Intrasexual Competition and Sexual Response in Androphilic Women

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Cornett
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Intrasexual Competition ◽  
Sexual Response ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Information Processing Model ◽  
Sexual Stimuli

Androphilic (sexually attracted to men) women demonstrate genital and self-reported arousal to sexual stimuli of both their preferred and non-preferred genders - a “gender-nonspecific” sexual response (e.g., Chivers et al, 2007). One hypothesis for female non-specific arousal patterns is intrasexual competition (the rivalry among the same sex for mates). Previously intrasexual competition has been operationalized as the level of jealousy a woman feels towards another woman. Intrasexual competition has been found to increase attentional adhesion to same sex stimuli (Maner, Gilliot & Roudy, 2007) The Information Processing Model (IPM; Janssen et al, 2000) posits that visual attention to sexual cues may result in a sexual response. Longer viewing times to same sex stimuli motivated by intrasexual competition (Maner et al., 2007) could therefore lead to an increase in self-reported arousal to non-preferred stimuli. This study explores the relationship between traits associated with intrasexual competition and sexual responding (visual attention and self-reported sexual arousal). Androphilic women are exposed to sexual stimuli varying by gender (preferred, non-preferred) and physical attractiveness level (attractive, unattractive). Visual attention is measured using an eye tracker and sexual arousal is assessed by participant self-report.  Intrasexual competition is operationalized through measures of self-reported jealousy, anger, indirect aggression, and body image. I predict the participants will exhibit greater intrasexual competition after viewing images of attractive women compared to images of unattractive women and men. I also explore visual attention as a mediator between intrasexual competition and self-reported sexual arousal.  Data collection for this project is currently underway. Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., & Blanchard, R. (2007). Gender and sexual orientation differences in sexual response to sexual activities versus gender of actors in sexual films. Journal of personality and social psychology, 93(6), 1108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1108 Janssen, E., Everaerd, W., Spiering, M., & Janssen, J. (2000). Automatic processes and the appraisal of sexual stimuli: Toward an information processing model of sexual arousal. Journal of Sex Research, 37(1), 8–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490009552016 Maner, J. K., Gailliot, M. T., Rouby, A., & Miller, S. (2007). Can’t Take My Eyes Off You: Attentional Adhesion to Mates and Rivals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(3), 389–401. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.3.389

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

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Nanos
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Sexual Response ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Sexual Information ◽  
Sexual Stimuli ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
Will Self

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

scholarly journals Visual Attention and Sexual Function in Women

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Milani ◽  
Samantha J. Dawson ◽  
Julia Velten
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dysfunction ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Sexual Function ◽  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Sexual Response ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Sexual Stimuli

Abstract Purpose of Review Theoretical models situate attention as integral to the onset and regulation of sexual response and propose that problems with sexual response and subsequent sexual dysfunction result from insufficient attentional processing of sexual stimuli. The goal of this paper is to review literature examining the link between attentional processing of sexual stimuli and sexual function in women. Specifically, we sought to understand whether women with and without sexual dysfunction differ in their visual attention to sexual stimuli and examined the link with sexual response, which would support attention as a mechanism underlying sexual dysfunction. Recent Findings Across women with and without sexual concerns, sexual stimuli are preferentially attended to relative to nonsexual stimuli, suggesting that sexual stimuli are more salient than nonsexual stimuli. Differences between women with and without sexual dysfunction emerge when examining visual attention toward the most salient features of sexual stimuli (e.g., genital regions depicting sexual activity). Consistent with theoretical models, visual attention and sexual response are related, such that increasing attention to sexual cues facilitates sexual arousal, whereas reduced attention to sexual stimuli appears to suppress sexual arousal, which may contribute to sexual difficulties in women. Summary Taken together, the research supports the role of visual attention in sexual response and sexual function. These findings provide empirical support for interventions that target attentional processing of sexual stimuli. Future research is required to further delineate the specific attentional mechanisms involved in sexual response and investigate whether these are modifiable. This knowledge may be beneficial for developing novel psychological interventions targeting attentional processes in the treatment of sexual dysfunctions.

Gender-specific genital and subjective sexual arousal to prepotent sexual stimuli in androphilic men and gynephilic women

2021 ◽  
pp. e20210004
Author(s):  
Nina Micanovic ◽  
Amanda D. Timmers ◽  
Meredith L. Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Sexual Response ◽  
Sex Characteristics ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Sexual Stimuli ◽  
Subjective Sexual Arousal ◽  
Gender Specific

Marked differences have been found in men’s and women’s sexual response patterns, contingent upon their sexual orientation; androphilic (attracted to men) and gynephilic (attracted to women) men demonstrate greatest genital and self-reported arousal to their preferred stimulus type (a “gender-specific” response), whereas androphilic women do not, and findings for gynephilic women have been mixed. While there have been many investigations into gynephilic men’s and androphilic women’s (i.e., heterosexual men/women) sexual response, there has been less investigation into the specificity of sexual response of androphilic men and gynephilic women. Given the complex nature of sexual stimuli that are used in sexual response research, it is often unclear to what extent contextual cues (e.g., cues other than the sexual actor’s primary and secondary sex characteristics, such as physical attractiveness, sexual activity, etc.) influence participants’ sexual response patterns. As such, the current study examined genital, discrete self-reported, and continuous self-reported responses of androphilic men ( n = 22) and gynephilic women ( n = 10) to prepotent sexual features (stimuli thought to elicit automatic sexual arousal: erect penises and exposed vulvas), non-prepotent sexual features (flaccid penises and pubic triangles) and neutral stimuli (clothed men and women). Both samples exhibited a gender-specific pattern of genital, self-reported, and continuous self-reported sexual arousal. Similarly, all measures of sexual arousal were generally found to be greatest to “prepotent” sexual cues. Implications for understanding gender specificity of sexual response are discussed.

scholarly journals Visual attention and sexual arousal in women with and without sexual dysfunction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Velten ◽  
Sonia Milani ◽  
Jürgen Margraf ◽  
Lori Anne Brotto
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dysfunction ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Sexual Arousal ◽  
Sexual Functioning ◽  
Fixation Duration ◽  
Clinical Group ◽  
Heterosexual Couples ◽  
Sexual Stimuli ◽  
Genital Area ◽  
Total Fixation

Attending to sexual stimuli is an important means to facilitate sexual arousal and is thereby relevant for healthy sexual functioning. Studies suggest that sexual dysfunction is associated with less attention towards sexual stimuli. The goal of this study was to use an eye-tracking-based free-viewing paradigm to investigate whether women with sexual dysfunction visually attend to the genital area in dynamic sexual stimuli (i.e., erotic videos) differently than women with subclinical sexual function or those with normal sexual functioning. A total of 69 women (Mage = 27.77, SD = 8.00) with clinical (n = 30), subclinical (n = 23), and normal (n = 16) levels of sexual functioning watched four 1-min video clips depicting heterosexual couples engaging in vaginal intercourse or cunnilingus while the total fixation duration on the genital area as well as their subjective and genital sexual arousal were recorded. As hypothesized, the clinical group fixated on the genital area less than women with normal sexual functioning. A longer total fixation duration on the genital area was followed by increases in subjective arousal and genital arousal. The relationship between attention and arousal was not moderated by sexual functioning group. This study provides first evidence of the role of sustained visual attention for facilitating sexual arousal in women with and without sexual dysfunction.

Women’s Strategic Defenses Against Same-Sex Aggression: Evidence From Sartorial Behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 770-781
Author(s):  
Jaimie Arona Krems ◽  
Ashley M. Rankin ◽  
Stefanie B. Northover
Keyword(s):  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
Intrasexual Competition ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Sexual Permissiveness ◽  
Intrasexual Aggression ◽  
Individual Features ◽  
Significant Attention

Women’s intrasexual competition has received significant attention only in the last decades, with even less work investigating women’s defenses against such aggression. Yet, we should expect that women can (a) grasp which perceptually-salient cues evoke same-sex aggression and (b) strategically damp the display of (some of) those cues when aggression risk is greatest, thereby avoiding the potentially high costs of victimization. Women selectively aggress against women displaying cues of sexual permissiveness (e.g., revealing dress) and/or desirability (e.g., physical attractiveness). We find that (a) women (and men) anticipate greater intrasexual aggression toward women dressed revealingly versus modestly, especially if targets are attractive. Employing behavioral and self-report measures, we also find (b) women create outfits baring less skin, select more modest clothing, and intend to dress less revealingly to encounter other women, flexibly damping permissiveness cues depending on individual features (physical attractiveness) and situational features (being a newcomer) that amplify aggression risk.

Associations between Daydreaming Style and Information Processing Predispositions

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Tanaka ◽  
A. T. Panter ◽  
Wayne C. Winborne
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Need For Cognition ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common

Various domains of chronic predispositions in information processing have been studied from different perspectives. For example, strict experimentally-based information processing paradigms stem from a different research tradition than daydreaming styles. This study considers the association between these domains by examining the interrelations between two-self report measures of chronic information processing. One measure is the Need for Cognition, developed in the social cognition literature to study individual differences in chronic tendencies to utilize information. The second measure, the Short Imaginal Processes Inventory, is a measure of daydreaming style. Results show that these measures are related. A single bipolar dimension measuring affective/evaluative domains in information processing underlying the common properties of both measures is identified. Extensions of this research to domains in clinical and social psychology are discussed.

scholarly journals What People Look at in Multimodal Online Dating Profiles: How Pictorial and Textual Cues Affect Impression Formation

2021 ◽  
pp. 009365022199531
Author(s):  
Tess van der Zanden ◽  
Maria B. J. Mos ◽  
Alexander P. Schouten ◽  
Emiel J. Krahmer
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Impression Formation ◽  
Online Dating ◽  
Information Processing Model ◽  
Secondary Role ◽  
Multimodal Information ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Multimodal Information Processing ◽  
Textual Cues

This study investigates how online dating profiles, consisting of both pictures and texts, are visually processed, and how both components affect impression formation. The attractiveness of the profile picture was varied systematically, and texts either included language errors or not. By collecting eye tracking and perception data, we investigated whether picture attractiveness determines attention to the profile text and if the text plays a secondary role. Eye tracking results revealed that pictures are more likely to attract initial attention and that more attractive pictures receive more attention. Texts received attention regardless of the picture’s attractiveness. Moreover, perception data showed that both the pictorial and textual cues affect impression formation, but that they affect different dimensions of perceived attraction differently. Based on our results, a new multimodal information processing model is proposed, which suggests that pictures and texts are processed independently and lead to separate assessments of cue attractiveness before impression formation.

scholarly journals The development of a model for geodesic learning: The geodesic information processing model

1997 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline M. Leaf ◽  
Brenda Louw ◽  
Isabel Uys
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Traditional Learning ◽  
Information Processing Model ◽  
The People ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Alternative Service ◽  
Learning Institutions

The current article suggests that alternatives to the current traditional learning methods are essentials if learning institutions are to provide people with effective life skills that enable them to be autonomous learners. This suggestion is based on a body of literature on alternative learning which stresses the need for fundamental change and hence, a paradigm shift in perception of learning in order to cope with the world-wide information explosion. The alternative non-traditional approach proposed in geodesic learning which stresses learning how to learn and self-directed inquiry as essential life skills which enable systems as well as the people in the systems to bring about their own transformation in response to changing situations and requirements. The current article discusses an alternative service delivery model, the geodesic information processing model, which falls within the realms of the geodesic philosophy. The implications of this alternative approach for the speech-language therapist are discussed.

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