Sexual Arousal Patterns Research Articles

Sexual and Affective Responses to Same- and Opposite-Sex Stimuli in Heterosexual and Homosexual Men: Assessment and Manipulation of Visual Attention

Affective and cognitive factors play an important role in the activation and regulation of men's sexual arousal. Barlow (1986) argued that initial affective reactions determine the allocation of attention to sexual stimuli. We applied Barlow's model to our understanding of the role of sexual arousal in sexual orientation, where sexual arousal patterns have consistently been found to be congruent with self-reported orientation in men, but not in women. Visual attention of 28 heterosexual and 22 homosexual men to same- and opposite-sex erotic stimuli was assessed and experimentally-directed by means of a newly developed software application, while genital (penile rigidity) and affective responses (self-reported and physiological) were measured. In line with previous research, we found "category specificity" in men's sexual arousal, in that sexual responses were strongest to orientation-congruent stimuli. Also, both homosexual and heterosexual men experienced stronger sexual responses to conditions in which their attention was directed to sexual versus nonsexual content of orientation-congruent stimuli. Only homosexual men manifested higher sexual responses when their visual attention was directed towards the sexual content of orientation-incongruent stimuli. Heterosexual men experienced weaker positive and stronger negative affective responses to orientation-incongruent content, suggestive of potential avoidance or inhibitory mechanisms.

Does Menstrual Cycle Phase Influence the Gender Specificity of Heterosexual Women’s Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal?

Unlike men, heterosexual women's genital arousal is gender nonspecific, such that heterosexual women show relatively similar genital arousal to sexual stimuli depicting men and women but typically report greater subjective arousal to male stimuli. Based on the ovulatory-shift hypothesis-that women show a mid-cycle shift in preferences towards more masculine features during peak fertility-we predicted that heterosexual women's genital and subjective arousal would be gender specific (more arousal towards male stimuli) during peak fertility. Twenty-two naturally-cycling heterosexual women were assessed during the follicular and luteal phases of their menstrual cycle to examine the role of menstrual cycle phase in gender specificity of genital and subjective sexual arousal. Menstrual cycle phase was confirmed with salivary hormone assays; phase at the time of first testing was counterbalanced. Women's genital and subjective sexual arousal patterns were gender nonspecific, irrespective of cycle phase. Cycle phase at first testing session did not influence genital or subjective arousal in the second testing session. Similar to previous research, women's genital and subjective sexual arousal varied with cues of sexual activity, but neither genital nor subjective sexual arousal varied by gender cues, with the exception of masturbation stimuli, where women showed higher genital arousal to the stimuli depicting male compared to female actors. These data suggest that menstrual cycle phase does not influence the gender specificity of heterosexual women's genital and subjective sexual arousal.

Neural correlates of sexual arousal in heterosexual and homosexual women and men

Most men have a category-specific pattern of genital and subjective sexual arousal, responding much more strongly to erotic stimuli depicting their preferred sex than to erotic stimuli depicting their nonpreferred sex. In contrast, women tend to have a less specific arousal pattern. To better understand this sex difference, we used neuroimaging to explore its neural correlates. Heterosexual and homosexual women viewed erotic photographs of either men or women. Evoked neural activity was monitored via fMRI and compared with responses to the same stimuli in heterosexual and homosexual men. Overall, a network of limbic (as well as the anterior cingulate) and visual processing regions showed significantly less category-specific activity in women than men. This was primarily driven by weaker overall activations to preferred-sex stimuli in women, though there was also some evidence of stronger limbic activations to nonpreferred-sex stimuli in women. Primary results were similar for heterosexual and homosexual participants. Women did show some evidence of category-specific responses in the visual processing regions, although even in these regions they exhibited less differential activity than men. In the anterior cingulate, a region with high concentrations of sex-hormone receptors, subjective and neural category specificity measures correlated positively for women but negatively for men, suggesting a possible sex difference in the role of the anterior cingulate. Overall, results suggest that men tend to show more differentiated neural responses than do women to erotic photographs of one sex compared to the other sex, though women may not be entirely indifferent to which sex is depicted.

Is responsive sexual desire for partnered sex problematic among men? Insights from a two-country study

In contrast to the body of research focusing on female sexual desire, there has been very little research into patterns of male sexual desire. This study addresses this deficiency in the literature by providing empirical answers to the following three questions: (1) is there a pattern of responsive sexual desire – defined as being predominantly receptive to a partner's initiation of sexual activity without initially desiring it – among men? (2) Is this pattern associated with lower levels of sexual health than a more spontaneous pattern of male desire? (3) Are existing clinical observations regarding possible causes of reduced interest in partnered sex useful for understanding the more responsive men's sexual desire? A large online survey about men's sexual interest was conducted in 2011 among 2215 Norwegian and Portuguese men aged 18–75 years (the average age in the sample was 36.5 years). Sociodemographic, health-related, sociosexual and relationship-related information was collected. Three distinct patterns of male sexual desire were observed: decreased (23.6%), responsive (2.5%) and spontaneous (73.9%) desire patterns. Men in the more responsive and spontaneous desire groups significantly differed from participants in the decreased desire group, as they reported significantly higher levels of sexual interest, sexual satisfaction and frequency of sexual intercourse and were less likely to have experienced sexual health difficulties in the past 12 months. Interestingly, participants with more responsive and spontaneous desire patterns were indistinguishable in terms of a number of sociodemographic, health-related, sociosexual and relationship-related variables. The sole predictor of the responsive sexual desire pattern was proneness to relationship-related sexual boredom. Clinical observations about the roles of negative emotions, relationship strain and specific sexual arousal patterns (homoerotic, autoerotic and/or paraphilic) in the etiology of hypoactive sexual desire did not seem relevant for men with responsive desire.

Habituation of Sexual Responses in Men and Women: A Test of the Preparation Hypothesis of Women's Genital Responses

Laboratory studies have revealed two well-replicated sex differences in sexual arousal patterns: category specificity and sexual concordance. Men's genital responses are dependent on specific sexual cues and are concordant with subjective reports of arousal. Women's genital responses are much less dependent on specific sexual cues and are much less concordant with their subjective reports. The preparation hypothesis provides a functional explanation for these sex differences and posits that women's genital responses are not tied to sexual preferences but rather occur automatically in the presence of any sexual cue to protect the genital tissues from injuries incurred through sexual activity. This hypothesis leads to the expectation that women's genital responses may not habituate as quickly or as completely as men's. To determine whether there is a sex difference in the habituation of genital responses and to further test the preparation hypothesis of women's genital responses. Twenty men and 20 women had their genital responses measured while they were exposed to nine consecutive presentations of the same erotic film clip (habituation), followed by two presentations of different erotic film clips (novelty), and followed by two presentations of the original erotic film clip (dishabituation). Genital responses were measured continuously using penile strain gauges (assessing penile circumference) and vaginal probes (assessing vaginal pulse amplitude). Participants reported subjective sexual arousal, perceived genital arousal, and attention after each film clip presentation. Men and women displayed very similar patterns of genital responses, consistent with habituation and novelty effects. Effects of habituation and novelty were eliminated once subjective reports of attention were covaried. Contrary to the prediction from the preparation hypothesis of women's genital responses, men's and women's responses showed similar patterns of habituation upon repeated exposure. Future research should attempt to maintain participants' attention in order to further test the preparation hypothesis.

Physiological Evidence for a Mostly Heterosexual Orientation Among Men

A review of over 60 studies published from 1994 to 2012, covering 26 different samples from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States that included sufficient data for participants to be designated as mostly heterosexual (Kinsey 1s) concluded that such individuals showauniqueprofileof sexualandromanticcharacteristics that differentiate them as a distinctive sexual orientation (SavinWilliams & Vrangalova, in press). Mostly heterosexuals differed from two adjacent groups, exclusively heterosexuals and substantiallybisexuals, in reportingasmalldegreeofsame-sex sexual and/or romantic attraction, fantasies, and, occasionally, same-sex behavior. In addition, they constituted a substantial prevalence in the general population (the second most prevalent sexual orientation group, claimed by a mean of 7.6–9.5 % women and 3.6–4.1 % men), were relatively stable in their orientation over time, and felt that this sexuality was valid and meaningful to them. Onerecommendation fromthis reviewwas toassess whether a mostly heterosexual orientation is reflected in physiological sexual arousal—withspecificbenefitsaccrued if theanswerwas affirmative. Because all previous investigations of mostly heterosexuals have been based on self-report, an important question has not been addressed: Is a mostly heterosexualorientation basedonsubjective reportsof sexualandromanticattraction, fantasy, behavior, and identity manifested in physiological sexual responses? Given the general relationship between self-report andphysiologicalassessmentsofsexualorientation, it isexpected that the two would be congruent among most men. That is, unlike for many women, self-reported sexual orientation is usually strongly reflected in men’s sexual arousal (Bailey, 2009; Chivers, Seto, Lalumiere, Laan, & Grimbos, 2010). Reviewing physiological sexual arousal studies, we found that only a few includedmostly heterosexuals in their samples and none provided a separate analysis of this group. However, mostly heterosexual patterns of arousal were apparent among some heterosexual men. For example, one genital arousal study concluded that most men‘‘may possess a certain capacity for bisexual arousal’’ (Rieger, Chivers, & Bailey, 2005, p. 582); some heterosexual men showed an arousal pattern that can be interpreted as mostly heterosexual, with major arousal toward women and slight arousal toward men. Although an fMRI study scanned self-identified heterosexual and homosexual men, heterosexuals had‘‘exclusive or nearly exclusive sexual activity and feelings’’ for women (Safron et al., 2007, p. 23, emphasis added). A large majority of men show sexual arousal patterns consistentwith their self-reported sexualorientation (Bailey,2009). Thus, we expected that mostly heterosexual men would have considerable physiological sexual responses to females, similar to heterosexual men, and, in addition, some sexual response to males, more so than exclusively heterosexual men but less so than bisexual leaning heterosexual men. We had access to two previously published datasets from separate research programs that allowed us to test this congruence (for research design details, see Rieger & Savin-Williams, 2012; Rosenthal, Sylva, Safron, & Bailey, 2011, 2012). In thefirst study,dataassessing102men’spenile tumescence to erotic stimuli were collected with a focus on three groups: heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual men (Rosenthal et al., 2011, 2012). This research included data on self-reported sexual attraction that allowed us to compare mostly heterosexuals to other men in their genital arousal patterns. R. C. Savin-Williams (&) G. Rieger Sex & Gender Lab, Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA e-mail: savin-williams@cornell.edu

Sexual disorders and crime

Highlighting the relationship between sexual disorders and crime, reviewing and summarizing the articles published throughout 2011 which add to the current knowledge on this subject. Studies on specific populations confirm the association between sexual disorders and crime, particularly between paraphilias and sexual crimes regarding male offenders. Female offenders are less likely to be diagnosed with a sexual disorder. Some case reports focus on unusual paraphilias and lead us to question the vast possibilities of paraphilic contents and sexual arousal patterns. The variations of paraphilic-associated sexual arousal patterns, unconventional sex behaviors or paraphilic disorders are constantly changing. In this sense, the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 current proposals for a sexual dysfunction diagnostic category are under intense discussion because of their important clinical and forensic consequences. Sexual violence is a theme not well understood yet. Because of its nature, researching it can raise many ethical problems. There is no possibility of clinical trials and of case-control studies. Even cohort studies may be problematic in themselves. So, most of the research involves biased samples or case reports, or is merely theoretical. Further research is needed to improve our understanding of the subject, so that preventive and rehabilitative measures can be taken.

Effects of Gender and Relationship Context in Audio Narratives on Genital and Subjective Sexual Response in Heterosexual Women and Men

Previous research suggests that heterosexual women's sexual arousal patterns are nonspecific; heterosexual women demonstrate genital arousal to both preferred and nonpreferred sexual stimuli. These patterns may, however, be related to the intense and impersonal nature of the audiovisual stimuli used. The current study investigated the gender specificity of heterosexual women's sexual arousal in response to less intense sexual stimuli, and also examined the role of relationship context on both women's and men's genital and subjective sexual responses. Assessments were made of 43 heterosexual women's and 9 heterosexual men's genital and subjective sexual arousal to audio narratives describing sexual or neutral encounters with female and male strangers, friends, or long-term relationship partners. Consistent with research employing audiovisual sexual stimuli, men demonstrated a category-specific pattern of genital and subjective arousal with respect to gender, while women showed a nonspecific pattern of genital arousal, yet reported a category-specific pattern of subjective arousal. Heterosexual women's nonspecific genital response to gender cues is not a function of stimulus intensity or relationship context. Relationship context did significantly affect women's genital sexual arousal--arousal to both female and male friends was significantly lower than to the stranger and long-term relationship contexts--but not men's. These results suggest that relationship context may be a more important factor in heterosexual women's physiological sexual response than gender cues.

Feederism: An Exaggeration of a Normative Mate Selection Preference?

Quinsey and Lalumière (1995) suggested that some, if not most, paraphilias are exaggerated manifestations of more normative and functional mate selection preferences. The present study tested whether Feederism, a fat fetish focused on erotic eating, feeding, and gaining weight, is an exaggeration of a sexual arousal pattern commonly seen in the general population. Thirty participants (15 men and 15 women) recruited from the general population were assessed using penile plethysmography and vaginal photoplethysmography, respectively. None of the participants were self-identified Feeders or Feedees. Participants were shown sexual, neutral, and feeding still images while listening to audio recordings of sexual, neutral, and feeding stories. Participants did not genitally respond to feeding stimuli. However, both men and women subjectively rated feeding stimuli as more sexually arousing than neutral stimuli. We discuss the discordance between physiological and self-reported sexual arousal in the context of sex differences in sexual concordance and implications for future research.

Response to Ahlers et al. J Sex Med. May 2011;8(5):1362–1370

I read the recent manuscript by Ahlers et al. [1] with great interest. Nearly two‐thirds of this cohort of 367 German men aged 40–79 endorsed interest in one or more of seven paraphilia‐associated sexual arousal patterns (PASAPs), and nearly half (44%) reported having engaged in paraphilic sexual activity. Less than 2% reported distress from their interest [1].

The Male Bisexuality Debate Revisited: Some Bisexual Men Have Bisexual Arousal Patterns

Self-identified bisexual men report high sexual arousal to both male and female stimuli, but no study to date has compellingly demonstrated that such men have a bisexual pattern of genital arousal. We examined sexual arousal patterns among bisexual men recruited using stringent criteria designed to exclude those who were less likely to have sexual interest in both sexes. Furthermore, we included a bisexual stimulus depicting a man engaged in sex simultaneously with another man and a woman. On average, the bisexual men showed a bisexual arousal pattern, with respect to both self-reported and genital arousal. Additionally, the bisexual men were more aroused by the bisexual stimulus compared with the homosexual and heterosexual men. Some bisexual-identified men have bisexual genital arousal patterns, although it remains unclear how common they are.

In Search of Something Our Study Was Not About: Response to Bailey, Rieger, and Rosenthal (2011)

Bailey, Rieger, and Rosenthal (2011) go at great lengths to try and convince readers that our study (Cerny & Janssen, 2011) failed to demonstrate what it set out to do. However, our study did not set out to do what they claim it set out to do. In fact, Bailey et al. misrepresent the goals, analyses, and conclusions of our study. The goal of our study was not to demonstrate that bisexual men respond with substantial genital arousal to both maleandfemalestimuli. Thepurposeofourstudywas todetermine if men with different sexual orientations show differential genital and subjective arousal patterns to video presentations of bisexual, heterosexual, and homosexual sexual interactions. The genital response analyses did not consist of‘‘two main analyses’’but of one single mixed-model analysis. And our conclusions were not about something Bailey et al. like to refer to as‘‘bisexual arousal.’’Instead, we concluded that bisexuality in men was associated with a unique and specific pattern of sexual arousal. This was based on the finding that the bisexual and other men responded similarly to some and differently to other stimuli—most critically, the bisexual men responded with greater penile tumescence to a video depicting a man engaged in sex with both a man and a woman than both the homosexual or heterosexual men. The Long of It

Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men revisited

Men who identify themselves as bisexual report feeling sexually aroused by both men and women. However, past research has not demonstrated that such men exhibit substantial genital arousal to both male and female erotic stimuli, suggesting that they identify as bisexual for reasons other than their genital arousal pattern. The purpose of the present study was to examine arousal patterns among bisexual men who were recruited using stringent criteria involving sexual and romantic experience with both men and women in order to increase the likelihood of finding a bisexual arousal pattern. Bisexual men in the present study demonstrated bisexual patterns of both subjective and genital arousal. It remains unclear which pattern is most typical of contemporary bisexual men: the present results supporting a bisexual arousal pattern, or previous results not finding one. In either case, understanding men with bisexual arousal patterns could help illuminate the etiology and development of male sexual orientation.

Still in Search of Bisexual Sexual Arousal: Comment on Cerny and Janssen (2011)

In a recent article, Cerny and Janssen (2011) reported the results ofanempirical studycomparingsexualarousalpatternsofbisexual men with those of homosexual and heterosexual men. They concluded:‘‘...bisexuality in men is associated with a unique and specific pattern of sexual arousal.’’ This conclusion contrasted with that of Rieger, Chivers, and Bailey (2005), who conducted a similar study with a larger sample and failed to find evidence that their bisexual sample had an arousal pattern that was unique, specificorbisexual.Rather,Riegeret al. found thatbisexualmenwerenomore likely toexhibitapatternofbisexualgenital arousal than were heterosexual or homosexual men, and that few men in any group had a genital arousal pattern that was plausiblybisexual (i.e., showingsubstantialarousal tobothmale and female stimuli). Cerny and Janssen (2011) supported their conclusion—that bisexual men have a unique, bisexual arousal pattern—using twomainanalyses.Thefirst (henceforth, theGroupMeansAnalysis) compared the average responses of bisexual, heterosexual, and homosexual men to several erotic audiovisual stimuli (i.e., films), including some featuring male homosexual activity and others featuring lesbian sexual activity. Relative arousal to the latter two categories of stimuli strongly distinguishes heterosexual and homosexual men (e.g., Chivers, Rieger, Latty, & Bailey, 2004; Sakheim, Barlow, Beck, & Abrahamson, 1985). Specifically, male homosexual stimuli elicit greater genital and selfreported arousal in homosexual men, whereas lesbian stimuli elicit greater arousal in heterosexual men. The second analysis (henceforth, the Bisexual Stimulus Analysis) compared the average responses of bisexual, heterosexual, and homosexual men to a so-called‘‘bisexual stimulus,’’in which a man simultaneously engaged in sexual activity with a woman and another man. We offer these observations concerning Cerny and Janssen’s (2011) methodology, results, and conclusions:

How Unusual are the Contents of Paraphilias? Paraphilia-Associated Sexual Arousal Patterns in a Community-Based Sample of Men

This is a report of a cross-sectional study on paraphilia-associated sexual arousal patterns (PASAP) among men in a metropolitan city in Germany, EU. To determine the prevalence of PASAP during sexual fantasies, fantasies accompanying masturbation, and real-life sociosexual behavior. In a cross-sectional study, self-reported sexual history data were collected by questionnaire from 367 volunteers recruited from a community sample of 1,915 men aged 40-79 years. The Derogatis Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LSQ; German original, Fragebogen zur Lebenszufriedenheit, [FLZ]) were administered to obtain a general subjective health measure and a measure of general as well as sex life satisfaction. The Questionnaire on Sexual Experiences and Behaviour was administered to comprehensively assess all relevant sexo-medical data. Results. The percent of men that reported at least one PASAP was 62.4%. In 1.7% of cases, PASAP were reported to have caused distress. The presence of PASAP was associated with a higher likelihood of being single (odds ratio [OR] 2.6; 95%; confidence interval [CI] 1.047-6.640), masturbating at least once per week (OR 4.4; 95%; CI 1.773-10.914), or having a low general subjective health score (OR 11.9; 95%; CI 2.601-54.553). Pedophilic PASAP in sexual fantasies and in real-life sociosexual behavior was reported by 9.5% and 3.8% of participants, respectively. The findings suggest that paraphilia-related experience can not be regarded as unusual from a normative perspective. At the same time, many men experience PASAP without accompanying problem awareness or distress, even when PASAP contents are associated with potentially causing harm to others. In view of the relevance for sex life and relationship satisfaction, presence of PASAP should be assessed in all sexual medicine consultations. Future research should focus on conditions in which PASAP reach clinical significance in the sense of mental disorders.

Patterns of Sexual Arousal in Homosexual, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Men

The purpose of this study was to determine if self-identified bisexual, heterosexual, and homosexual men show differential genital and subjective arousal patterns to video presentations of bisexual, heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian sexual interactions. It was predicted that, relative to heterosexual and homosexual stimuli, bisexual men would show the highest levels of sexual arousal to bisexual erotic material, while this stimulus would induce relatively low levels of response in heterosexual and homosexual men. A sample of 59 men (19 homosexual, 13 bisexual, and 27 heterosexual) were presented with a series of 4-min sexual videos while their genital and subjective sexual responses were measured continuously. Bisexual men did not differ significantly in their responses to male homosexual stimuli (depicting men engaging in sex) from homosexual men, and they did not differ significantly in their responses to heterosexual (depicting two women, without same-sex contact, engaged in sex with a man) and lesbian (depicting women engaging in sex) stimuli from heterosexual men. However, bisexual men displayed significantly higher levels of both genital and subjective sexual arousal to a bisexual stimulus (depicting a man engaged in sex with both a man and a woman) than either homosexual or heterosexual men. The findings of this study indicate that bisexuality in men is associated with a unique and specific pattern of sexual arousal.

Sexual Arousal to Female Children in Gynephilic Men

Phallometric assessments of single-victim sexual offenders against children have suggested that only about 50% of these men are more attracted to children than they are to adults. This has raised the question of what motivates the other 50% of men to approach young girls for sex. Freund et al. showed that gynephilic men (i.e., men preferentially attracted to adult women) evidenced greater arousal to images of prepubescent girls than to images of males of any age or to nonerotic images, arguing that gynephilic men may approach prepubescent girls as a "surrogate" for their preferred erotic targets (i.e., adult women). One might argue that these phallometric results are artifactual, given that they were obtained in a time period during which images of nudity were far less common than they are today (thus any female nudity might have elicited arousal). To address this issue, the authors examined the sexual arousal patterns of 214 contemporary men who, based on self-report, offense history, and phallometric responses, were purely gynephilic. Results showed the "classical control profile": the greatest arousal to adult women, systematically decreasing arousal as the female stimuli became younger, and essentially no arousal to any age categories of males or to neutral (nonerotic) stimuli. Arousal to both pubescent and prepubescent girls was significantly greater than to neutral stimuli (p < .001 for both). Thus, Freund et al.'s results still appear to be valid, and the explanation for child molesting that they suggest still seems to be feasible.

Assessing Sexual Deviance: A Comparison of Physiological, Historical, and Self-Report Measures

A variety of instruments and techniques are available for assessing sexually deviant interests and arousal among those who have committed sexual offenses. These measures include those that rely on objective or physiological data, self-reported information from the offender, and historical behavior. In this study, several assessment methods from each category were examined and compared with one another to determine their similarity and their usefulness in identifying sexual interest and arousal patterns in known sexual offenders. Comparisons between these instruments and their relation to known behavior are described, as well as effective combinations of assessment tools that may be helpful in better categorizing interest and arousal patterns across different types of sex offenses.

Are There “Hebephiles” Among Us? A Response to Blanchard et al. (2008)

Blanchard et al. (2008) call for the addition of a paraphilic condition to the DSM-V termed hebephilia. Beyond the fact that there was no control group employed by Blanchard et al. in order to compare the obtained results against normative patterns of sexual arousal of men, there were multiple methodological issues that preclude a call for the establishment of hebephilia as a diagnostic entity in the DSM-V. I find no problem with the plethysmography methodology employed by Blanchard et al.; however, I would note that Blanchard et al. did not specify whether the procedure for eliciting self-report of the subjects described as ‘‘a great deal of exploration’’ preceded or followed the physiological measurements. It would have been more sound for this procedure to follow physiological measurement so as not to serve as a potential sensitizing factor which could confound the results. Further, the grouping algorithm employed concerns me. There appears to be a significant amount of variability among the defined groups. Why not instead analyze those who reported exclusive or near-exclusive ranges of sexual responding to target age ranges? If none or too few of the participants indicated primary sexual attraction to pubescent males/females in the 11–14 year range in an original sample close to 3000, this is telling in and of itself. Blanchard et al. take Fig. 1 to be evidence that ‘‘the classification algorithm worked.’’ My inspection of the data does not leave me with this conclusion. On a 5-point Likert-type scale measuring a subjective factor, inspection of Fig. 1 reveals a significant amount of variability that may not, in the end, appropriately identify the subgroupings as described in the text. I did not see any statistical analysis of the discriminability of the labels assigned other than gross percentage figures for maximum attractiveness. So the validity of the group memberships themselves is at issue here. The absence of 15–18 year old stimuli also was problematic. I would also like to have seen more multivariate testing performed before charging in to a number of dependent sample t-tests (family wise error rate?). What I find astounding is how Blanchard et al. strongly word their discussion that these results mean ‘‘that hebephilia exists and–– incidentally––that it is relatively common compared with other forms of erotic interest in children.’’ The data do not support the conclusions reached in this article, especially the inclusion of a significant change to the DSM-V. Again, the data do not support the conclusions reached in this article. There does not appear to be any homogeneity of groupings along the axes of sexual interest groups (alluded to above). If there are ‘‘hebephiles’’ among us, then this sexual interest/ arousal pattern appears to be a very heterogeneous one. If it is heterogeneous, how can it have diagnostic specificity as Blanchard et al. state it has in their conclusion? Look at Fig. 3. In the pedophile groups (especially Pedo 2), there was significant overlap between physiological arousal to both pre-pubescent and pubescent girls. As a matter of fact, in their Pedo 2 group, there was more arousal to pubescent girls than to pre-pubescent girls. And this relation does not seem to hold for homosexual males (even though Blanchard et al. state that the hetero/homo groups were remarkably similar). How is that a diagnostic indicator of pedophilia? Also, there was a statistical difference in their pedophiles between pubescent girls and adult women. Is this a group primarily composed of non-exclusive pedophiles? If so, does this have different implication from groupings that would contain exclusive pedophiles? There is no way to answer that question given the data in the study. If their pedophiles show discrepant findings J. J. Plaud (&) 44 Hickory Lane, Whitinsville, MA 01588-1356, USA e-mail: plaud@fdrheritage.org

Sex Differences in Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal: Measurement Artifacts or True Phenomena?

Sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal have been reported recently. Men's genital arousal is typically more category-specific than women's, such that men experience their greatest genital arousal to stimuli depicting their preferred sex partners whereas women experience significant genital arousal to stimuli depicting both their preferred and non-preferred sex partners. In addition, men's genital and subjective sexual arousal patterns are more concordant than women's: The correlation between genital and subjective sexual arousal is much larger in men than in women. These sex differences could be due to low response-specificity in the measurement of genital arousal in women. The most commonly used measure of female sexual arousal, vaginal photoplethysmography, has not been fully validated and may not measure sexual arousal specifically. A total of 20 men and 20 women were presented with various sexual and non-sexual emotionally laden short film clips while their genital and subjective sexual arousal were measured. Results suggest that vaginal photoplethysmography is a measure of sexual arousal exclusively. Women's genital responses were highest during sexual stimuli and absent during all non-sexual stimuli. Sex differences in degree of category-specificity and concordance were replicated: Men's genital responses were more category-specific than women's and men's genital and subjective sexual arousal were more strongly correlated than women's. The results from the current study support the continued use of vaginal photoplethysmography in investigating sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal.