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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Sex film viewing, but not hypersexual concerns, are associated with more sexual arousal in anticipation of an intimate partner experience

Nicole Prause https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1420-9177 A * and Greg Siegle B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A University of California, 405 Hilgard Avenue Box 951405, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1405, USA.

B University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

* Correspondence to: nprause@mednet.ucla.edu

Handling Editor: Kevan Wylie

Sexual Health 19(2) 79-91 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH21219
Submitted: 5 November 2021  Accepted: 19 February 2022   Published: 26 April 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background: Hypersexual behaviours could reflect psychopathology, in part, because they impair interactions with intimate partners.

Methods: Hypersexual concerns were measured as: (1) concern about inability to control one’s own sexual behaviours; and (2) sexual films viewed. The outcome, sexual arousal, was measured using two indicators: (1) self-reported sexual arousal (before/after); and (2) skin conductance response from the person stimulated (continuously). Two-hundred and fifty participants completed Orgasmic Meditation (OM), a coupled, structured, 15-min manual-genital stroking.

Results: Reported difficulty controlling their own sexual behaviours was not related to sexual arousal reports. Participants who viewed more sexual films reported more sexual arousal before starting OM than participants who viewed less sexual films. Strokers who viewed more sexual films were associated with a higher skin conductance response in the stroked partner.

Conclusions: Despite statistical power and pre-registration, hypersexual concerns did not predict sexual responses with a partner. Sex film viewing may increase sexual responsiveness in individuals and their partners.

Keywords: addiction, compulsive sexual behaviour disorder, compulsivity, International Classification of Disorders, media, Orgasmic Meditation, pornography, sexuality.


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