Sexual Arousal Patterns Research Articles

Affect and Sexual Responsivity in Men With and Without a History of Sexual Aggression

Despite increased attention to understanding risk factors for sexual aggression, knowledge regarding the emotional and sexual arousal patterns of sexually aggressive men remains limited. The current study examined whether sexually aggressive men exhibit unique profiles of affective responsivity, in particular to negatively valenced stimuli, as well as sexual arousal patterns that differentiate them from nonaggressive men. We presented 78 young men (38 sexually aggressive; 40 nonaggressive) with a series of videos designed to induce positive, sad, or anxious affect. Affect and subjective sexual arousal were assessed following each film and erectile responses were measured continuously. Sexually aggressive men reported significantly higher levels of sexual arousal following both the positive and negative conditions as compared to nonaggressive men. Erectile responses of sexually aggressive men were significantly greater than nonaggressive men’s following the positive affect induction. Self-reported positive affect, but not negative affect, was a significant predictor of subjective sexual arousal for both groups of men. Compared to nonaggressive men, sexually aggressive men showed significantly weaker correlations between subjective and physiological sexual arousal. Findings suggest that generalized heightened propensity for sexual arousal may be a risk factor for sexually aggressive behavior.

Proposals for Paraphilic Disorders in the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Eleventh Revision (ICD-11)

The World Health Organization is currently developing the 11th revision of the International Classifications of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), with approval of the ICD-11 by the World Health Assembly anticipated in 2018. The Working Group on the Classification of Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health (WGSDSH) was created and charged with reviewing and making recommendations for categories related to sexuality that are contained in the chapter of Mental and Behavioural Disorders in ICD-10 (World Health Organization 1992a). Among these categories was the ICD-10 grouping F65, Disorders of sexual preference, which describes conditions now widely referred to as Paraphilic Disorders. This article reviews the evidence base, rationale, and recommendations for the proposed revisions in this area for ICD-11 and compares them with DSM-5. The WGSDSH recommended that the grouping, Disorders of sexual preference, be renamed to Paraphilic Disorders and be limited to disorders that involve sexual arousal patterns that focus on non-consenting others or are associated with substantial distress or direct risk of injury or death. Consistent with this framework, the WGSDSH also recommended that the ICD-10 categories of Fetishism, Fetishistic Transvestism, and Sadomasochism be removed from the classification and new categories of Coercive Sexual Sadism Disorder, Frotteuristic Disorder, Other Paraphilic Disorder Involving Non-Consenting Individuals, and Other Paraphilic Disorder Involving Solitary Behaviour or Consenting Individuals be added. The WGSDSH’s proposals for Paraphilic Disorders in ICD-11 are based on the WHO’s role as a global public health agency and the ICD’s function as a public health reporting tool.

Evidence of Construct Validity in the Assessment of Hebephilia.

Hebephilia refers to a persistent intense sexual interest in pubescent children. Although not as widely studied as pedophilia, studies of hebephilia have indicated convergence in self-report and sexual arousal. The present study expanded on previous work by examining convergent and divergent validity across indicators of hebephilia that included self-report, sexual behavior, and sexual arousal in a sample of 2238 men who had sexually offended. We included men who denied such interest and specifically examined the overlap between hebephilia and pedophilia and examined pedohebephilia (i.e., sexual interests in both prepubescent and pubescent children). Results indicated that there was considerable convergence across indicators of hebephilia. The results suggested poor divergent validity between hebephilia and pedophilia, as there was substantial overlap between the two constructs across analyses. Finally, a distinct pattern of sexual arousal was found in offenders with pedohebephilia. The results of the present study were discussed with a focus on implications for the assessment of sexual interest in children and the conceptualization of pedohebephilia.

Bisexual Phenomena Among Gay-Identified Men.

A high proportion of self-identified gay men exhibit aspects of bisexuality during their lives. Some identify as bisexual before later identifying as gay; this has been called transitional bisexuality. Although many gay men report no attraction to women-or even sexual disgust toward them-others report some slight attraction to women. The latter have been studied as mostly homosexual men. We studied men with and without a history of transitional bisexuality, as well as mostly homosexual (i.e., those with Kinsey scores of 5) and completely homosexual (i.e., those with Kinsey scores of 6) men with respect to their sexual history with women, their current self-reported sexual arousal and disgust toward women and men, and their patterns of genital sexual arousal to female and male stimuli. Gay men with a history of transitional bisexuality generally lacked current sexual attraction and sexual arousal to women, compared with other gay men. Thus, transitional bisexuality among future gay men is mostly a matter of transitional bisexual identification. In contrast, mostly homosexual men showed statistically significant increases in genital arousal to female stimuli, compared with completely homosexual men.

Sexual Arousal Patterns of Autogynephilic Male Cross-Dressers.

Men's sexual arousal patterns have been an important window into the nature of their erotic interests. Autogynephilia is a natal male's paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of being a woman. Autogynephilic arousal per se is difficult to assess objectively, because it is inwardly focused. However, assessing sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic males in response to external stimuli is also potentially useful. For example, there is substantial association between autogynephilia and gynandromorphophilia (GAMP), or sexual attraction to gynandromorphs (GAMs), colloquially "she-males." GAMP men's sexual arousal patterns in response to GAM, female, and male stimuli have recently been characterized. In the present study, we extended this understanding by comparing the sexual arousal patterns of autogynephilic male cross-dressers, GAMP men, heterosexual men, and homosexual men. Erotic stimuli included sexually explicit videos of men, women, and GAMs. Autogynephilic men were much more similar in their arousal patterns to heterosexual and GAMP men than to homosexual men. However, similar to GAMP men, autogynephilic men showed increased arousal by GAM stimuli relative to female stimuli compared with heterosexual men.

Unprotected Intercourse and One-Night Stands: Impact of Sexual Excitation, Sexual Inhibition, and Atypical Sexual Arousal Patterns on Risky Sexual Behaviors in Women.

Associations among sexual excitation, sexual inhibition, atypical sexual arousal patterns, and risky sexual behaviors have been reported in studies involving men and women. To date, longitudinal studies have not evaluated the predictive value of these propensities for future sexual behaviors in women. To investigate associations among sexual excitation, sexual inhibition, atypical sexual arousal patterns, and potentially risky sexual behaviors in women. Overall, 2,214 women (mean age= 30.65 years, standard deviation= 9.91 years) participated in a baseline Web-based survey. The 1- and 2-year follow-up surveys included 396 and 382 participants, respectively. Correlational analyses and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to analyze the relations between predictor and outcome variables. Number of partners, number of one-time sexual encounters, and number of partners with whom no condoms were used during the 12-month periods before each of the three data assessment points. All five lower-order factors of sexual excitation showed positive correlations and all three lower-order factors of sexual inhibition showed negative correlations with outcomes at baseline and follow-up. Atypical sexual arousal patterns, the tendency to become aroused in unusual sexual situations, and the importance of relationship factors, such as trust, for sexual arousal were the strongest predictors for sexual behaviors at baseline. These variables also predicted the number of sexual partners and the number of one-night stands at follow-up. The findings suggest that increased sexual arousal when experiencing negative mood might be a risk factor for potentially health-threatening sexual decisions and support the assumptions of the dual control model that sexual excitation is positively and sexual inhibition is negatively predictive of risky sexual behavior in women.

Female Sexual Arousal and Sociosexuality

This study investigates the relationship between sociosexuality (one's willingness to engage in uncomitted sexual activity) and women's patterns of sexual arousal. Assessments are being made of approximately twenty women's subjective and genital arousal to 18 audio clips depicting sexual or neutral ecounters with strangers, friends, and long-term relationship partners. Participants are expected to show the highest genital and subjective arousal to the scenarios demonstrating the level of commitment that corresponds with their sociosexual orientation. Sociosexuality is being assessed using Jackson & Kirkpatrick's (2007) multidimensional measure of sociosexuality and Penke & Asendorpf's (2008) Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R). This study will have important implications for our understanding of women's sexual arousal.

2. The Effects of Sociosexual Orientation, Gender and Relationship Context Cues in Audio Narratives on Heterosexual Men's Genital and Subjective Sexual Response.

Past research suggests that heterosexual men show a category-specific pattern of sexual arousal, showing greater arousal to stimuli depicting women than those depicting men.Gender is not, however, the only factor affecting sexual arousal in men. Research has shown that men regard relationship context as an important factor in sexual arousal.Additionally, men show greater sexual arousal to novel than to familiar sexual stimuli. Sociosexuality, the preference for committed or uncommitted sexual relationships,affects behaviour and partner preferences. The current study investigates the relationship between sociosexuality, gender cues, relationship context cues, and sexual arousal in menby assessing 25 heterosexual men’s genital and subjective sexual arousal to 18 audio narratives describing sexual or neutral encounters with female and male strangers,friends, or long-term relationship partners. I expect that heterosexual men will show greater subjective and genital arousal in response to stimuli depicting a sexual encounter with a woman than to stimuli depicting a sexual encounter with a man, replicating previous research. I hypothesize that there will be an interaction between gender cues and relationship context, such that men will show greater sexual arousal to stimuli depicting novel female sexual partners (strangers and friends) than to stimuli depicting familiar female sexual partners (long-term partners). I predict that higher sociosexuality scores, indicating a greater preference for uncommitted sexual relationships, will correlate with greater sexual arousal to uncommitted relationship contexts (strangers or friends), whereas lower sociosexuality scores, will correspond with greater sexual arousal to the committed relationship context (long-term partner).

An Examination of Psychophysiological Sexual Arousal in Bisexual Women

This study aims to gain an understanding of the sexual arousal patterns of women who have some degree of sexual attraction to both males and females. Women’s genital arousal has been found to be nonspecific. That is, women have been found to show physiological arousal to stimuli depicting both their preferred and non-preferred gender (Chivers, Seto, & Blanchard, 2007). This previous research has examined arousal patterns of heterosexual and homosexual females but no research to date has focused on bisexual women. Bisexuality has been found to be more prevalent in women than homosexuality (Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005); therefore, it is important to understand the arousal patterns of these women. In the current study, women’s physiological and self-reported arousal will be measured as they view erotic videos varying by degree of sexual activity (e.g., naked exercising, masturbation, coupled intercourse) and varying by gender of the sexual actors. Based on past literature, I expect to find that both physiological and subjective arousal levels will increase as the level of sexual activity in the videos increases (e.g. greater arousal to intercourse than to masturbation). I also expect to find that the correlation between bisexual women’s physiological and subjective arousal will be stronger than the concordance for either heterosexual or homosexual women. Finally, I expect frequency of masturbation, use of erotica, and sex toy use to be positively correlated with women's sexual arousal concordance (between physiological and subjective arousal).

Straight but Not Narrow; Within-Gender Variation in the Gender-Specificity of Women's Sexual Response.

Gender differences in the specificity of sexual response have been a primary focus in sexual psychophysiology research, however, within-gender variability suggests sexual orientation moderates category-specific responding among women; only heterosexual women show gender-nonspecific genital responses to sexual stimuli depicting men and women. But heterosexually-identified or “straight” women are heterogeneous in their sexual attractions and include women who are exclusively androphilic (sexually attracted to men) and women who are predominantly androphilic with concurrent gynephilia (sexually attracted to women). It is therefore unclear if gender-nonspecific responding is found in both exclusively and predominantly androphilic women. The current studies investigated within-gender variability in the gender-specificity of women’s sexual response. Two samples of women reporting concurrent andro/gynephilia viewed (Study 1, n = 29) or listened (Study 2, n = 30) to erotic stimuli varying by gender of sexual partner depicted while their genital and subjective sexual responses were assessed. Data were combined with larger datasets of predominantly gyne- and androphilic women (total N = 78 for both studies). In both studies, women reporting any degree of gynephilia, including those who self-identified as heterosexual, showed significantly greater genital response to female stimuli, similar to predominantly gynephilic women; gender-nonspecific genital response was observed for exclusively androphilic women only. Subjective sexual arousal patterns were more variable with respect to sexual attractions, likely reflecting stimulus intensity effects. Heterosexually-identified women are therefore not a homogenous group with respect to sexual responses to gender cues. Implications for within-gender variation in women’s sexual orientation and sexual responses are discussed.

Who are gynandromorphophilic men? Characterizing men with sexual interest in transgender women.

Gynandromorphophilia (GAMP) is sexual interest in gynandromorphs (GAMs; colloquially, shemales). GAMs possess a combination of male and female physical characteristics. Thus, GAMP presents a challenge to conventional understandings of sexual orientation as sexual attraction to the male v. female form. Speculation about GAMP men has included the ideas that they are homosexual, heterosexual, or especially, bisexual. We compared genital and subjective sexual arousal patterns of GAMP men with those of heterosexual and homosexual men. We also compared these groups on their self-ratings of sexual orientation and sexual interests. GAMP men had arousal patterns similar to those of heterosexual men and different from those of homosexual men. However, compared to heterosexual men, GAMP men were relatively more aroused by GAM erotic stimuli than by female erotic stimuli. GAMP men also scored higher than both heterosexual and homosexual men on a measure of autogynephilia. Results provide clear evidence that GAMP men are not homosexual. They also indicate that GAMP men are especially likely to eroticize the idea of being a woman.

Uncovering category specificity of genital sexual arousal in women: The critical role of analytic technique.

Based on analytic techniques that collapse data into a single average value, it has been reported that women lack category specificity and show genital sexual arousal to a large range of sexual stimuli including those that both match and do not match their self-reported sexual interests. These findings may be a methodological artifact of the way in which data are analyzed. This study examined whether using an analytic technique that models data over time would yield different results. Across two studies, heterosexual (N = 19) and lesbian (N = 14) women viewed erotic films featuring heterosexual, lesbian, and gay male couples, respectively, as their physiological sexual arousal was assessed with vaginal photoplethysmography. Data analysis with traditional methods comparing average genital arousal between films failed to detect specificity of genital arousal for either group. When data were analyzed with smoothing regression splines and a within-subjects approach, both heterosexual and lesbian women demonstrated different patterns of genital sexual arousal to the different types of erotic films, suggesting that sophisticated statistical techniques may be necessary to more fully understand women's genital sexual arousal response. Heterosexual women showed category-specific genital sexual arousal. Lesbian women showed higher arousal to the heterosexual film than the other films. However, within subjects, lesbian women showed significantly different arousal responses suggesting that lesbian women's genital arousal discriminates between different categories of stimuli at the individual level. Implications for the future use of vaginal photoplethysmography as a diagnostic tool of sexual preferences in clinical and forensic settings are discussed.

Effects of Gender and Sexual Activity Cues on the Sexual Responses of Women with Multidimensionally Defined Bisexuality

Literature examining gender-specificity of sexual response has not investigated the sexual arousal patterns of women with mixed-gender sexual interests. This study examined the genital and self-reported sexual response of women endorsing one or more dimensions of bisexuality (i.e., sexual identity, sexual attractions, romantic attractions, sexual fantasies, sexual behaviors) in response to audiovisual films that varied by gender and sexual activity level. Contrary to hypotheses, women exhibited and reported greater sexual response to female than male stimuli, for all dimensions of bisexuality. Consistent with our hypotheses and previous research, women's sexual responses generally increased with the level of sexual activity occurring in the films. Implications for our understanding of women's sexual response and sexual interests are discussed.

Connectivity and functional profiling of abnormal brain structures in pedophilia.

Despite its 0.5-1% lifetime prevalence in men and its general societal relevance, neuroimaging investigations in pedophilia are scarce. Preliminary findings indicate abnormal brain structure and function. However, no study has yet linked structural alterations in pedophiles to both connectional and functional properties of the aberrant hotspots. The relationship between morphological alterations and brain function in pedophilia as well as their contribution to its psychopathology thus remain unclear. First, we assessed bimodal connectivity of structurally altered candidate regions using meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) and resting-state correlations employing openly accessible data. We compared the ensuing connectivity maps to the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) maps of a recent quantitative meta-analysis of brain activity during processing of sexual stimuli. Second, we functionally characterized the structurally altered regions employing meta-data of a large-scale neuroimaging database. Candidate regions were functionally connected to key areas for processing of sexual stimuli. Moreover, we found that the functional role of structurally altered brain regions in pedophilia relates to nonsexual emotional as well as neurocognitive and executive functions, previously reported to be impaired in pedophiles. Our results suggest that structural brain alterations affect neural networks for sexual processing by way of disrupted functional connectivity, which may entail abnormal sexual arousal patterns. The findings moreover indicate that structural alterations account for common affective and neurocognitive impairments in pedophilia. The present multimodal integration of brain structure and function analyses links sexual and nonsexual psychopathology in pedophilia.

Patterns of Sexual Arousal in Young, Heterosexual Men Who Experience Condom-Associated Erection Problems (CAEP)

Condom-associated erection problems (CAEPs) are reported by a substantial number of young men and are associated with inconsistent and/or incomplete condom use. The underlying mechanisms of CAEP are not well understood, and research examining the possibility that men who report CAEP differ from other men in their sexual responsivity is lacking. This study used psychophysiological methods to examine whether men who report CAEP have a higher threshold for sexual arousal, a stronger need for tactile stimulation, and/or more easily lose their sexual arousal due to neutral distractors or performance-related demands. A total of 142 young, heterosexual men (53% reporting CAEP) were presented with four 3-minute erotic film clips. Three film clips were combined with one of the following manipulations: (i) distraction; (ii) performance demand; or (iii) vibrotactile stimulation. One erotic film clip was presented with no further instructions or manipulations. Average penile circumference changes during the first, second, and third minute (time) of the erotic film stimuli (condition) were submitted to a mixed-model analysis of variance with condition and time as within-subjects factors and group (CAEP/no-CAEP) as between-subjects factor. Significant main effects of condition and time and a significant interaction of group × time were found. No significant interactions involving condition were found. Men who reported CAEP had smaller erectile responses during the first minute, regardless of film condition, than men who reported no CAEP (F(1,141) = 8.64, P < 0.005). The findings suggest that men with and without CAEP differ in the ease with which they become sexually aroused. Men reporting CAEP needed more time and/or more intense stimulation to become aroused. To our knowledge, this study is the first to use psychophysiological methods to assess sexual responsivity in men who report CAEP.

Gender-specific genital and subjective sexual arousal to prepotent sexual features in heterosexual women and men

Heterosexual women respond genitally to stimuli featuring both their preferred and nonpreferred genders, whereas men's genital responses are gender-specific, suggesting that gender cues are less relevant to women's sexual response. Instead, prepotent sexual features (exposed and sexually aroused genitals), ubiquitous in audiovisual sexual stimuli, may elicit automatic genital responses, thereby leading to a nonspecific sexual arousal pattern in women. To examine the role of stimulus potency in women's sexual response, we assessed heterosexual women's and men's genital and subjective sexual arousal to slideshows of prepotent stimuli (erect penises and aroused vulvas), non-prepotent stimuli (flaccid penises and female pubic triangles), and sexually neutral stimuli. Contrary to our hypotheses, both women and men demonstrated gender-specific genital and subjective sexual arousal, such that sexual arousal was greatest to prepotent male and female stimuli, respectively. This is the first study to demonstrate gender-specific genital responding in heterosexual women.

Changes in Sexual Arousal as Measured by Penile Plethysmography in Men with Pedophilic Sexual Interest

Although pedophilia is defined by a recurrent sexual interest in prepubescent children, little attention has been paid to the stability or fluidity of this sexual interest over time. The aim of the current study was to investigate if patterns of penile tumescence (as a proxy for sexual interest) measured by penile plethysmography testing (PPT) can change. In this retrospective chart review study, PPT results of 43 men diagnosed with pedophilia were collected and analyzed. All participants displayed a pedophilic sexual arousal pattern at the time of their first PPT. To test for change, we compared initial PPT results with subsequent PPT results measured at least 6 months later. Sexual arousal was assessed using PPT by measuring change in penile circumference induced by the presentation of standardized sexual audio stimuli. Approximately half of the sample (n = 21) displayed a change in PPT results. This change was characterized by a significant decrease of sexual arousal in response to pedophilic (child) stimuli and a significant increase of sexual arousal in response to nonpedophilic (adult) stimuli. No differences between sexual interest changers (ICs) and nonchangers (NC) were found for demographic data or for length of time between assessments. However, between-group comparisons revealed that ICs had significantly lower pedophilic indices at the initial assessment than NCs. Results from the current study indicate that relative pedophilic interest, as defined by increase in penile circumference in response to nonpedophilic stimuli as measured by PPT, changed in about 50% of men diagnosed with pedophilia who also had initial pedophilic PPT sexual responses. This represents a significant challenge to the hypothesis that sexual interest in men with pedophilia is unchangeable and should be the focus of future studies.

Gender-Specificity of Solitary and Dyadic Sexual Desire among Gynephilic and Androphilic Women and Men

Incentive motivation theory proposes that sexual desire emerges from sexual arousal, and is triggered by sexually competent stimuli. Research demonstrates gender and sexual orientation differences in the features that contribute to the competency of sexual stimuli. Men's and gynephilic women's genital arousal tends to be gender-specific with preferred gender eliciting significantly greater genital arousal than nonpreferred gender. In contrast, stimuli depicting preferred and nonpreferred gender elicit similar degrees of genital arousal among androphilic women, termed a gender-nonspecific pattern. Given these differences in the features that elicit a sexual response, and that sexual desire is proposed to emerge from sexual arousal, the question remains as to whether sexual desire would emerge only through exposure to preferred stimuli or whether patterns of responsive desire would parallel those observed for genital arousal. The study aims to examine patterns of dyadic and solitary sexual desire in response to stimuli differing in incentive value. Thirty androphilic women, 21 gynephilic women, 21 gynephilic men, and 16 androphilic men participated in a sexual psychophysiological session. Participants viewed sexual stimuli that varied the gender of the actors and the intensity of sexual activities depicted. Participants reported their degree of desire for sex with a partner (dyadic desire) and desire to masturbate (solitary desire), before and after each film. Men and gynephilic women exhibited gender-specific patterns of sexual desire. Androphilic women's dyadic desire showed significantly less differentiation between genders, and their solitary desire did not differentiate at all. No gender difference was observed for either type of desire. All groups reported greater desire as stimulus intensity increased. Gender-nonspecific sexual response is not limited to the sexual arousal patterns of androphilic women, but extends to include responsive sexual desire. Men and gynephilic women, however, show gender-specific responsive sexual desire that parallels their sexual arousal patterns.

Biosignal measures of female sexual interest: their feasibility in a forensic context

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the status of biosignal measures of female sexual arousal with a view to examining the feasibility of such procedures in a forensic context. Although adult women represent the minority of sexual offenders, female perpetrated sexual abuse has been gaining increasing attention in the forensic psychological literature as criminal justice is confronted with female offending populations to a greater extent than previously recognised. Design/methodology/approach – Psychological assessments of sex offenders have tended to be over-dependent on the use of self-report measures (i.e. an individual's appraisal and report of their emotional state of sexual arousal). There is a dearth of empirical knowledge concerning the psychophysiological assessment of female sexual interest in general and especially so for female sex offenders. Physiological measures are those that rely on directly observable physiological responses of the individual in order to identify patterns of sexual interest or arousal. Findings – Because deviant sexual interest (in children or the use of violence) as assessed by penile plethysmography, has been established as one of the strongest predictors of recidivism in male sex offenders (and as a viable alternative to self-report methodologies), an analogue measurement approach for female sex offenders is desirable. This paper considers: first, theoretical problems (e.g. what does female physiological arousal mean in terms of sexual arousal/desire?; second, technical measurement problems (e.g. reactivity of the measure in within subject designs); and third, procedural/ethical problems (e.g. invasiveness of the application). Originality/value – While a number of physiological assessment devices are considered in this paper, the paper discusses the labial photoplethysmograph as a promising method for female sexual offender populations.

Gender Similarities and Differences in Sexual Arousal, Desire, and Orgasmic Pleasure in the Laboratory

Relatively little is known about gender differences in the orgasm experience. The objectives of this study were to compare men's and women's patterns of sexual arousal and desire before and after orgasm, and the predictors of their orgasmic pleasure. Using their typical technique, where masturbation enjoyment was similar to that experienced at home, 38 men and 38 women masturbated to orgasm in the laboratory. Physiological sexual arousal (genital temperature) and subjective sexual arousal and desire measurements were taken at baseline, after masturbation almost to orgasm, and immediately and 15 minutes after orgasm. In both genders, all measures increased significantly during masturbation, with a greater buildup leading to a more pleasurable orgasm. After orgasm, however, sexual arousal and desire decreased more quickly and consistently in men than in women, thereby replicating Masters and Johnson's (1966) observations. More men than women exhibited resolution of subjective sexual arousal and sexual satiation; their genital temperature also decreased more than women's but did not return to baseline. Women's orgasmic pleasure was related to a postorgasmic decrease in genital temperature but, unexpectedly, the maintenance of subjective sexual arousal and desire. Future studies should explore whether this pattern explains gender differences in the pursuit of additional orgasms.