

Gynephilic Men’s and Androphilic Women’s Visual Attention Patterns: The Effects of Gender and Sexual Activity Cues

ABSTRACT Men and women differ in the degree of specificity of sexual response and differences in attention to sexual cues may be a mechanism underlying these gendered patterns. The majority of previous research has examined attention using static images, which differ considerably from the dynamic videos used in studies of sexual response. To test attention as a potential mechanism involved in gendered sexual response, we used eye-tracking to examine visual attention patterns of 33 gynephilic men and 36 androphilic women to videos depicting preferred and nonpreferred gender targets engaging in varying sexual activities. Specificity of controlled attention was gendered, and this effect differed depending on the intensity of sexual activity cues depicted. Regardless of sexual activity cues, men’s controlled attention was gender-specific toward preferred targets. Sexual activity cues did, however, impact the degree to which women’s controlled attention was gender-specific. Specifically, women’s attention was gender-specific to low-intensity stimuli but nonspecific for masturbation and same-sex dyadic stimuli. Women’s attention was gender-specific for mixed-sex dyadic stimuli, but with greater attention directed toward nonpreferred gender targets. Overall, contextual cues impact women’s attention to a greater degree than men’s. Potential explanations for these findings and implications of stimulus selection for sexuality research are discussed.

Occupational Preferences and Recalled Childhood Sex-Atypical Behavior among Istmo Zapotec Men, Women, and Muxes.

Research has found that both cisgender and transgender androphilic males (i.e., males sexually attracted to and aroused by other adult males) have female-typical occupational preferences when compared with gynephilic males (i.e., males sexually attracted to and aroused by adult females). Moreover, whereas cisgender androphilic males' occupational preferences tend to be intermediate between those of gynephilic men and androphilic women, transgender androphilic males tend to have occupational preferences that are more similar to androphilic women. No study has directly compared both types of androphilic males within the same culture. The present study investigated occupational preference and its relation to childhood sex-atypical behavior (CSAB), among gynephilic men (n = 208), androphilic women (n = 138), and cisgender (n = 132) and transgender (n = 129) androphilic males from the Istmo region of Oaxaca, Mexico, where androphilic males are recognized as third gender, muxes. The study found large sex differences in occupational preferences (d = 2.80). Furthermore, both cisgender muxe nguiiu (d = 2.36) and transgender muxe gunaa (d = 3.44) reported having more sex-atypical occupational preferences compared with men. However, muxe gunaa reported higher female-typical occupational preferences than women (d = 0.59) and muxe nguiiu (d = 0.57), whereas muxe nguiiu and women did not differ (d = 0.08). These findings are consistent with the conclusion that sex-atypical occupational preferences are a cross-culturally universal aspect of male androphilia. Finally, CSAB was associated with sex-atypical occupational preferences among all participants. These findings suggest that a developmental continuity exists between childhood and adulthood sex-atypicality.

Gender-specific genital and subjective sexual arousal to prepotent sexual stimuli in androphilic men and gynephilic women

Marked differences have been found in men’s and women’s sexual response patterns, contingent upon their sexual orientation; androphilic (attracted to men) and gynephilic (attracted to women) men demonstrate greatest genital and self-reported arousal to their preferred stimulus type (a “gender-specific” response), whereas androphilic women do not, and findings for gynephilic women have been mixed. While there have been many investigations into gynephilic men’s and androphilic women’s (i.e., heterosexual men/women) sexual response, there has been less investigation into the specificity of sexual response of androphilic men and gynephilic women. Given the complex nature of sexual stimuli that are used in sexual response research, it is often unclear to what extent contextual cues (e.g., cues other than the sexual actor’s primary and secondary sex characteristics, such as physical attractiveness, sexual activity, etc.) influence participants’ sexual response patterns. As such, the current study examined genital, discrete self-reported, and continuous self-reported responses of androphilic men ( n = 22) and gynephilic women ( n = 10) to prepotent sexual features (stimuli thought to elicit automatic sexual arousal: erect penises and exposed vulvas), non-prepotent sexual features (flaccid penises and pubic triangles) and neutral stimuli (clothed men and women). Both samples exhibited a gender-specific pattern of genital, self-reported, and continuous self-reported sexual arousal. Similarly, all measures of sexual arousal were generally found to be greatest to “prepotent” sexual cues. Implications for understanding gender specificity of sexual response are discussed.

The time course of genital response cue-specificity among androphilic women

Women’s genital responses measured with a vaginal photoplethysmograph (VPP) demonstrate relatively low cue-specificity for gender/sex cues—the difference in genital responses between sexual stimuli with male or female content is relatively small compared to that of men. Cue-specificity for gender/sex cues is particularly low for androphilic women. It is common practice to compare responses to sexual stimuli (typically 60–120 s film clips) using a mean or peak (highest) value. This approach overlooks the continuous and dynamic nature of sexual responding during a stimulus. Recent results suggest that cue-specificity of genital response may increase throughout the duration of a sexual stimulus. We tested this possibility in a sample of 18 androphilic women. Sexual stimuli consisted of 240 s audiovisual film clips depicting male and/or female partnered sex or solitary masturbation. Gender/sex cue-specificity, assessed using VPP, did not vary across time: The degree of cue-specificity and the magnitude of genital response were established by approximately 60–90 s and were consistent throughout the stimulus duration. Low cue-specificity for genital response was observed despite variation in self-reported sexual arousal across stimulus categories. The findings are discussed within the context of initial- and later-occurring aspects of the sexual response, according to the information processing model of sexual arousal. The results also suggest that 90–120 s stimuli are of sufficient duration to capture vaginal photoplethysmographic responses to audiovisual stimuli in sexual psychophysiological research.

Assessing gender-specificity of clitoral responses

Androphilic (i.e., sexually attracted to men) women’s vaginal and vulvar responses tend to be gender-nonspecific, meaning that their genital responses to male and female sexual stimuli are relatively similar. Men’s genital responses are gender-specific, in that penile responses are greater to preferred sexual stimuli than nonpreferred sexual stimuli. To date, however, no research has been conducted on the specificity of clitoral responses (i.e., the organ homologous to the penis). The purpose of the current study was to assess gender-specificity of self-reported sexual arousal, vaginal, and clitoral responses in androphilic women. We expected women’s self-reported and vaginal responses to be gender-nonspecific and their clitoral responses to be gender-specific. Forty androphilic women were presented with 90 second sexual (female masturbation and male masturbation) and neutral (nature scene) audio-visual stimuli. Responses were recorded continuously throughout the stimuli using a keypad and combination vaginal and clitoral photoplethysmograph. Consistent with our predictions, self-reported sexual arousal and vaginal responses were gender-nonspecific, such that androphilic women responded similarly to the male and female masturbation stimuli. Counter to our prediction, clitoral responses were also gender-nonspecific. Given that this is the first study to use clitoral photoplethysmography to assess gender-specificity, we discuss the results in the larger context of sexual psychophysiological research, including the importance of contextual features in stimuli, and offer directions for future research.

Fraternal Birth Order, Only-Child Status, and Sibling Sex Ratio Related to Sexual Orientation in the Add Health Data: A Re-analysis and Extended Findings.

The fraternal birth order (FBO) effect related to men's sexual orientation refers to the finding that the number of older brothers that a man has increases his chance of being androphilic. The FBO effect has generally been well replicated in diverse samples; one instance of non-replication was by Francis (2008) using Waves I and III of the Add Health data. We attempted to replicate the FBO effect in the Add Health data taking into account family size and other limitations of Francis' (2008) analyses. Also, we examined other sibling characteristics related to the FBO effect: sibling sex ratio and only-child status. We used two subsamples from Waves I (n = 20,745) and IV (n = 15,701) of the Add Health data, consisting of adolescents who were followed longitudinally from 1994 to 1995 until 2008. Wave I data were used to compute numbers of younger and older brothers and sisters from household roster information. Wave IV information about sexual orientation identity was used. Analyses were conducted within men and within women. We found modest support for the FBO effect in men, but not in women, using the older brother odds ratio, logistic regression analyses, and sibling sex ratio, which provided the strongest support for FBO. We found that gynephilic/biphilic women, but not androphilic/biphilic men, were more likely to be only-children compared to androphilic women and gynephilic men, respectively. We discuss limitations of the Add Health data and purported mechanisms for the FBO effect in men and the only-child effect in women.

The effect of task demands on gender-specificity of visual attention biases in androphilic women and gynephilic men

Models of sexual response propose that attentional processing of sexual cues is requisite for the initiation and regulation of sexual response. Previous research has established marked gender effects in the stimulus features (e.g., gender cues) that capture and sustain attention, dependent on the stage of attentional processing assessed (initial versus controlled). In the current study we manipulated the instructional/task demands commonly used in studies of visual attention to examine the effects of a free- versus motivated-viewing task, on gender differences and similarities in visual attention biases to preferred and nonpreferred sexual cues. Instructional/task demands did not influence overall patterns of visual attention biases for either gender; however, the motivated-viewing task did result in greater controlled attentional processing of sexual cues for both women and men. Replicating previous research, we observed gender effects in initial and controlled attention, as well as a positive relationship between controlled attention and self-reported attraction. These findings are discussed in the context of models of sexual response. We also discuss the potential implications of instructional/task demands for sexual psychophysiology research.

The effect of static versus dynamic stimuli on visual processing of sexual cues in androphilic women and gynephilic men.

Models of sexual response posit that attentional processing of sexual cues is requisite for sexual responding. Despite hypothesized similarities in the underlying processes resulting in sexual response, gender differences in sexual arousal patterns are abundant. One such gender difference relates to the stimulus features (e.g. gender cues, sexual activity cues) that elicit a response in men and women. In this study, we examined how stimulus modality (static visual images versus dynamic audiovisual films) and stimulus features (gender, sexual activity and nonsexual contextual cues) influences attentional (i.e. gaze) and elaborative (i.e. self-reported attraction (SRA), self-reported arousal) processing of sexual stimuli. Men's initial and controlled attention was consistently gender-specific (i.e. greater attention towards female targets), and this was not influenced by stimulus modality or the presence of sexual activity cues. By contrast, gender-specificity of women's attention patterns differed as a function of attentional stage, stimulus modality and the features within the stimulus. Degree of specificity was positively predictive of SRA in both genders; however, it was not significantly predictive of self-reported arousal. These findings are discussed in the context of gendered processing of visual sexual information, including a discussion of implications for research designs.

The Effects of Gender and Relationship Context Cues on Responsive Sexual Desire in Exclusively and Predominantly Androphilic Women and Gynephilic Men

Sexual desire may be “responsive,” emerging from sexual arousal to sexually competent cues. Cues that elicit sexual arousal and desire differ, however, by gender and direction of sexual attractions. Further, relationship context cues are thought to be important for responsive desire, but this has not been tested directly. The current study examined gynephilic men’s (n = 27) and exclusively (n = 23) and predominantly (n = 17) androphilic women’s dyadic and solitary responsive sexual desire, as well as genital and self-reported arousal, to audio narratives varying by gender (male, female) of the sexual partner and relationship context (stranger, friend, long-term relationship). Consistent with previous literature, gynephilic men’s solitary and dyadic desire were gender-specific (greater to female than to male sexual partners). Exclusively androphilic women’s dyadic desire differentiated less to cues of gender than gynephilic men’s, and their solitary desire did not differentiate by gender cues at all, replicating previous research. Androphilic women with some gynephilia reported a gender-nonspecific pattern of dyadic and solitary desire (i.e., responsive desire to both male and female narratives). No effect of relationship context was found for any groups. Results suggest that responsive sexual desire may be more closely associated with self-reported than genital arousal patterns.

Intrasexual Competition and Sexual Response in Androphilic Women

Androphilic (sexually attracted to men) women demonstrate genital and self-reported arousal to sexual stimuli of both their preferred and non-preferred genders - a “gender-nonspecific” sexual response (e.g., Chivers et al, 2007). One hypothesis for female non-specific arousal patterns is intrasexual competition (the rivalry among the same sex for mates). Previously intrasexual competition has been operationalized as the level of jealousy a woman feels towards another woman. Intrasexual competition has been found to increase attentional adhesion to same sex stimuli (Maner, Gilliot & Roudy, 2007) The Information Processing Model (IPM; Janssen et al, 2000) posits that visual attention to sexual cues may result in a sexual response. Longer viewing times to same sex stimuli motivated by intrasexual competition (Maner et al., 2007) could therefore lead to an increase in self-reported arousal to non-preferred stimuli. This study explores the relationship between traits associated with intrasexual competition and sexual responding (visual attention and self-reported sexual arousal).
 Androphilic women are exposed to sexual stimuli varying by gender (preferred, non-preferred) and physical attractiveness level (attractive, unattractive). Visual attention is measured using an eye tracker and sexual arousal is assessed by participant self-report. Intrasexual competition is operationalized through measures of self-reported jealousy, anger, indirect aggression, and body image. I predict the participants will exhibit greater intrasexual competition after viewing images of attractive women compared to images of unattractive women and men. I also explore visual attention as a mediator between intrasexual competition and self-reported sexual arousal. Data collection for this project is currently underway.
 Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., & Blanchard, R. (2007). Gender and sexual orientation differences in sexual response to sexual activities versus gender of actors in sexual films. Journal of personality and social psychology, 93(6), 1108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1108
 Janssen, E., Everaerd, W., Spiering, M., & Janssen, J. (2000). Automatic processes and the appraisal of sexual stimuli: Toward an information processing model of sexual arousal. Journal of Sex Research, 37(1), 8–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490009552016
 Maner, J. K., Gailliot, M. T., Rouby, A., & Miller, S. (2007). Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Attentional Adhesion to Mates and Rivals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(3), 389–401. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.3.389

Visual Attention Patterns Differ in Gynephilic and Androphilic Men and Women Depending on Age and Gender of Targets

Visual attention patterns measured with eye-tracking techniques provide indirect clues about sexual response. This study aimed to test the category specificity of sexual responses to stimuli varying in gender and age by evaluating both early and late attention of gynephilic and androphilic men and women. We simultaneously presented sexually preferred and nonpreferred stimuli and measured time to first fixation and total duration of fixation on four areas of interest: entire body, then face, chest, and pelvis. Androphilic women’s early attention patterns were nonspecific, whereas gynephilic women and both groups of men showed a category-specific pattern for the entire body. In contrast, all groups showed gender-specific patterns of late attention for all areas of interest. We also found support for age specificity of early and late visual attention in all four groups, with greater attention to adult than child stimuli. This study supports the usefulness of a competing stimulus eye-tracking paradigm as a method to examine gender specificity in gynephilic women and androphilic and gynephilic men, and as a measure of age specificity in gynephilic and androphilic men and women.

Examining the time course of genital and subjective sexual responses in women and men with concurrent plethysmography and thermography

Sexual response is a dynamic process, though there is limited knowledge of the time course and relationships among its psychological and physiological components. To address this gap, we concurrently assessed self-reported sexual arousal, genital temperature (with thermography), and genital vasocongestion (with vaginal photoplethysmography [VPP] or penile plethysmography [PPG]) during sexual and nonsexual films in 28 androphilic women (attracted to men) and 27 gynephilic men (attracted to women). Men and women had similarly strong agreement between subjective and genital responses (sexual concordance) with thermography, but this agreement was stronger in men than women with PPG/VPP. The time course of changes in self-reported arousal was most similar to changes in genital temperature (i.e., time to onset and peak response). Time-lagged correlations and multilevel modeling revealed changes in the strength of relationships between aspects of sexual response over time. Results highlight the dynamic nature of sexual response and drawbacks of relying on zero-order correlations to characterize sexual concordance.

Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in androphilic and gynephilic men and women

According to the theory of intra-sexual competition for mates, androphilic individuals (i.e., sexually interested in men) are expected to emphasize their physical appearance, and be less satisfied with their bodies, compared to gynephilic individuals (i.e., sexually interested in women). To test this theory against the objectification theory and the minority stress theory of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, we measured body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and body mass index (BMI) in both androphilic and gynephilic men and women in a large population-based sample (N=8007). Compared to gynephilic men, androphilic men were more likely to be dissatisfied with their bodies and display disordered eating. Gynephilic women were more dissatisfied with their bodies compared to androphilic women. Women were, on average, more likely to be dissatisfied with their bodies and display disordered eating compared to men. Theoretical implications of the findings were discussed.

To each its own? Gender differences in affective, autonomic, and behavioral responses to same-sex and opposite-sex visual sexual stimuli

A large body of research on gender differences in response to erotic stimuli has focused on genital and/or subjective sexual arousal. On the other hand, studies assessing gender differences in emotional psychophysiological responding to sexual stimuli have only employed erotic pictures of male-female couples or female/male nudes. The present study aimed at investigating differences between gynephilic men and androphilic women in emotional responding to visual sexual stimuli depicting female-male, female-female and male-male couples. Affective responses were explored in multiple response systems, including autonomic indices of emotional activation, i.e., heart rate and skin conductance, along with standardized measures of valence and arousal. Blood pressure was measured as an index of autonomic activation associated with sexual arousal, and free viewing times as an index of interest/avoidance. Overall, men showed gender-specific activation characterized by clearly appetitive reactions to the target of their sexual attraction (i.e., women), with physiological arousal discriminating female-female stimuli as the most effective sexual cues. In contrast, women's emotional activation to sexual stimuli was clearly non-specific in most of the considered variables, with the notable exception of the self-report measures. Overall, affective responses replicate patterns of gender-specific and gender-nonspecific sexual responses in gynephilic men and androphilic women.