Processing Of Sexual Information Research Articles

18. Sexual Self-Schemas and Neural Processing of Sexual Information in Women

Previous research suggests that humans respond differently to reproductively-relevant information in the environment, including heightened neural responses to sexual versus non-sexual cues. Limited research, however, has examined individual variation in the early neural processing of sexual information. Sexual self-schemas, or one’s views of themselves as a sexual person, provide a stable cognitive framework for processing sexually-relevant information, and may relate to women’s sexual responses. This study seeks to examine how women’s sexual self-schemas relate to the early neural processing of sexual information and their subsequent subjective sexual arousal. Twenty women are being recruited from the Queen’s psychology subject pool and data collection is currently underway. I am assessing women’s neural responses to sexual and non-sexual images (i.e., erect penises versus elbows) using electroencephalography (EEG), and women are reporting their feelings of arousal to the sexual images. Women are also completing a measure of sexual self-schemas. I predict that women who have more positive sexual self-schema scores will have a stronger neural response to sexual stimuli than women with more negative schema scores. In addition, I predict that women with more positive schema scores will self-report higher sexual arousal than women with more negative scores. The findings of this study will improve our understanding of the role of sexual self-schemas and early neural processing in women’s sexual response, thus lending to the development of a comprehensive, empirically-supported model of sexual response that accounts for within-gender variability.

Alcohol, women’s clothing, and the perception of sexual intent

ABSTRACTThis study investigated factors involved in sexual information processing when alcohol is involved. Seventy-two male and 90 female participants viewed one of four videos of a heterosexual dyad interacting where the females’ clothing (sexualized/non-sexualized) and drink consumed (alcohol/water) was manipulated, and completed personality questionnaires. It was hypothesized the condition containing sexualized clothing, alcohol consumption and a male participant viewing the video would infer the greatest level of perceived sexual intent. Results yielded support for an effect of clothing. Also, men, compared to women, were significantly more socio-sexually inept, sexually pre-occupied, adopted a masculine sex role orientation and held conservative attitudes toward women. However, the feminine sex role orientation was not adopted significantly more by females when compared to males. The results of this study re-affirm the strong link between sexualized clothing and misperception, reinstating the need for clear verbal communication of sexual/platonic intentions. Recommendations are made for future research.

The experience of sexual emotions

Abstract In this article we propose an emotion perspective on the study of sexual experience. First we discuss the contents of experience, which are based on three sources of information: the environment or situation being appraised, autonomic response, and both readiness for and feedback from behavioral response. Then we describe a working memory model to help explain how the experience of sexual emotions is constructed. Finally, we illustrate the application of an emotion perspective through discussion of gender differences in the processing of sexual information and through psychophysiological studies on sexual response.

Consumer Responses to Sexual Magazine Covers on a Men's Magazine

SUMMARY Competing men's magazines often use sexually attractive cover models to enhance circulation. This investigation tested the efficacy of sexual cover models on consumer outcome variables including magazine interest and purchase intention, as well as on psychological variables such as sexual arousal and social comparison. Overall, magazine interest-value and purchase intention were significantly higher in the sexual condition, as were sexual arousal and tendency for upward social comparison. Discussions on sexual information processing and implications for management and future research are offered.

Skin conductance responses to visual sexual stimuli

Previous research showed that the asymmetrical direction of bilateral skin conductance responses (SCRs) remains constant regardless of task (with larger left SCRs in men and larger right SCRs in women). However, SCRs are controlled ipsilaterally by structures also associated with sexual arousal, hence it could be expected that larger right SCRs are specifically elicited by sexual stimuli. In order to test the two competing hypotheses, left and right SCR magnitude to three stimulus categories (sexually explicit, sexually non-explicit and neutral) were compared in 54 subjects (27 females). The direction of the asymmetry remained constant across stimulus types, however, unexpected sex differences occurred, as males had larger right SCRs and there was no lateralization in females. Interestingly, this interaction disappeared after controlling for indicators of subjective sexual arousal, suggesting that a specific (not previously hypothesized) processing of sexual information could take place.

Nonconscious processing of sexual information: A generalization to women

Sexually competent stimuli may nonconsciously activate sexual memory and set up sexual responding. In men, subliminally presented sexual pictures facilitated recognition of sexual information (Spiering, Everaerd, & Janssen, 2003). The goal of the two experiments reported here was to investigate to what extent this result can be generalized to women. A direct replication in women failed in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, besides the male‐oriented sexual picture set, pictures of two other sets were presented: female‐oriented sexual pictures and baby pictures. Effects of the menstrual cycle were also examined. In Experiment 2, only male‐oriented pictures showed a facilitation effect. Sensitivity for reproductive stimuli was enhanced during the midluteal phase. Like men, women may nonconsciously recognize a stimulus as sexual. This recognition process seems unrelated to the potential of the stimulus to elicit subjective arousal.

Conscious processing of sexual information: interference caused by sexual primes.

The concept Sexual Content-Induced Delay (SCID) refers to a hesitancy in decision making related to erotic material (Geer & Bellard, 1996; Geer & Melton, 1997). Empirical evidence about SCID stems from lexical decision tasks. Our previous studies also showed SCID effects in sex versus neutral categorization tasks in which pictures were used. In these tasks, recognition of sexual pictures is delayed when preceded by consciously presented sexual primes. In the current study, 2 manipulations were added to the categorization task to investigate underlying information processing mechanisms of SCID. Firstly, the appraisal process was influenced by varying the instructions. Secondly, primes with nonsexual emotional content were added to test the specificity of the SCID effect. Thirty-seven undergraduates were asked to categorize sexual and neutral pictures that were primed by sexual, threatening, and neutral primes. Participants ignored or focussed prime content dependent on 2 different instructions. Results showed that the SCID effect only emerged when sexual primes were ignored; however, threatening primes also decelerated recognition of sexual pictures after the ignore instruction. Results of the focus instruction were qualitatively different, that is, participants recognized sexual pictures faster when primed sexually. It was suggested that SCID can be interpreted as the activation of regulatory modules by emotional stimuli in the stage of elicitation of emotional response. In contrast, when the sexual system is already activated, it appears that decisions regarding sexual information are facilitated.

Psychological Correlates of Perception of Sexual Intent in Women

In a sample of 183 men and 186 women, the authors assessed (a) the relative contributions of gender and level of nonverbal social cues to the perception of a female actor's sexual intent during a videotaped social interaction with a man and (b) the association between those variables and personality traits implicated in faulty sexual-information processing. The authors assessed those variables while the participants viewed 1 of 3 film segments depicting a female-male interaction. The authors experimentally manipulated eye contact, touch, physical proximity, and female clothing. At all levels of those nonverbal cues, the men perceived more sexual intent in the female actor than did the women. The perception of the female actor's sexual intent increased as the nonverbal cues in the film segments were magnified: Both actors displayed more eye contact, touch, and physical proximity, and the female actor wore more revealing clothing. Relative to the women, the men demonstrated greater sexual preoccupation and reduced sociosexual effectiveness, variables associated with inferring greater sexual intent in the female actor.

The association between testosterone, sexual arousal, and selective attention for erotic stimuli in men

Twenty-six, eugonadal men between the ages of 18 and 27 participated in this investigation of the relationship between sexual arousal, testosterone (T) levels, and the processing of sexual information. At each of the two test sessions, subjects gave a blood sample, listened to an erotic or neutral priming audiotape, and completed a dichotic listening task designed to assess selective attention for sexual stimuli. Subjective levels of sexual arousal to the audiotape and sexual attitudes and sexual experience were assessed by self-report measures. Contrary to our hypothesis, there was no relationship between levels of free T and the strength of the selective attention bias for sexual stimuli. However, men who were more distracted by the sexual material in the task reported higher levels of sexual arousal to erotic imagery than men who were less distracted by the sexual material in the task ( P < 0.01). Moreover, men who were more sexually aroused by the erotic audiotape made significantly less shadowing errors in the erotic prime condition then they did during the neutral prime condition ( P < 0.05). There was a negative association between T and shadowing errors in the erotic prime condition ( P < 0.05). These results suggest that lower thresholds for sexual arousal are associated with a greater bias to attend to sexual information and that T may have effects on cognitive-motivational aspects of sexual behavior by enhancing attention to relevant stimuli.