Men's erotic fantasies

Ninety-four men were interviewed about their erotic fantasies. The majority of these men were married and the average duration of cohabitation with a woman was 6.5 years. All admitted to having had erotic fantasies outside their sexual activity and a large majority among them fantasized, at least occasionally, during heterosexual activity and masturbation. The contents during heterosexual activity center on three main themes: confirmation of sexual power, aggressiveness, and masochistic fantasies. Men who have more erotic fantasies during their heterosexual activity have the following characteristics: They have more frequent erotic fantasies outside of sexual activity, they are capable of controlling the timing of ejaculation during coitus, they usually take an active role during their sexual activity, they claim that their regular partner has similar erotic fantasies, they state that their ejaculatory pleasure is more intense when it results from manual or oral caress performed by their partner, they prefer the rear entry coital position, they find seminakedness more erotic than the complete nakedness of a woman, they prefer and have sexual activity during the night, they have had homosexual activities sometime during their life, they tend to leave it to their partner to initiate sexual encounters, and they have experienced psychotherapy.     

Correlates of fantasy-induced and film-induced male sexual arousal

Penile circumference and subjective arousal were recorded while 66 men attempted to achieve erection by engaging in fantasy. Similar measures were taken while the same men viewed an erotic film. Not only was fantasyinduced sexual arousal relatively unrelated to film-induced sexual arousal, but the two sets of measures had different correlates. Over and above the contribution attributable to demographic and state variables, the subjects' rated level of fantasy during masturbation and their scores on the Betts QMI Scales predicted significant variance in subjective and physiological arousal. Subjects with low and high levels of fantasy-induced sexual arousal were differentiated on the basis of the vividness of their mental imagery as well as the frequency with which they used the most erotic sexual fantasies when attempting to achieve erection. In contrast to fantasy-induced arousal, filminduced arousal levels were independent of a person's capacity to form images.     

Sex fantasies revisited: An expansion and further clarification of variables affecting sex fantasy production

Findings of prior research which indicated both external factors (experimental response cues and internal factors (sex guilt) influencing subjects' writing of their sexual fantasies were expanded. University males (N = 88) and females (N = 122) were studied. They read sex fantasy examples varying in conventionality of the sexual activity and the relationship context before reporting their own fantasies. Sex guilt level of all subjects was measured as well as their subjective responses to writing the fantasies. The data were analyzed to determine whether varying response cues along certain dimensions could influence subjects to write parallel fantasies. Sex guilt levels and sex of the subject were the best predictors of the length, explicitness, and variety of content of subjects' reported fantasies. Males wrote longer, more explicit and varied fantasies but were affected similarly by sex guilt levels as females. High sex guilt subjects in general produced more restricted content and shorter fantasies. They also experienced more embarrassment and less arousal. Females were more likely to have high levels of guilt about sex than males. The varying dimensions of the fantasy examples had little effect on the types of fantasy material revealed and therefore the erotic/explicit aspect of the examples found in the prior research seems to be the factor that produces effects on fantasy production. Comparing the two studies, females may respond with longer, more explicit fantasies when given erotic but more traditional sexual examples.     

Self-reported frequency of sexual urges,fantasies, and masturbatory fantasies in heterosexual males and females

The frequency of sexual imagery outside of sexual behavior was assessed. In addition, an attempt was made to determine the viability of a distinction between internally generated sexual thoughts (fantasy) and externally provoked sexual thoughts (urge). After a 3-day practice period, 49 male and 47 female heterosexual undergraduates self-monitored the frequency of fantasies, urges, and masturbatory fantasies for 7 consecutive days. The most significant finding was that men reported a significantly greater frequency of sexual urges and masturbatory fantasies than women. No gender differences emerged with respect to fantasies. These findings suggest that a distinction between internally and externally generated sexual imagery is viable and may be useful in future studies examining the frequency, functions, and determinants of sexual imagery.     

The sexual vocabularies of heterosexual and homosexual males and females for communicating erotically with a sexual partner

This study explored what terminology constitutes an erotic or arousing language for male and female, heterosexual and homosexual, and the extent to which that language is used with a sexual partner. Five sexual references were included: male genitalia, female genitalia, lovemaking/coitus, oral—genital contact, and hand—genital contact. Respondents consisted of 120 urban midwestern university students, 30 in each gender and sexual orientation category. Sexual orientation was as powerful a predictor as gender for language that was considered erotic. Lesbians and gay males more often than heterosexual females and males used erotic or arousing vocabulary with a spouse or lover. Gay males more often used slang with a spouse or lover than did heterosexual males and heterosexual females. Implications for sexual arousal based upon communication are discussed.     

A study of fantasy-based sexual arousal in women

The self-reported use of sexual fantasy as an aspect of sexual behavior in natural settings was examined with respect to genital responding to both sexual fantasy and an erotic audiotape within the laboratory. It was predicted that subjects who self-reported a higher frequency of using sexual fantasy during either masturbation or sexual interaction with a partner in extralaboratory settings would be more highly responsive on genital measures of sexual arousal obtained when the subject was generating sexual fantasy within the laboratory. Forty-five female subjects (median age, 21) completed a battery of questionnaires, which included three scales of general imagery ability and frequency, and a detailed sexual history. All subjects then experienced an initial nonstimulated baseline period followed by a second baseline period and an exposure to an erotic audiotape. Genital responding was measured by vaginal photoplethysmography. Those subjects who reported more frequent use of fantasy during masturbation outside the laboratory showed greater genital responses during both fantasy and tape-elicited arousal than those reporting less use of masturbatory fantasy. One of the imagery questionnaires yielded a significant correlation with genital response in the fantasy condition. It appears that cognitive factors have predictive significance for measures of vaginal pressure pulse responses to erotic tape recordings and fantasies.Portions of this paper were presented at the 1979 meetings of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Cincinnati, Ohio.     

Negotiating homosexual identities: the experiences of men who have sex with men in Guangzhou

This paper reports on an ethnographic study of male homosexuality in contemporary Chinese society. The study focused on how men negotiated with the mainstream Chinese heterosexual society and in so doing constructed their sexual identities. The factors found to inform sexual identity were: the cultural imperative of heterosexual marriage, normative family obligations, desired gender roles, emotional experiences and a need for social belonging. The four types of sexual identities constructed included: establishing a deliberate non-homosexual identity, accumulating an individual homosexual identity, forming a collective homosexual identity and adopting a flexible sexual identity. For the men interviewed, sexual identity was both fluid and fragmented, derived from highly personalised negotiations between individualised needs and social and cultural constructs. The analysis is set against the background of China's rapid and recent economic development, shifting national and international social environments and improved access to the Internet.     

男男性行为人群同性恋身份自我认同与艾滋病危险因素的相关性

[目的]探索男男性接触者（MSM）对自己同性恋身份的认同及其与艾滋病相关危险因素的关系。[方法]使用统一设计的调查问卷,对利用＂滚雪球＂、＂网络动员＂等途径招募的151名MSM采用匿名面对面询问方式调查其自我认同、性行为、性伴网络、吸毒史和健康相关行为。[结果]消极自我认同的比例为56.29%（85/151）。文化程度与自我认同有关联性（χ2=8.022,P〈0.05）。自认性取向为同性恋的积极自我认同比例高于自认性取向为双性恋和异性恋者（χ2=5.108,P〈0.05）。不同自我认同和与男性首次性行为年龄、与异性结婚可能性、人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）抗体检测率、过去6个月有异性性伴/固定男性伴/多次男性伴等因素的关联有统计学意义（P值均〈0.05）,其中积极自我认同的MSM与男性首次性行为更多发生在20岁以前、与异性结婚可能性小、更易接受HIV检测服务、拥有固定男性伴比例高、拥有异性性伴和多次男性伴的比例小。[结论]MSM人群消极自我认同的比例较高,其无保护性交和多性伴较广泛地存在,主动求医进行HIV抗体检测率较低,感染HIV危险性和传播桥梁作用也更大。应广泛开展社会反歧视宣传,促进MSM积极自我认同,增进艾滋病预防服务利用,有效降低艾滋病传播的风险。     

Male sexual arousal across five modes of erotic stimulation

Penile circumference changes and subjective sexual arousal were recorded when erotic material depicting the same sequence of events was experienced in five different modes: film, slides, spoken-text, written-text, and fantasy. Twenty-four men were tested within a repeated-measures design, with the order of presentation of modes counterbalanced across subjects. Sessions were separated by 24 hr or more. The highest levels of physiological and subjective arousal were found for film, while fantasy produced the lowest level of arousal. Slides, spoken-text, and written-text elicited intermediate levels of arousal, and these three conditions were equally potent. Factors relating to mode differences in arousal to erotic stimulation are discussed.     

Exploring Variations in Individuals’ Relationships to Sexual Fantasies: A Latent Class Analysis

Sexual fantasies represent a vast and highly personal dimension of human sexuality that remains understudied empirically. This article used a person-oriented approach to examine the reactions of arousal and discomfort that individuals experienced in response to four proposed fantasy scenarios depicting themes of romance, power dynamics (i.e., submission and domination), pain (i.e., sadism and masochism), and sexual violence. Using an online sample of 566 adult participants (250 men and 291 women) from the general population of Canada and the U.S., four classes were identified based on reactions of arousal and discomfort toward the proposed scenarios: Indifferent (relatively low arousal and discomfort to all scenarios, 37%), Romantic (high arousal solely for the romance scenario, high discomfort toward other scenarios, 22%), Enthusiastic (high arousal and low discomfort in response to all scenarios, 26%), and Dissonant (relatively high arousal and discomfort toward all scenarios, 15%). These classes were then compared to examine differences in terms of the following psychosexual characteristics: gender, experiences of childhood sexual abuse, sexual compulsion, and romantic attachment. Findings illustrated distinct patterns of reactions toward fantasies and confirmed the presence of links between reactions toward sexual fantasies, psychosexual characteristics, and traumatic life experiences. This suggests that the relationship between individuals and their sexual fantasies may be indicative of their overall relationship with sexuality.

     

Women's sexual and emotional responses to male- and female-produced erotica

Whether erotic films made by women are more arousing for women than erotic films made by men was studied. Forty-seven subjects were exposed to both a woman-made, female-initiated, and female-centered, erotic film excerpt and a man-made, male-initiated, and male-centered erotic film excerpt. Photoplethysmographic vaginal pulse amplitude was recorded continuously. Self-report ratings of sexual arousal and affective reactions were collected after each stimulus presentation. Contrary to expectation, genital arousal did not differ between films, although genital response to both films was substantial. Subjective experience of sexual arousal was significantly higher during the woman-made film. The man-made film evoked more feelings of shame, guilt, and aversion. Correlations between subjective experience of sexual arousal and photoplethysmographic measures of sexual arousal were nonsignificant. The largest contribution to female sexual excitement might result from the processing of stimulus-content and stimulus-meaning and not from peripheral vasocongestive feedback.     

Psychosocial development of heterosexual,bisexual, and homosexual behavior

Relationships with overt adult Kinsey Scale scores (K) indicate that early sexual experiences are most closely related to K, followed in order by gender related and familial variables. A developmental model emphasizing social learning is presented. Interviewees were 7669 American white males and females.Elevated K (more homosexual scores) was found for females who had few girl companions at age 10 and few male companions at 16, had learned to masturbate by being masturbated by a female, had intense prepubertal sexual contact with boys or men, found thought or sight of females, but not males, arousing by age 18, had homosexual contact by age 18, higher K at 17, and higher first-year homosexual behavior frequency.Elevated K (more homosexual scores) was found for males who reported poorer teenage relationships with their fathers, had more girl companions at age 10, fewer male companions at 10 and 16, avoided sports participation, learned of homosexuality by experience, learned to masturbate by being masturbated by a male, had intense prepubertal sexual contact with boys or men, had neither heterosexual contact nor petting to orgasm by age 18, found thought or sight of males, but not females, arousing by age 18, had homosexual contact by age 18, higher K at ages 16 and 17, and had higher first-year homosexual behavior frequency.Behavioral bisexuals, those scoring between 2.0 and 4.0 on the K scale on the basis of overt behavior (0.7% of females, 1.2% of males), reported more arousal to heterosexual stimuli than did exclusive heterosexuals.     

Increasing Neutral Distraction Inhibits Genital but not Subjective Sexual Arousal of Sexually Functional and Dysfunctional Men

To assess the effects of distraction and level of erotic stimulation on physiological and subjective sexual arousal, sexually dysfunctional (n = 23) and functional (n = 26) men were studied. It was hypothesized from previous investigations that men with erectile dysfunction would show a different genital response pattern to distraction during sexual stimulation when compared with sexually functional men. Distraction load was manipulated through different verbal instructions about how to deal with pairs of random digits. Erotic stimulation level was manipulated through the selection of erotic video content. In both groups, increasing distraction was found to increasingly inhibit genital responding, but not to affect subjective arousal. Both physiological and subjective arousal were higher when erotic stimulation level was high. An interaction effect of distraction and erotic stimulation level was observed: the linear dose-response association that was found during high erotic stimulation was not found under low stimulation conditions, which may reflect a floor effect. The implications of the findings for the cognitive theory of sexual arousal disorder are discussed.     

Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation? 200 Participants Reporting a Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation

Position statements of the major mental health organizations in the United States state that there is no scientific evidence that a homosexual sexual orientation can be changed by psychotherapy, often referred to as reparative therapy. This study tested the hypothesis that some individuals whose sexual orientation is predominantly homosexual can, with some form of reparative therapy, become predominantly heterosexual. The participants were 200 self-selected individuals (143 males, 57 females) who reported at least some minimal change from homosexual to heterosexual orientation that lasted at least 5 years. They were interviewed by telephone, using a structured interview that assessed same sex attraction, fantasy, yearning, and overt homosexual behavior. On all measures, the year prior to the therapy was compared to the year before the interview. The majority of participants gave reports of change from a predominantly or exclusively homosexual orientation before therapy to a predominantly or exclusively heterosexual orientation in the past year. Reports of complete change were uncommon. Female participants reported significantly more change than did male participants. Either some gay men and lesbians, following reparative therapy, actually change their predominantly homosexual orientation to a predominantly heterosexual orientation or some gay men and women construct elaborate self-deceptive narratives (or even lie) in which they claim to have changed their sexual orientation, or both. For many reasons, it is concluded that the participants' self-reports were, by-and-large, credible and that few elaborated self-deceptive narratives or lied. Thus, there is evidence that change in sexual orientation following some form of reparative therapy does occur in some gay men and lesbians.     

Force in Women's Sexual Fantasies

Attitudinal and experiential correlates of sexual fantasies involving force or coercion against the fantasizer were studied in 137 college women. Results revealed that (i) virtually every woman reported engaging in sexual fantasy on a regular basis, (ii) more than half the subjects reported having engaged in a force fantasy, (iii) those reporting force fantasies scored as less sexually guilty and more erotophilic than those not reporting such fantasies. Those reporting force fantasies also had more sexual experience and engaged in more fantasizing of the nonforce type than the other subjects. A history of exposure to sexual force or coercion was unrelated to the report of force fantasies. Taken together, these findings are offered in support of the hypothesis that the occurrence of force fantasies, rather than resulting from an attempt to deal with sexual guilt, represents one of a number of ways in which some women demonstrate a relatively open, unrestricted, and varied approach to their sexuality.     

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.     

Specificity of Sexual Arousal for Sexual Activities in Men and Women with Conventional and Masochistic Sexual Interests

Prior studies consistently report that men’s genital responses correspond to their sexual activity interests (consenting vs. coercive sex) whereas women’s responses do not. For women, however, these results may be confounded by the sexual activities studied and lack of suitable controls. We examined the subjective and genital arousal responses of men and women with conventional (22 men and 15 women) or masochistic sexual interests (16 men and 17 women) to narratives describing conventional sex or masochistic sex. The aims of the studies were twofold: (1) to examine whether gender differences in the specificity of sexual arousal previously observed for gender also exist for sexual activity interests; and (2) to examine whether men and women with masochistic sexual interests demonstrate specificity of sexual response for their preferred sexual activities. Surprisingly, the pattern of results was very similar for men and women. Both men and women with conventional sexual interests (WCI) reported more sexual arousal, and responded more genitally, to conventional than to masochistic sex, demonstrating specificity of sexual arousal for their preferred sexual activities. Despite showing specificity for conventional sexual activities, the genital responses of WCI were still gender nonspecific. In contrast, women and men with masochistic sexual interests demonstrated nonspecific subjective and genital responses to conventional and masochistic sex. Indices of genital and subjective sexual arousal to masochistic versus conventional stimuli were positively and significantly correlated with self-reported thoughts, fantasies, interests, and behaviors involving masochism. The results suggest that gender similarities in the specificity of sexual arousal for sexual activity exist despite consistent gender differences in the specificity of sexual arousal for gender.     

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.