Beliefs about Men’s Sexual Self-Control Predict Attitudes toward Women’s Immodest Clothing and Public Breastfeeding

Why do some people have negative views toward mundane behaviors such as women breastfeeding in public or wearing revealing clothing? We suggest that moral opposition to these behaviors may partly stem from their perceived effects on men’s sexual responses. We hypothesized that (a) people would stereotype men as having relatively less control of their sexual urges (i.e., lower sexual self-control) compared to women and that (b) stereotypes about men’s sexual self-control would uniquely predict attitudes about women’s mundane (but potentially sexually arousing) behaviors. Five studies show that (a) people stereotyped men (vs. women) as lacking sexual self-control (Study 1) and (b) endorsement of this stereotype was associated with opposition to public breastfeeding and immodest clothing (Studies 2-5). The effects hold even after controlling for potential confounds and seem specific to relevant moral domains, although women (vs. men) tend not to view these behaviors as moral issues.

Sexual Orientation, Sexual Arousal, and Finger Length Ratios in Women

In general, women show physiological sexual arousal to both sexes. However, compared with heterosexual women, homosexual women are more aroused to their preferred sex, a pattern typically found in men. We hypothesized that homosexual women’s male-typical arousal is due to their sex-atypical masculinization during prenatal development. We measured the sexual responses of 199 women (including 67 homosexual women) via their genital arousal and pupil dilation to female and male sexual stimuli. Our main marker of masculinization was the ratio of the index to ring finger, which we expected to be lower (a masculine pattern) in homosexual women due to increased levels of prenatal androgens. We further measured observer- and self-ratings of psychological masculinity–femininity as possible proxies of prenatal androgenization. Homosexual women responded more strongly to female stimuli than male stimuli and therefore had more male-typical sexual responses than heterosexual women. However, they did not have more male-typical digit ratios, even though this difference became stronger if analyses were restricted to white participants. Still, variation in women's digit ratios did not account for the link between their sexual orientation and their male-typical sexual responses. Furthermore, homosexual women reported and displayed more masculinity than heterosexual women, but their masculinity was not associated with their male-typical sexual arousal. Thus, women’s sexual and behavioral traits, and potential anatomical traits, are possibly masculinized at different stages of gestation.

Modelling of Chronic Stress in Male Rats Subjected to Prolonged Isolation

Artificially created social isolation in rodents models a form of chronic stress that causes neurodegenerative changes in the brain and subsequent behavioral changes. The aim of this study was to simulate chronic stress in male rats by social isolation and to determine how chronic stress affects the behavioral and sexual responses of rats. During the simulation of chronic stress, rats were divided into two groups: experimental one, where laboratory animals were kept in separate cells for 10 weeks, and control one, where laboratory animals were kept under normal conditions. Subsequently, a clinical examination of each rat, behavioral tests (“Open Field”, “Forced Swimming of Porsolt”, “Raised Cruciate Maze”) and a study of male sexual behavior were carried out to detect changes in behavioral and sexual responses of the animals. The obtained results of behavioral tests and sexual behavior claim marked changes in behavioral and sexual reactions in the experimental group of animals (high emotional reactivity, reduced orientation and research reactions, high sexual activity and increased aggression against females). Thus, the authors conclude on successful modelling of chronic stress through social isolation. This model can be used at the deeper study and development of methods of neuropsychiatric disorders therapy.

Learned but Not Chosen: A Reward Competition Feedback Model for the Origins of Sexual Preferences and Orientations

Is sexual orientation an evolutionary adaptation or social construct? With respect to sexual preferences, to what extent are we “born that way” and to what extent does learning matter? This chapter discusses how nature and nurture may interact to shape sexual motivation by reviewing existing literature on sexual preferences and orientations, as well as by considering sex/gender differences in erotic plasticity, sexual fluidity, and the specificity of sexual arousal. We describe how these phenomena might be accounted for by processes in which mind body feedback loops amplify some sexual responses over others on multiple levels, which we refer to as the Reward Competition Feedback (RCF) model. With respect to sex/gender differences, we describe how these positive feedback processes might be amplified in men compared with women, potentially substantially driven by differences in the constraints and affordances of female and male anatomy. More specifically, we argue that the well-known female-male difference in the concordance of genital and subjective arousal may contribute to well-known differences in sexual specificity and plasticity/fluidity. We further provide convergent support for RCF by reviewing preexisting theories of sexual learning. Finally, we consider some of the ethical implications of models in which sexual orientation might be shaped by experiences over the course of development.

Preliminary Evidence on How the Dual Control Model Predicts Female Sexual Response to a Bogus Negative Feedback

The Dual Control Model of sexual response has been mostly tested with men. As such, there is a lack of evidence on how such model applies to women’s experience of sexual arousal, particularly when they face a threatening situation such as the threat of sexual performance failure. The aim of the current study was to test whether the Dual Control Model dimensions predict women’s sexual responses to a bogus negative feedback about their sexual performance. In addition, 22 women were exposed to a sexually explicit film clip, while their genital arousal was being measured. During this presentation, a bogus negative feedback, aimed at increasing women’s anxiety about their sexual performance, was provided. Vaginal photopletismography and self-report questions were used as means to evaluate women’s genital and subjective sexual arousal, respectively. The Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women was further used to capture women’s sexual dynamics. Regression analysis on the high-order factors revealed that sexual excitation proneness was the only predictor of the subjective sexual responses, while none of the factors has predicted genital arousal. “Arousability” and “Concerns about sexual function” dimensions predicted subjective sexual arousal. Sexual arousability may prevent women of lowering their subjective sexual responses in a sexually demanding situation, while “Concerns about sexual function” may have the opposite role, thus being a target of clinical interest. This work provides new data on the Dual Control Model of sexual response, and particularly on its role in women’s sexual functioning.