Self-reported Arousal Research Articles

Hormonal Correlates of Human Sexual Arousal

Measures of sexual arousal and activity were correlated with levels of androstenedione, cortisol, DHEA-S, estradiol, FSH, LH, prolactin, testosterone, and SHBG, as well as a measure of free testosterone in 12 healthy men. Blood samples were drawn 40 minutes apart. In the interim, participants viewed a series of erotic and sexually neutral videotapes. Self report of arousal correlated with a number of baseline hormones. However, a drop in estradiol level was the only consistent significant correlate with self reported levels of arousal. Baseline estradiol level was the only hormonal measure which correlated significantly with penile responsiveness. In addition, reduction in estradiol level, from pre- to post-viewing of erotica, was correlated with penile responsiveness. The reported number of orgasms per week correlated with prolactin, estradiol, LH, FSH and testosterone but the last correlation was negative. Diversity of sexual behavior did not correlate with any hormonal measure. The relationship between sexual arousal and hormone levels appears to be more complex than a simple function of testosterone.

The effects of length of interstimulus interval on psychophysiological responses and on self-reported arousal

The effects of temporal distribution of noise stimuli were measured by means of psychophysiological responses and a self-reported arousal inventory. Three groups received either 120, 30 or 10 stimuli within a 90 min session (average interstimulus interval either 45 sec, 3 min or 10 min). Results indicated a linear relationship between interstimulus interval (ISI) length and electrodermal activity (EDA) and peripheral vascular responding. The group with the shortest ISI habituated fastest. Progressively less habituation occurred as the ISI became longer. The group with the longest ISI had a significantly larger cardiac deceleration than either of the other groups. There was no relationship between the three ISI groups with regard to subjectively experienced arousal. However, persons scoring high on the Stress factor on the inventory showed larger EDA responses and a larger cardiac acceleration than persons scoring low, regardless of original group affiliation. Results are discussed in terms of habituation, orienting, and defense, and are viewed as confounding some of the assumptions widely held by researchers interested in human responses to noise.

Memory and menstrual cycle.

Thirty women with regular menstrual cycles were tested on immediate and delayed verbal retention, immediate memory for acoustically and semantically confusing word lists, and verbal reasoning. The Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) was also administered. Testing was carried out at three phases of the menstrual cycle: ovulation, menstruation and the premenstrual phase. Immediate and delayed recall showed no differences across the three phases. Speed of verbal reasoning was found to be slower on more complex sentences during ovulation. Recall of semantically similar lists was impaired in ovulation, while recall of acoustically similar lists tended to be impaired in paramenstrum. There was a significant interaction between phases and list types. On the MDQ self-reported arousal was higher in ovulation, whereas distress was higher in the premenstrual phase, although this appears to be unrelated to the performance changes. The practical implication of these performance changes for the verbal processing of ...

Factors Related to Coercive Sexual Behavior in a Nonclinical Sample of Males

The sexual coercion literature has suggested numerous factors related to aggressive sexual behavior. The present investigation explores a number of these factors in a community sample. Data collected from 189 volunteers from the community included measures of sexual arousal, social perception, personality variables, attitudes toward women, and self-reported likelihood to rape. Multiple-regression analyses were used to determine the relative association of these factors to coercive sexual behavior. The present findings suggested that social perception, Extraversion and Neuroticism from the Eysenck Personality Inventory, sexual arousal, and self-reported likelihood to rape all contributed to the multiple regression. Rape Myth Acceptance, although not contributing significantly to the multiple regression, did show a significant zero-order correlation with coercive sexual behavior. Additional analyses were performed in an attempt to replicate an earlier predictive study by Malamuth and Check (1983) that found self-reported sexual arousal to be predicted by a combination of self-reported likelihood to rape, Psychoticism and Neuroticism from the Eysenck Personality Inventory, power motivation, and sexual experience. In the present study, both self-reported sexual arousal and penile tumescence measures were significantly related to attitudinal measures, social perception measures, and self-reported likelihood to rape. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Behavior of test anxious students across time

The study investigated the stability of the internal dialogue and self-reported arousal of test anxious students during an actual college examination. Based on procedures and measures developed by Galassi, Frierson and Sharer (1981) data were collected during a psychology exam and again 1 week later. It was found that high test anxious students have more negative thoughts and report more arousal during an exam than less test anxious students. Further, negative thoughts and self-reported arousal were found to be consistent across time, while positive thoughts were unstable. Results were consistent with those previously reported and support cognitive models of test anxiety.

Assessing deviant sexual arousal: Physiological and cognitive aspects

The physiological assessment of deviant sexual arousal is addressed. Concentration is focused on penile plethysmography because of its simplicity, accuracy, and widespread use. The sexual assessment technology is discussed in terms of measurement, reliability, validity, self-reported arousal, faking, and instructional procedures. Thirty-six federally incarcerated offenders were assessed in the standard manner for their deviant sexual orientation. Rapists, Pedophiles, and Nonsex Offenders were shown two sets of stimulus slides approximately one week apart. The six slide categories were Neutral (Landscape), Child Male, Adult Male, Child Female, Adult Female, and Couples. During one testing session, subjects were asked to verbally describe each slide during the stimulus presentation. At slide offset, subjects were asked to subjectively rate each slide. Physiological response was the base-to-peak amplitude of penile circumference change during each slide presentation. The two forms of the test for sexual orientation were considered parallel. Internal consistency, test-retest (one week), and parallel form reliability coefficients were acceptable. A multitrait-multimethod analysis favoured the physiological data set over the self-reports. Pedophiles responded physiologically and subjectively to Child Males in comparison to other groups. Both the physiological and self-report data sets successfully allocated 64% of the subjects to their actual groups. Groups were also differentiated on the basis of their pattern of verbal descriptions to stimulus slides. Rapists were most verbal although they focused on irrelevant and nonsexual aspects of the slides. Pedophiles were least verbal and avoided descriptions of sexual characteristics. Nonsex Offenders were more likely to report appealing features of the stimulus models.

Worry and emotionality components of test anxiety.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between trait measures of Worry and Emotionality and test anxiety related variables. Ninety-eight undergraduate students completed the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and the following self-report measures toward the end of the psychology exam: Checklist of Positive and Negative Thought, Checklist of Body Sensations (CBS), and Subjective Units of Discomfort Scale (SUDS). Further, the students' scores on the psychology exam and the students' grade point averages (GPA) served as outcome measures of test anxiety. In general the results supported the discriminant validity of the Worry and Emotionality subscales of the TAI. Worry was found to be correlated with measures of internal dialogue and Emotionality was found to be correlated with the self-reported arousal measures.

Physiologic assessment of sexual response in women: the unfulfilled promise.

With the exception of work by Semmens (1979), the clinical value of physiologic measures of female sexual response has not been demonstrated; it almost seems that controlled attempts to apply measures of vaginal muscular tone or blood flow to clinical settings has been jinxed. Hence, this author takes issue with Hatch (1980), who gives the impression that physiologic measures can now be used in clinical applications. The reasons for failure in sex therapy or biofeedback are uncertain, but it may be useful to speculate briefly. Sexual arousal in women is too personal a phenomenon to be objectively assessed during waking states in an "artificial" laboratory context. Orgasmic response is not related to genital muscle tone, but to other unknown anatomic, learning-history, and psychological components. The circumstances under which there is agreement between physiologic and either psychometric or self-reports of arousal or pleasure are complex and interactive. Therefore, physiologic measures of female sexual response may not reflect the subjective experience of women and, taken alone, may be misleading. This conclusion should not surprise anyone, for human beings are truly a "cognitive" species with representational imagery and language. Sexuality is very much "in the frontal lobes," and what we perceive eroticism to mean in a given context is probably much more important than the physiologic and behavioral aspects of actual sexual expression. Despite these problems of employing physiologic measures of female response in clinical settings, research into more basic issues has been quite profitable and heuristic. For example, several common assumptions about female sexuality are now open to question: women are more arousable just prior to menses; Kegel exercises improve orgasm consistency; sex therapy for inhibited arousal and desire is efficacious; there is usually agreement between the physiologic intensity of sexual response and a patient's subjective estimate of that intensity. On the other hand, there is evidence that vaginal engorgement in women remains at a high level after an initial orgasm, thus setting the physiologic stage for consecutive orgasmic responses; sexual arousal can be measured physiologically with acceptable degrees of reliability and specificity; muscle contractions in women during orgasm can be measured with high levels of precision; women respond to direct representations of erotic activity much the way men do; there are cortical "physiologic" signatures of orgasmic response in men and women. Obviously, a number of clinical research issues in female sexuality can now be investigated with physiologic measures.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The mediating role of cognitive processes in self-reported sexual arousal

The mediating role of cognitive processes in self-reported sexual arousal

The Effect of Arousal on Facial Recognition

The present study investigated the effects of arousal on facial recognition. It was hypothesized that recognition accuracy would decrease as self-reported arousal increased. Arousal was manipulated through the presence/absence of electrical shock. Because self-reports of arousal differed significantly across the two conditions for female subjects but not for males, only the data from females were used. As predicted, recognition accuracy was lower in the high arousal condition than in the moderate arousal condition. Some evidence of an own-sex bias was found but no own-race bias was observed. About one-third of all subjects showed a significant positive relationship between recognition accuracy and degree of confidence in their judgments. Averaged across subjects, the relationship between confidence and accuracy was small but statistically significant. Implications of these findings for highly-arousing crime situations are discussed.

Aerobic fitness level and reactivity to psychosocial stress: physiological, biochemical, and subjective measures.

Aerobic fitness is associated with numerous physiological adaptations which permit physical stress to be coped with more efficiently. The present experiment examined whether aerobic fitness influences emotional response. Heart rate, biochemical measures (catecholamines, cortisol, prolactin, lactic acid), and self-reported arousal and anxiety were monitored in 15 highly trained and 15 untrained subjects at various points before, during and following exposure to a series of psychosocial stressors. Heart rate and subjective arousal level increased markedly during the stressors in both groups. Trained subjects showed higher levels of norepinephrine and prolactin early in the stress period, more rapid heart rate recovery following the stressors, and lower levels of anxiety at the conclusion of the session. This more rapid heart rate and subjective recovery from psychosocial stress, suggests that aerobically trained individuals may be capable of faster recovery in both physiological and subjective dimensions of emotionality. The differences in reactivity profiles between the aerobically trained and untrained were discussed in light of models that have dealt with the adaptiveness of emotional response.

Facilitating sexual arousal via anger, aggression, or dominance

The hypothesis that either an angry emotional state or the expression of aggressive behavior facilitates sexual arousal has been the subject of considerable speculation but relatively little research. In a series of studies, Barclay found that anger increased sexual arousal as measured by the amount of sexual imagery produced in response to TAT-like stimuli that depicted males and females in dominant and submissive roles. In the present research, a series of experiments was conducted to determine whether such facilitation can be generalized beyond the specific procedures used by Barclay. Subjects (151 males and 136 females) in three experiments were angered by being negatively evaluated by a confederate identified as a fellow subject. Some subjects were subsequently given an opportunity to aggress; additionally, some subjects were exposed to male- and female-dominant pictorial stimuli. Results indicated that neither anger instigation nor the opportunity to engage in aggressive acts influenced self-reported sexual arousal. There was consistent evidence, however, that portrayals of dominance influenced perceptions of the stimulus person's sexuality. Though anger and aggression do not seem to facilitate sexual arousal, dominance cues (which can be confounded with anger manipulation) clearly elicit perceptions of sexuality.

Coloring the environment: Hue, arousal, and boredom

One hundred and forty undergraduate subjects, sitting in carrels having side panels painted either light blue, blue, pink, red, orange, white, brown, green, yellow, or gray were exposed to procedures designed to induce boredom. Subjects listened to a tape that repeated one of two words every 2 sec for 10 min. The results showed that self-reported arousal and evaluations of the environment were higher in the yellow condition than in the other color conditions. Response to boredom-induction procedures did not vary with color or saturation.

Morningness-eveningness and diurnal variations in self-reported mood.

Effects of differences in morningness-eveningness (M-E) on diurnal variations in self-reported mood were examined in 28 female subjects. M-E was determined by using Horne and Ostberg's questionnaire, and mood by Mackay and his colleagues' stress arousal checklist. Self-reported arousal showed the expected pattern of variation across the day and this was found to be a function of subjects' M-E score. However, self-reported stress showed no significant differences due either to time of day or to subjects' M-E score. This confirms the independence of the two mood scales.

Effectiveness of multiple-site EMG biofeedback in the reduction of arousal.

During the training phase, 36 subjects received (a) EMG biofeedback from multiple muscle sites, (b) EMG biofeedback from the frontal site, or (c) no biofeedback. Results indicated that neither biofeedback procedure reduced self-reports of anxiety, but that multiple-site biofeedback was effective in reducing several indices of autonomic arousal (pulse rate, finger pulse volume, and skin temperature) while frontal biofeedback was not. During the generalization/stress phase, all subjects were threatened with and received electric shocks and were told to apply the relaxation techniques they learned during the training phase even though no additional biofeedback would be provided. Results indicated that multiple-site biofeedback was effective in reducing self-reports of anxiety and autonomic arousal but that frontal biofeedback was not. These results confirm previous data indicating that frontal biofeedback is not an effective procedure for controlling stress, but suggest that EMG biofeedback can be effective in reducing self-reported anxiety and autonomic arousal if a multiple muscle-site feedback procedure is employed.

Hypnosis as an aid to recall of meaningful information presented under three types of arousal.

Abstract This study was designed to examine the effect of hypnotic induction on recall of information which was incidental, meaningful, and contextually presented. A hypnotic induction with task motivating suggestions was found to enhance recall to a greater extent than were task motivating suggestions alone. It was argued that the positive findings of this study might be due to (a) the types of information used for recall in this study, (b) confidence/motivational factors felt to be facilitated by hypnotic induction, and (c) reduction in critical judgment which allows for the reporting of partial memories. Film-induced arousal resulted in physiological measures and self-reports of arousal which varied with the content of the films. The effects of arousal on recall, however, were less clear but with only slight indications that traumatic arousal had a deleterious effect on recall. Support for the contention that a hypnotic induction would aid recall of information learned under traumatic arousal to a grea...

EMG biofeedback training, transfer of training, and coping with stress

In phase one, 56 subjects either did (biofeedback training) or did not (no biofeedback training) receive frontal EMG biofeedback training, and either were (stress) or were not (no stress) threatened with electric shocks during the training periods. Results indicated that the threat of shock was effective in increasing arousal (as measured by self-report and multiple physiological indices), and that the biofeedback training provided under both stressful and non-stressful conditions was effective in reducing frontal EMG levels and the extent to which subjects worried about the shock, but was not effective in reducing physiological arousal, self-report of arousal, or the perceived painfulness of the shock. In phase two, the subjects from phase one were exposed to another threat of shock situation, but no additional biofeedback was provided. Fourteen additional subjects were not threatened with electric shock and served as a control group. Results indicated that the threat of shock was again effective in increasing arousal, and that subjects who had previously received biofeedback training under either stressful or non-stressful conditions were able to reduce their levels of frontal EMG and self-report of arousal, but not their levels of physiological arousal. The results provide evidence that EMG biofeedback training can reduce EMG levels under stressful as well as non-stressful conditions, and that this effect will transfer to a stressful non-training situation. However, the fact that the EMG reductions were generally not accompanied by reductions in arousal suggests that EMG biofeedback may have limited effectiveness as a general procedure for coping with stress.

An evaluation of frontal EMG as an index of general arousal

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the sensitivity of frontal EMG to increased arousal. In Experiment 1 subjects who were aroused by a physical threat (electric shock) showed changes in skin temperature and self-report of arousal, but did not show changes in frontal EMG. In Experiment 2 subjects who were aroused by an evaluative threat (poor performance on an important intelligence test) showed changes in skin temperature, pulse rate, finger pulse volume, and self-report of arousal, but again failed to show changes in frontal EMG. The finding that frontal EMG was not sensitive to increases in arousal is inconsistent with what has generally been assumed and suggests that frontal EMG biofeedback training may not be effective for teaching persons to reduce high levels of arousal.

The repression-sensitization variable and self-reported emotional arousal: Effects of stress and instructional set.

The repression-sensitization variable and self-reported emotional arousal: Effects of stress and instructional set.

The repression-sensitization variable and self-reported emotional arousal: effects of stress and instructional set.

The repression-sensitization variable and self-reported emotional arousal: effects of stress and instructional set.