Sexual Motivation, Desire, Arousal, and Response

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Sexual Motivation, Desire,Arousal, and Response

• Chapter 5 147-161

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Sexual Motivation

• Why We Have Sex
• simplistic perspective to experience sexual
  pleasure, to relieve sexual tension, or to
  reproduce
• Hill Preston (1996)
• to feel valued by a partner
• expressing value for a partner
• nurturing ones partner
• obtaining relief from stress
• enhancing feelings of personal power
• experiencing a partners power
• experiencing pleasure
• procreating

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Sexual Motivation

• Why We Have Sex
• other considerations
• reward or punishment
• mate guarding
• for emotional closeness, bonding, love
• as a fungible resource
• social status and reputation

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Sexual Motivation

• Why We Have Sex
• Meston Buss (2007)
• first stage, allowed to list reasons they or
  friends may have had sex
• list of 715 reduced down to 237
• new sample asked to endorse their reasons from
  the list of 237

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Sexual Motivation

• Why We Have Sex
• Meston Buss (2007)
• 9 themes emerged
• pure attraction to the other person
• experiencing physical pleasure
• expression of love
• feeling desired by the other
• to escalate the depth of the relationship
• curiosity or seeking new experiences
• marking a special occasion for celebration
• mere opportunity
• sex just happening due to seemingly
  uncontrollable circumstances

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Sexual Motivation

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Sexual Motivation

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Sexual Motivation
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Sexual Arousal and Desire

• Sex Differences
• visual stimuli men gt women
• narrative women gt men
• psychological factors women gt men
• sexual self-esteem women gt men
• biological factors men gt women
• long-term relationships men gt women
• novel stimuli women gt men

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Sexual Arousal

• Measuring Sexual Arousal
• Women
• labial thermistor clip (labial temperature)
• vaginal photoplethysmography (vaginal blood flow)
• Men
• rigidometer (penile rigidity)
• penile plethysmography (1) circumferential (2)
  volumetric
• Women and Men
• thermography
• self-report

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Sexual Arousal

• Measuring Sexual Arousal

Vaginal Photoplethysmograph
Circumferential Penile Plethysmograph
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Sexual Arousal

• Substances and Sexual Arousal
• i.e., aphrodisiacs
• nothing commercially available Ginseng?
• testosterone?
• non-substances
• other substances (pseudo-aphrodisiacs)
• alcohol
• cannabis
• MDMA
• hallucinogens (e.g., LCD, PCP, DMT, etc.)
• stimulants (e.g., crystal meth, cocaine, etc.)
• ? disinhibition, reward systems

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Hormones

• Role of Testosterone
• Men
• in hypogonadal men, injections of testosterone
  increase sexual arousability and sexual interest
• testosterone reduction medications used with sex
  offenders and with people reporting problems
  related to uncontrollable sexual urges

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Hormones

• Role of Testosterone
• Men
• role in erectile dysfunction only seems
  relevant to men with low testosterone
• correlation between testosterone and sexual
  interest/behaviour
• prevalence of testosterone receptors

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Hormones

• Role of Testosterone
• Women
• testosterone rises during the middle third of
  menstrual cycle (i.e., ovulation) increased
  sexual responsiveness but so does estrogen
• decline in sexual interest after menopause
  testosterone production slows along with other
  sex hormones (i.e., estrogen, progesterone, etc.)
• testosterone therapy for low sexual desire
  mixed results

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Hormones

• Role of Testosterone
• Anabolic Steroids
• body responds by shutting down production of
  naturally occurring androgens in men, the
  testes shrink as theyre no longer functioning to
  produce testosterone
• androgens aromatized into estrogens, feminize the
  body gynocomastia

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Hormones

• Role of Testosterone
• Anabolic Steroids
• acne one of hormones converted from androgens
  stimulates oil production in skin glands
• baldness genetic predisposition to baldness,
  derivative of androgens causes hair follicles to
  shut down
• consume array of other meds to control side
  effects
• in women, why female body builders become
  masculinized

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Sexual Response

• Freud
• clitoral orgasm ? immature (i.e., childish)
• vaginal orgasm ? mature (i.e., adult)
• Kinsey (40s and 50s)
• women and men are similar in anatomy and
  physiology but women lesser sexual capacity
• Masters and Johnson (60s)
• claimed that womens and mens orgasms are far
  more similar than different (i.e.,
  physiologically the same)
• claimed that womens capacity far exceeded mens
  (i.e., ability to have multiple orgasms until
  total exhaustion)

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Sexual Response

• Masters and Johnson

Women
Men
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Sexual Response

• Orgasms
• Purpose
• men ejaculation
• women
• artifact of evolution (homologous tissue)
• signal sexual satisfaction/devotion
• pull sperm into cervix
• both sexes
• promote bonding physiological pleasure/oxytocin

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Sexual Response

• Orgasms
• Women
• not all women experience orgasms (5-10) many
  more only experience orgasm irregularly
• most women do not orgasm through intercourse only
  (lt25) need clitoral stimulation
• vaginal versus clitoral orgasm myth?

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Sexual Response

• Multiple Orgasms
• Serial Multiple (Status Orgasmus)
• several orgasms in a row, one directly after
  another
• Sequential Multiple
• occur in a sequence, typically separated by a few
  minutes or so