Male bisexual arousal: A matter of curiosity?

Conflicting evidence exists regarding whether bisexual-identified men are sexually aroused to both men and women. We hypothesized that a distinct characteristic, level of curiosity about sexually diverse acts, distinguishes bisexual-identified men with and without bisexual arousal. Study 1 assessed men's (n = 277) sexual arousal via pupil dilation to male and female sexual stimuli. Bisexual men were, on average, higher in their sexual curiosity than other men. Despite this general difference, only bisexual-identified men with elevated sexual curiosity showed bisexual arousal. Those lower in curiosity had responses resembling those of homosexual men. Study 2 assessed men's (n = 72) sexual arousal via genital responses and replicated findings of Study 1. Study 3 provided information on the validity on our measure of sexual curiosity by relating it to general curiosity and sexual sensation seeking (n = 83). Based on their sexual arousal and personality, at least two groups of men identify as bisexual.     

Sexual arousal of the female hamster

Elicitation of the lordosis response, using a manual stimulation technique, was facilitated by contact with an anaesthetized male hamster. Exposure to an intact anaesthetized male decreased latency to lordosis and increased lordosis duration. Exposure to a gonadectomized anaesthetized hamster significantly reduced the latency to lordosis, but did not affect lordosis duration.     

The role of disclosure & perceptions about providers in health discussions among gay and bisexual young men

ObjectivesGay and bisexual men may feel discomfort discussing sensitive topics such as sexual behaviors and substance use with their health providers, which may prevent them from receiving important health information. This study investigates whether patients’ perceptions of their provider’s sexual orientation predicts patient-provider discussions of sexual and general health topics, and whether this relationship is moderated by patients’ disclosure of sexual orientation to providers.MethodsData were collected online from a sample of 576 gay and bisexual men living in the USA, aged 18–26. Adjusted risk ratios were estimated by using modified Poisson regression with robust error variance.ResultsParticipants who believed their providers were gay or bisexual were more likely to have discussed sexual health topics, but not general health topics; simple slopes analyses revealed that this effect was stronger among those who had not disclosed to their providers. Disclosure was also consistently associated with increased likelihood of discussing almost all topics.ConclusionsFindings highlight differences in communication based on disclosure and perceived sexual orientation of provider, suggesting the need to further explore how these differences influence young gay and bisexual men’s health.Practice implicationsDyads may be more likely to discuss sexual health topics when patients believe their providers are sexual minorities themselves. In addition, patient-provider dyads may be likelier to discuss various health topics when providers are aware of patients’ sexual minority statuses.     

Attentional Effects on Sexual Arousal

Lang's theory on emotions was applied to the sexual response: the cognitive processing of information on sexual responses (in contrast to information on sexual stimuli) was predicted to elicit the sexual response. Each of 48 men and 48 women imagined a sexual interaction, looked at a series of slides, and listened to an erotic story. Subjects were instructed to attend to images of sexual stimuli or to images of sexual stimuli plus responses. During imagery the genital response and the experience of sexual arousal were stronger when subjects focused on stimuli plus responses than when they focused on stimuli only. This effect occurred in both men and women. During slides and story a similar effect was found in men, but not in women. The genital response and the experience of sexual arousal were found to correlate more strongly when attentional focus was on stimuli plus responses instead of on stimuli only: in women, and, although marginally significant, also in men.     

Sexual arousal and the quality of semen produced by masturbation

The influence of sexual arousal on the quality of semen producedby masturbation was investigated. One group of 29 patients referredto our andrology outpatient clinic (group A) and one group of14 healthy potential sperm donors filled out a questionnaireafter having produced two semen samples, at least 1 month apart,by masturbation. Changes in questionnaire scores between firstand second visit were compared with changes in semen characteristicsbetween those two occasions to identify statistically significantcorrelations. A second group of 23 subfertility patients (groupB) were asked to produce a semen sample by masturbation in adesignated room at the hospital without additional sexual stimulation,and a second sample while viewing a sexually explicit video.Differences in questionnaire scores and semen characteristicsobtained with visual erotic stimulation (VES) and without VESwere analysed. In group A, the change in sexual arousal andchange in intensity of orgasm correlated with change in semenvolume (r = 038, P < 0.05; r = 0.48, P < 0.01 respectively).In healthy donors and group B, however, no such correlationwas found. With VES in group B, significantly higher scoreswere given for ‘feeling at ease/relaxed’ (P <0.01), ‘sexual arousal’ (P < 0.001), ‘qualityof erection’ (P = 0.01), ‘intensity of orgasm’(P < 0.05), ‘satisfaction after orgasm’ (P <0.05), and ‘ease with which orgasm was achieved’(P < 0.001) with VES compared to without VES. There was nostatistically significant improvement in semen quality withVES compared to without VES. It is concluded that sexual arousalhas no significant influence on the quality of an ejaculateproduced by masturbation. On the other hand, providing a patientwith a sexually stimulating video is obviously a facilitativefactor when the patient ‘has to’ produce a semensample for analysis. The use of visual erotic stimulation isrecommended when patients and donors have to produce a semensample in the uninviting surroundings of a fertility clinic.     

Abdominal Temperature Changes During Male Sexual Arousal

The present study explored the feasibility of using temperature measurement from a non-genital location to assess sexual arousal. Based upon analyses conducted with thermographic techniques, it was hypothesized that abdominal skin cooling would occur during sexual arousal. In 2 sessions, 6 male subjects were shown low, moderate, and high arousing erotic films. Simultaneous measures of abdominal temperature, penile circumference, and subjective arousal were taken. Results indicate that while decreases in skin temperature were seen during arousal, thermister data did not correlate well with tumescence or subjective arousal ratings. It would appear that thermography and temperature measurement might be most fruitfully employed to explore basic physiological processes involved in sexual arousal, since continuous temperature measures do not appear sensitive enough for use in typical sex research paradigms.     

Facial Electromyography: A Measure of Affective Processes During Sexual Arousal

Forty female volunteers participated in a study to investigate whether facial EMGs could be used as measures of affect during sexual arousal. Audiotaped narratives were used to induce the following affect-sexual states: 1) pleasant affect + sexual arousal, 2) unpleasant affect + sexual arousal, 3) pleasant affect + no sexual arousal, and 4) unpleasant affect + no sexual arousal. EMG activity was recorded bilaterally from the corrugator and zygomatic muscle regions. Corrugator muscle activity was significantly greater in response to the unpleasant stimulus conditions. This relationship held for both the non-sexual and sexual conditions, suggesting that corrugator muscle activity may provide a reliable index of negative affect during sexual arousal. Zygomatic activity was significantly greater during the sexual as compared to the non-sexual stimuli, but did not increase as a function of pleasant affect. Greater left than right corrugator muscle activity was observed in response to the sexual stimuli. Left muscle superiority was also noted for zygomatic muscle activity, in response to the sexual unpleasant stimulus. Issues related to the interpretation of lateralized muscle activity are discussed.     

Sexual risk behavior among HIV-positive men who have sex with men: a literature review

OBJECTIVE: To review research on sexual risk behavior among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) after the year 2000. METHOD: The review included 53 published studies that reported on unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) in cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys of HIV-positive MSM and MSM of mixed HIV status. RESULTS: The findings indicate high levels of UAI among HIV-positive MSM, particularly with HIV-negative or HIV status unknown partners. In studies of MSM of mixed HIV status, we found that the rate of UAI among HIV-positive MSM was much higher than that of HIV-negative MSM. Furthermore, the prevalence of UAI among HIV-positive MSM has increased in recent years. CONCLUSION: Although studies indicate that HIV-positive MSM have adopted risk reduction strategies, roughly two in five HIV-positive MSM continue to engage in UAI, which represents a risk for continued HIV and STI (sexually transmitted infection) transmission. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Prevention efforts targeting HIV-positive MSM to assist them in adopting and maintaining safer sexual behaviors need to be intensified.     

Shock Threat and Sexual Arousal: The Role of Selective Attention, Thought Content, and Affective States

In an attempt to detail cognitive processes during anxiety and sexual arousal, 16 heterosexual males were presented with brief erotic audiotapes simultaneous with four levels of shock threat (no shock, half tolerance, tolerance, and twice tolerance threat). Subjects were instructed to pay close attention to the audiotapes, following which a sentence recognition task was administered to assess stimulus-focused attention. Additionally at these times, they were given a thought-listing task and completed a series of affect ratings. Tumescence and subjective arousal were monitored continuously during the erotic stimuli. Results revealed that tolerance shock threat decreased tumescence (p<.05). In contrast, recognition memory was greatest during tolerance shock threat and diminished during twice tolerance shock threat, which also produced increased reports of emotional stales. Issues regarding the relation between cognition and sexual arousal are discussed, including implications for understanding sexual dysfunction.     

An analysis of neurophysiological and behavioral arousal in the mouse

Inbred mice of the C57BL/6 and DBA/2 strain differed for their spontaneous locomotor activity (Animex), reactivity (somatosensory orientation) and excitability (EEG desynchronization elicited by tactile stimuli under urethane anesthesia). The C57 strain showed higher activity and reactivity expressed by the higher percentage of precise orienting responses after von Frey hair (0.5 g and 5 g) stimulation of various body areas. On the other hand C57 mice were less excitable, as demonstrated by their lower arousability slope index. This dissociation is discussed in terms of neurophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms and of their implications in relation to learning processes.     

Sex responses of the female hamster: Effects on male performance

During copulation the female hamster adjusts the position of the perineal region in response to tactile stimulation from the male. Anaesthetization of the perineal region of the female eliminates these adjustment responses and reduces the probability that the male will ejaculate in a five-minute mating test. Anaesthetization also increases the variability of male performance. However, sexually aroused males were not affected.     

青春期性心理的主要表现及教育

青春期性心理主要表现在性意识、性情感和性意识的形式、发展和变化上，作为教育工作者应抓住青春期学生在性方面的表现和变化，有针对性地进行教育和引导，使他们顺利度过青春期，正确对待性成熟，具有重要的现实意义。     

Modulation of the acoustic startle response by film-induced fear and sexual arousal

The response matching model of Lang, Bradley, and Cuthbert (1992) predicts startle reflex facilitation during negative relative to positive emotional states. Using slide and imagery paradigms, larger eyeblink responses to startle probes for unpleasant than for pleasant conditions have consistently been reported. The present study extended the previously observed relationship between valence and startle to more complex stimuli, namely 1-min film fragments. Thirty-three subjects viewed a sequences of 27 film fragments with neutral, negative (fearful), and positive (sexual) contents, presented in one of three mixed orders. Blink magnitude to brief bursts of white noise was larger during fearful fragments than during sexual fragments. Blink magnitudes habituated across successive film fragments, but the positive-negative difference remained stable within film fragments and during the entire length of the videotape (approximately 40 min).     

The Relationship Between Sexual Arousal Experience and Genital Response

In studies of sexuality, there has been a wide divergence in findings concerning the correlation between the subjective and genital measurements of sexual arousal. The present study is aimed at helping clarify this situation by examining the role of certain factors involved in determining the subjective-genital correlation. Thus, the following study was designed to (1) employ a methodology aimed at improving the correlation between the subjective and genital measurements of arousal in women, and (2) determine the effect of attending to bodily cues upon the subjective-genital relationship. To accomplish this end, 36 female subjects were separated into two experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups were given instructions suggesting that they attend to either genital or non-genital body signals of sexual arousal while viewing a series of 10 erotic slides. Subjects in the control group were given no attention instructions. Subjective levels of arousal to the erotic slides were scaled by having subjects set the intensity of sound and light to match their intensity of arousal (cross-modality matching) and by using a rating scale. Genital measures of sexual arousal consisted of measurement of vaginal pulse amplitude. Analyses revealed that group computed correlations were very high and that individually computed subjective-genital correlations were highest in the attention groups. Paying attention to bodily cues has a significant and positive effect on the subjective-genital relationship. Possible explanations for these results are given along with a discussion of the role of methodological variables in influencing the genital-subjective correlation. The finding of high levels of correlation raises doubts on the heretofore made assumption of low subjective-genital correlations for women.     

广州某高校本科生性知识、观念和行为调查

目的:了解当代大学生的性知识、观念和行为,为学校合理地开展性健康教育提供依据。方法:采用问卷调查的方法,对广州某大学的787名本科生进行调查,问卷内容包括性健康教育、性知识、性观念和性行为。结果:被调查者的性相关知识平均得分为(27.38±3.90),在专业(t=3.07,P<0.01)、年级(t=2.24,P<0.05)和恋爱经历(t=5.11,P<0.01)方面的差异有统计学意义。被调查者性行为的发生率为21.22%,在性别(χ2=34.91,P<0.01)、专业(χ2=5.85,P<0.05)、年级(χ2=9.36,P<0.01)、生源地(χ2=15.88,P<0.01)和有恋爱经历(χ2=44.42,P<0.01)方面的差异有统计学意义。结论:学校应开设性健康教育的相关课程,帮助学生形成健康的性观念。     

青少年性态度对青少年危险性行为的预测作用研究

目的:探讨青少年性态度对青少年危险性行为的预测作用.方法:采用方便取样方法,从长沙市两所普通中学、北京市一所普通中学,以班级为单位对初一至高三学生进行现场测评.采用的测评工具有:一般人口学资料调查表、青少年主观社会经济地位量表(SSS-CA)、Barratt冲动量表(RIS)、青少年健康相关危险行为问卷(AHRBI)、性态度量表(ATSS)、青春期性心理健康量表.采用SPSS 19.0对数据进行统计分析.结果:我国青少年性态度处于中等开放水平.控制年龄、性别、性知识、饮酒行为、冲动等变量后非条件Logistic回归分析显示青少年性态度对青少年危险性行为具有显著预测作用.结论:青少年性态度对青少年危险性行为具有显著预测作用.     

Sex differences in concordance rates between auditory event‐related potentials and subjective sexual arousal

Much research indicates men show a greater concordance between subjective and genital sexual arousal than do women. We investigated the relationship between subjective sexual arousal and brain activation in men and women. Subjective sexual arousal and auditory N1 and P3b ERP amplitudes were measured while 38 participants viewed erotic and non‐erotic films. Most notably, there was a significant correlation between N1 amplitude and sexual arousal in men; for women, there was a significant correlation between the P3b amplitude and sexual arousal. ERP amplitudes were inversely associated with reported arousal, suggesting that sexual arousal interferes with early tone processing for men, and with later tone processing for women. Lastly, for women, pornography/erotica consumption was negatively correlated with P3b amplitudes, suggesting that women who consume more pornography/erotica may also show greater attention to erotic films.     

A Psychophysiological Exploration of Sexual Arousal Patterns in Females and Males

Fifty-nine female and 39 male undergraduates completed 3 sessions of a psychophysiological study on sexual arousal. Subjects were assigned to one of six experimental groups. Subjects within each group were exposed to a series of four audio-tapes, and were asked to fantasize before and after the tape series. Tapes varied in their erotic and romantic content, and two sex role dimensions were also varied across tapes. Dependent measures included scaled subjective reports, genital pulse amplitude and blood volume responses, heart rate, and finger pulse amplitude. Erotic contents were significantly more sexually arousing than nonerotic contents for both sexes. Romantic content did not significantly enhance the facilitation of sexual arousal. Nontraditional sex roles were significantly more arousing for females, with a similar nonsignificant trend for males. There were significant correlations between genital pulse amplitude and subjective reports of arousal; however, for females the genital blood volume measure showed less reliable agreement with subjective report. Genital pulse amplitude was the most reliable and precise indicator of arousal and accounted for the most variance across conditions. No significant changes occurred on the heart rate and finger pulse amplitude measures. Although subjects were able to become aroused by fantasy alone, listening to erotic tapes did not facilitate their ability to be sexually aroused during fantasy.     

Physiological and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Pre- and Postmenopausal Women and Postmenopausal Women Taking Replacement Therapy

Twenty premenopausal, 14 postmenopausal, and 14 postmenopausal women receiving replacement estrogen therapy were studied to determine whether differences in hormone status were associated with differences in physiological and subjective sexual responses. All subjects viewed a neutral, an erotic, and a second neutral videotape while photoplethysmographic vaginal pulse amplitude was continuously recorded. Self-report ratings of sexual arousal and affective response were collected. Serum levels of testosterone, estradiol, estrone, and luteinizing hormone were obtained. The three groups did not differ in either average or maximum vaginal pulse amplitude to the videotapes nor in latency of sexual response. The postmenopausal women not taking replacement estrogen reported significantly less vaginal lubrication in response to the erotic videotape than the higher estrogen premenopausal and replacement hormone groups. Estradiol level was significantly correlated with ratings of vaginal lubrication in response to the erotic videotape but not with vaginal pulse amplitude. Results thus suggest that estrogen is important in maintaining vaginal lubrication and the perception of sexual arousal but not in determining vaginal vasocongestion.     

Contrasting patterns of brain activity in anxious apprehension and anxious arousal.

Evidence suggests that a distinction between anxious apprehension (worry) and anxious arousal (somatic anxiety) might account for some discrepancies in the literature examining brain activity in anxiety. In the current study, we compared the regional brain activity of groups of anxious apprehension and anxious arousal participants, selected on the basis of self-report measures previously shown to be psychometrically distinct from each other and from a specific measure of depression. Patterns of hemispheric asymmetry in electroencephalogram alpha distinguished the two types of anxiety, with the anxious arousal group showing more right than left activity. No significant asymmetry was found for the anxious apprehension group. The results provide further support for contrasting patterns of brain activity in distinct types of anxiety. Research is needed to specify further the topography and functional significance of this distinction.