Sexual Items Research Articles

Sex, stress and sleep

One of the main sequelae to prolonged stressful situations is the development of depressive illness, which is usually accompanied by sexual dysfunction, insomnia and anxiety. The SSRIs that are used to treat depression may themselves aggravate these symptoms further and so delay recovery from the ‘stress-illness vicious circle’. These problems would appear to be considerably less with the newer sedative antidepressant drugs, such as nefazodone and mirtazapine. In a small (N=14) open-label study, data on these factors was recorded before and after 5-weeks treatment with mirtazapine. There were highly significant improvements on the Hamilton Depression and Anxiety rating scales and also on the Sexual Stress and Sleep Problems items of the Wheatley Stress Profile (WSP) (p=0·0001 respectively). © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fallacies in memory for conversations: Reflections on Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, and the Like

AbstractThis study examines conditions that relate to fallacies in memory for conversations. This research tests a cognitive interpretation for why a conversation might be vividly memorable to one eyewitness but not to another. Specifically, a test of gist and verbatim memory for sexual versus non sexual material is presented. In addition, the relative memorability of sexual versus non sexual mateial is tested as a function of the consistency of the context in which it is presented. In two experiments participants heard a recorded conversation between a man and a woman that included four sexual and four non sexual target sentences. The conversation was framed as having been recorded in either a singles bar (the consistent context) or an office setting (the inconsistent context). Sexual items were recalled and recognized better than non sexual items, on both gist and verbatim memory tasks, and the difference in gist (but not verbatim) memory between sexual and non sexual items was greater in the inconsistent than in the consistent context. The discussion considers how this pattern of results might illuminate slippages in memory that may have occured during the Clarence Thomas‐Anita Hill hearing (U. S. Supreme Court appointment review; October 1991) as well as memory slippages more generally.

Do sex-linked behaviors in children influence relationships with their parents?

When relationships are found between parents' and children's behaviors it is usually assumed the parents' behaviors produced those of the children. Forty-four young adult males and 36 young adult females reported the degree to which they showed various sex-linked behaviors and feelings of same versus opposite sex identity in childhood, and adolescence, and currently. These behaviors accounted for up to 57% of the variance of measures of the quality of relationships with parents. In men, opposite-sex-linked behaviors and identity correlated most strongly with current negative parental and particularly paternal relationships. They also correlated strongly with negative paternal relationships in childhood. Some sex-linked behaviors and sex identity items in men correlated positively with maternal overprotection in childhood and adolescence. Correlations between women's sex-linked behaviors and sexual identity items and their parental relationships were weaker but more consistently negative. As in men, opposite-sex-linked behaviors and identity in women correlated most strongly with current negative paternal relationships. The pattern of the associations and the finding that many opposite-sex-linked behaviors in subjects' childhood correlated most strongly with negative parental relationships in early adult life suggest that the parents' feelings could be partly a response to, rather than totally causal of, the subjects' sex-linked behaviors.

Body Image for Women: Conceptualization, Assessment, and a Test of its Importance to Sexual Dysfunction and Medical Illness.

The content and valence of women's body image attitudes, general and enduring positive or negative feelings about the body, are studied with psychometric analyses of measures and contrasted groups. Data from two frequently used measures (Body Image Scale, Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1979; Body Satisfaction Scale, Berscheid, Walster & Bohrnstedt, 1973) provided an evaluation of the construct and the assessment of body image. Two studies are provided. The construct analyses suggest two contents for body attitude measures: a general factor of body, facial, and sexual (genital and breast) items, and a second factor assessing weight and/or its body correlates-the hips, thighs, and buttocks. Also, a method factor, a response style of negativity, may be important. Body image attitudes are correlated with some conceptually relevant criteria, such as interest in engaging in sexual activity; however, these relationships do not appear sufficiently strong to predict behavior, such as the occurrence or resolution of sexual dysfunction. Generalized body image disturbance as currently conceptualized and assessed may be difficult to document, particularly when item content and response styles are considered.

Role relationships: lesbian perspectives.

This questionnaire study of 140 lesbians, 70 couples who have lived together for one or more years, explores equality and role relationships. We predicted that lesbians would achieve partnerships characterized by equality and freedom from traditional butch-femme role playing. Financial sharing and decision-making were found to be characterized by high degrees of equality. Household responsibilities tended to be performed individually, but no role-playing was evident. Sexual intimacy items indicated less perceived equality than other areas. And overall, some partners were viewed as unequal. The variables of age, income, education, occupation, assets, and years living together did not explain the inequality observed.

A comparative study of swingers and nonswingers: Attitudes and beliefs

Using cognitive dissonance theory it was hypothesized that swingers would be more liberal on items which directly relate to sex and sexual “deviance.” As the issues become less relevant to sex, however, this liberalism was hypothesized to disappear. Swingers and nonswingers completed a questionnaire containing groups of items ranging from directly relevant to totally irrelevant to sex. Results indicated general support for the hypotheses, with the biggest differences between the two groups occurring on the sexual items (premarital sex, birth control, abortion, homosexuality, pornography, sex on TV, and satisfaction with own sex life). Differences also appeared on issues related to marriage and the family (divorce, interracial marriage, and sex) and religion. Three questions relevant to women's roles produced contradictory results. Eleven items concerning political and economic issues revealed four significant differences. Here, swingers were more liberal on the legalization of marijuana but more conservative on capital punishment, welfare, and controlling business. Finally, a breakdown on all the items by sex revealed the females to be more satisfied with their friends and their sex life, and the males to be more in favor of the women staying at home.

Behavioral sex therapy: A preliminary study of its effectiveness in a clinical setting

Abstract In this study the efficacy of behavioral sex therapy provided to 21 couples by experienced clinicians in a clinical setting was examined. Pre‐treatment test‐retest reliability (3 months) on measures of sexual and marital functioning was obtained as well as immediate and 8‐month posttreatment changes. Findings at each stage were compared with results from a demographically comparable group of 17 well‐adjusted couples. Substantial improvements in the presenting complaint were reported by most of the dysfunctional couples at follow‐up. However, some of the gains found in components of sexual interaction were not durable. There was a marked similarity between the well‐adjusted and the dysfunctional subjects, both before and after therapy, on ratings of nonsexual dimensions of marital functioning. In contrast, on most sexual items, the well‐adjusted group's ratings were superior to those of the dysfunctional couples prior to treatment and remained so at post‐treatment and at follow‐up. The magnitude of the improvements did not elevate the clinical sample to levels of functioning indicated by the well‐adjusted subjects, suggesting that therapeutic tactics for sexual disorders might be improved by investigating more thoroughly the specific characteristics of non‐problematic sexual interaction.

Social desirability ratings from males and females: a sexual item pool.

Social desirability ratings from males and females: a sexual item pool.

Emotional Involvement as a Factor in the Learning Process

To illustrate the effect of emotion upon learning, a vocabulary test of little-known words in abnormal psychology was given to forty-two college students as a pretest and 6 weeks later as a posttest. Increases in scores were interpreted as evidence of learning, which occurred differentially under three conditions. Sexual items produced the greatest increase. Word associations used as a learning aid also produced a significant increase. A third condition, which employed no aids and served as a control, produced no significant increase. The fact that sexual items produced such a dramatic increase in scores was interpreted as evidence of the effect of emotion upon learning.