Archives of Sexual Behavior

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Book Reviews

Heino F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg, Cheryl M. McCormick, Sandra F. Witelson

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 91-102

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Yohimbine, Erectile Capacity, and Sexual Response in Men

David L. Rowland, Khalid Kallan, A. Koos Slob

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 49-62

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study on a group of men with erectile problems and a sexually functional comparison group, the effect of yohimbine (up to 30 mg/day) was assessed on a number of objective and subjective measures of erectile response through the use of daily logs and psychophysiological laboratory procedures involving response to visual sexual stimulation (VSS). Sexual desire, arousal, and ejaculatory response were also assessed. Results indicated no effect of yohimbine on most aspects of sexual response in sexually functional men. Mixed effects were found on measures of sexual function in men with erectile dysfunction, with 3 of 11 men reporting strong positive effects. Under yohimbine, frequency of sexual activities increased, as did self-assessed genital response to VSS. Daily diaries indicated increased sexual arousal and erectile response during masturbation but not intercourse. A number of other measures, including NPT and retrospective summaries of erectile functioning at the end of drug phases, showed no effect. Results are discussed in terms of possible yohimbic effects on psychological factors that modulate overall sexual response, and consequently, erectile response....

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Classical Conditioning of Female Sexual Arousal

Elizabeth J. Letourneau, William O'Donohue

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 63-78

The classical conditioning of subjective and physiological aspects of female sexual arousal was examined. Experimental subjects were run in a delayed conditioning design, where an amber light was paired with excerpts from erotic videos. Control subjects received presentations of the same amber tight and videos, but these presentations did not overlap with one another. Dependent variables included subjective ratings of arousal to the light and the videos as well as change in vaginal pulse amplitude assessed during exposure to the different stimuli. Experimental subjects evidenced increased arousal to the light over conditioning trials, as assessed by subjective ratings of sexual arousal. This finding is suggestive of a learned effect. However, results failed to indicate significant differences between experimental and control groups. Therefore, the increased arousal to the light evidenced by experimental subjects may not be due to classical conditioning. Suggestions regarding these findings, clinical implications, and future research are discussed....

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Are Transvestites Necessarily Heterosexual?

Bonnie Bullough, Vern Bullough

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 1-12

A survey of 372 male cross-dressers gathered data about present and childhood experiences and attitudes in light of the growing knowledge about transvestism. This article focuses on data related to sexual orientation, particularly in relationship to the definition of transvestism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association. It is argued that transvestism is not necessarily a heterosexual phenomenon....

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Assessment of Sexual Functioning for Chinese College Students

Catherine So-kum Tang, Florence Duen-mun Lai, Tony K. H. Chung

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 79-90

Participating in this study were 305 Chinese college students in Hong Kong. Objectives included (i) examination of the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI), (ii) exploration of the associations among various domains of sexual functioning, and (iii) description of Chinese students' sexual behavior. The Chinese DSFI shows satisfactory internal consistency, except the Information, Drive, and Satisfaction subscales. In general, sex-related domains such as sexual information, experience, drive, attitudes, fantasy, and satisfaction were related to each other and to body image. Compared to their counterparts in the U.S., Chinese college students were relatively sexually inexperienced and conservative. Mean ages of students having their first sexual intercourse experience were 17.14 for males and 18.13 for females; 11% of the students had premarital sexual intercourse experience, and the mean frequencies were once weekly for males and once or twice per month for females. Compared to female students, twice as many males acknowledged masturbation (21.4 vs. 43.8%), 4.2–8.2% students had experienced oral-genital sexual stimulation and 0–1.2% anal sexual activities....

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Announcement

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 103-103

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The Relationships Among Ejaculatory Control, Ejaculatory Latency, and Attempts to Prolong Heterosexual Intercourse

Guy Grenier, E. Sandra Byers

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 27-47

Although premature ejaculation (RE) is considered the most common male sexual dysfunction, progress in understanding it has been hampered by the lack of a commonly accepted definition. Several different criteria have been used to assess RE with no attempt to validate the extent to which they are related. The current study assessed, in a sample of university men, the occurrence and relationships among four commonly applied RE criteria: perceived control over the occurrence of ejaculation, latency from vaginal penetration to ejaculation, satisfaction with perceived degree of ejaculatory control, and concern over the occurrence of rapid ejaculation. Other aspects of ejaculatory behavior were also assessed such as the thoughts and techniques men used to prolong intercourse and delay ejaculation. Results indicated that although the four RE criteria were significantly correlated, the magnitudes of these correlations were small. This suggests that these commonly used RE criteria are largely independent and are not interchangeable and that research in this area needs to adopt a multivariate approach to assessment. Men's erotophilia/erotophobia was not related to RE. While use of several ejaculatory delaying techniques were individually and jointly predictive of ejaculatory control and/or ejaculatory evidence, there was no strong support for any specific pattern of behavior that is related to better control and longer latencies. Further, experts were not able to distinguish the ejaculatory delaying techniques of the men with the poorest control and shortest latencies from those of the men with the best control and longest latencies....

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Comorbidity of Gender Dysphoria and Other Major Psychiatric Diagnoses

Collier M. Cole, Michael O'Boyle, Lee E. Emory, Walter J. Meyer III

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 1 > 13-26

Previous studies suggest that many transsexuals evidence an Axis I diagnosis according to the DSM-IV classification (e.g., psychoses, major affective disorder). The current study examined retrospectively the comorbidity between gender dysphoria and major psychopathology, evaluating the charts of 435 gender dysphoric individuals (318 male and 117 female). AH had undergone an extensive evaluation, addressing such areas as hormonal/surgical treatment, and histories of substance abuse, mental illness, genital mutilation, and suicide attempts. In addition, a subgroup of 137 individuals completed the MMPI. Findings revealed over two thirds were undergoing hormone reassignment, suggesting a commitment to the real-life cross-gender process. One quarter had had problems with substance abuse prior to entering treatment, but less than 10% evidenced problems associated with mental illness, genital mutilation, or suicide attempts. Those completing the MMPI (93 female and 44 male) demonstrated profiles that were notably free of psychopathology (e.g., Axis I or Axis II criteria). The one scale where significant differences were observed was the Mf scale, and this held true only for the male-to-female group. Psychological profiles as measured by the MMPI were more “normal” in the desired sex than the anatomic sex. Results support the view that transsexualism is usually an isolated diagnosis and not part of any general psychopathological disorder....

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Anthropometrical Measurements and Androgen Levels in Males, Females, and Hormonally Untreated Female-To-Male Transsexuals

Hartmut A. G. Bosinski, Inge Schröder, Michael Peter, Reinhard Arndt, more

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 2 > 143-157

To elucidate the relationship between body build, androgens, and transsexual gender identity, anthropometric measurements were assessed in 15 hormonally untreated female-to-male-transsexuals (FMT). Nineteen healthy women (CF) ( $$\bar X$$ = 22 years; 2 months), and 21 healthy men (CM) ( $$\bar X$$ = 23;7) were enrolled as controls. Baseline levels of testosterone (T; ng/dl), androstenedione...

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Gender as a Moderator of the Effects of the Love Motive and Relational Context on Sexual Experience

Toon W. Taris, Gün R. Semin

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 2 > 159-180

The moderator effect of gender on (i) the relation between adolescents' sexual experience on the one hand; and (ii) their orientations towards the type of relational and emotional commitment that they expect to be present before engaging in a sexual relationship, and (iii) having a steady partner on the other was examined. We hypothesized that the relations between these facets would be stronger for women. We utilized a random sample of 253 British adolescents interviewed twice with a 1-year interval LISREL multigroup analysis with mean structures was used to test the hypotheses, thus offering the opportunity of detecting moderator as well as main effects of gender. Differential effects of emotional and relational commitment and having a steady partner relationship on sexual experience supported the hypotheses....

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Announcement

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 2 > 229-229

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Psychological Correlates of Male Child and Adolescent Sexual Experiences with Adults: A Review of the Nonclinical Literature

Robert Bauserman, Bruce Rind

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 2 > 105-141

Researchers have generally neglected sexual experiences of boys with adults, assumed them to be the same as those of girls, or tried to understand them by referring to clinical research while ignoring nonclinical research. A review of nonclinical research allows a more complete understanding of boys' sexual experiences with adults and the outcomes and correlates of those experiences. Research with nonclinical samples reveals a broad range of reactions, with most reactions being either neutral or positive. Clinical samples reveal a narrower, primarily negative, set of reactions. Comparison of the reactions of boys and girls shows that reactions and outcomes for boys are more likely to be neutral or positive. Moderator variables, including presence of force, perceptions of consent, and relationship to the adult, also relate to outcomes. Incestuous contacts and those involving force or threats are most likely to be negative. Problems in this field of research include broad and vague definitions of “abuse” and conflation of value judgments with harm. Effects of boys' early sexual experiences with older persons in general cannot be accurately inferred from clinical research alone or from girls' experiences....

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Book Reviews

Leonore Tiefer, Hubert Kennedy, Richard C. Friedman

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 2 > 217-227

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Ritual Female Genital Surgery Among Ethiopian Jews

Nimrod Grisaru, Simcha Lezer, R. H. Belmaker

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 2 > 211-215

Ritual female genital surgery is usually associated with Muslim countries although it is normative also among Ethiopian Coptic Christians. Ethiopian Jewish women immigrants to Israel report that ritual female genital surgery was normative in their culture in Ethiopia, but expressed no desire to continue the custom in Israel. This contrasts with Israeli Bedouin Muslims, who were reported to regard ritual female genital surgery as an important part of their identity. Physical examination of 113 Ethiopian Jewish immigrant women in Israel found a variety of lesions in about a third of women, with 27% showing total or partial clitoral amputation. The heterogeneity of the physical findings contrasts with uniform verbal reports in interviews of having undergone a ritual of female genital surgery....

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Gender Differences in Sexual Interest

John D. Baldwin, Janice I. Baldwin

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 2 > 181-210

A common gender stereotype is that males are more interested than females in sex for purely physical reasons. Sociobiologists claim that this difference is biologically determined. In contrast, many sociologists and anthropologists claim that the difference is cultural. The debate about nature versus nurture regarding sexual interest has been long-standing without resolution. We propose a biosocial model that integrates data about nature...

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Effect of Testosterone Administration on Sexual Behavior and Mood in Men with Erectile Dysfunction

Raul C. Schiavi, Daniel White, John Mandeli, Alice C. Levine

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 3 > 231-241

This double-blind placebo controlled, cross-over study was carried out to assess the effect of testosterone administration on sexual behavior mood, and psychological symptoms in healthy men with erectile dysfunction. Biweekly injections of 200 mg of testosterone enanthate were given over a period of 6 weeks separated by a washout period of 4 weeks. Blood samples for hormonal assessment, behavioral and psychological ratings were obtained prior to each injection. Luteinizing hormone remained significantly depressed but circulating testosterone had returned to baseline levels by 2 weeks following each hormonal injection. The ejaculatory frequency during the testosterone phase was statistically higher than during the placebo phase. There were marked, although statistically nonsignificant, increases in median frequency of reported sexual desire, masturbation, sexual experiences with partner, and sleep erections during the testosterone period. Testosterone did not have demonstrable effects on ratings of penile rigidity and sexual satisfaction. Mood variables and psychological symptoms did not change following hormonal administration. Results suggest that androgen administration to eugonadal men with erectile dysfunction may activate their sexual behavior without enhancing erectile capacity and without effects on mood and psychological symptoms....

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Sexual Content-Induced Delay With Double-Entendre Words

James H. Geer, Jeffrey S. Melton

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 3 > 295-316

Seventy-three men and 72 women made lexical decisions to target words that followed sentences constructed so that the last word was a sexual double-entendre. Prime target relatedness, erotic versus nonerotic target, stimulus onset asynchrony, and participant's gender were varied in a between-subjects design. A second analysis that substituted sentence context for prime target relationship also was conducted. Data were collected on the emotionality and social acceptability of priming sentences and target words. Results revealed that, as with previous research on neutral words, prime target relatedness facilitated lexical decisions. Additionally, there was evidence of slowing in making lexical decisions when erotic material was presented or was part of a contextual bias. This delay was accentuated in women. A model that proposes that sexual words evoke a more complex processing sequence is presented. The model suggests that appraisal and checking or editing mechanisms, which are accentuated in women, help explain the phenomenon....

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The Perception of Sexual Attractiveness: Sex Differences in Variability

John Marshall Townsend, Timothy Wasserman

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 3 > 243-268

Results of three independent studies supported predictions derived from evolutionary theory: Men's assessments of sexual attractiveness are determined more by objectively assessable physical attributes; women's assessments are more influenced by perceived ability and willingness to invest (e.g., partners' social status, potential interest in them). Consequently, women's assessments of potential partners' sexual attractiveness and coital acceptability vary more than men's assessments. The proposition that polygamous women's assessments of men's sexual attractiveness vary less than those of monogamous women (because the former allegedly are more influenced by target persons' physical attributes) was also tested. In Study 1 male college students showed more agreement than females in their rankings of the sexual attractiveness of opposite-sex target persons. Target persons' flesh and bodily display enhanced this sex difference. In Study 2 men exhibited less variance than did women in their ratings of target persons' acceptability for dating and sexual relations. Women who viewed models described as having low status showed more variability than did women in the high-status condition. In Study 3 women showed more variability than men did in their ratings of 20 opposite-sex celebrities' sexual attractiveness. Studies 2 and 3 included the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI)—a measure of polygamous attitudes and behavior. Women's SOI scores did not affect the variability of their assessments in either Study 2 or 3. In Study 3 men with low SOI scores showed less variability than did men with high SOI scores. Alternative explanations of the findings are examined. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed....

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The Prevalence and Nature of Biphobia in Heterosexual Undergraduate Students

Michele J. Eliason

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 3 > 317-326

Little scientific attention has been paid to bisexuality or to societal attitudes about bisexual people. Often, biphobia has been assumed to be identical to homophobia. In this study, 229 heterosexual undergraduate students rated their degree of agreement to stereotypical statements about bisexuality and provided information on their attitudes about the acceptability of bisexual, gay, and lesbian people. Although there was a high degree of correlation between biphobia and homophobia, negative attitudes about bisexuals, men in particular, were more prevalent than negative attitudes about lesbians or gay men. Biphobia and homophobia should be considered related, but distinct, phenomena....

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Dimensions of AIDS Knowledge and Risky Sexual Practices: A Study of Northern Thai Males

Mark VanLandingham, Nancy Grandjean, Somboon Suprasert, Werasit Sittitrai

Archives of Sexual Behavior > 1997 > 26 > 3 > 269-293

The relation between AIDS-related knowledge and sexual risk-taking for a sample of young men living in northern Thailand was examined. Data were collected during the fall of 1991. The sample of 1472 men includes university students, soldiers, store clerks, and laborers. Recent commercial sex patronage was variable among the subgroups, and consistent condom use among these recent patrons was far from universal Several important misunderstandings among our respondents regarding the AIDS virus were identified. These misconceptions were most common among men of relatively low socioeconomic status (laborers and soldiers). Factor analysis identified four distinct domains of AIDS knowledge among the student and soldier groups: knowledge about the mechanics of contagion, knowledge about the consequences of infection, knowledge about appropriate strategies for avoiding the virus, and knowledge regarding inappropriate strategies for avoiding the virus. In multivariate logistic regression, knowledge about inappropriate strategies and knowledge about contagion were the only two domains predictive of recent commercial sex patronage: Men with a relatively good understanding regarding the inefficacy of inappropriate strategies and the mechanics of contagion had lower odds of recent commercial sex patronage compared with men who had a relatively poor understanding of these domains of AIDS knowledge. In the condom use analysis, knowledge about both appropriate and inappropriate strategies was predictive of consistent condom use among recent commercial sex patrons. Thus programs should attempt to improve knowledge about strategies for avoiding the virus and the mechanics of contagion. Special efforts should be made to debunk existing myths about the perceived effectiveness of inappropriate strategies....

INFONA - science communication portal

Archives of Sexual Behavior

Book Reviews

Yohimbine, Erectile Capacity, and Sexual Response in Men

Classical Conditioning of Female Sexual Arousal

Are Transvestites Necessarily Heterosexual?

Assessment of Sexual Functioning for Chinese College Students

Announcement

The Relationships Among Ejaculatory Control, Ejaculatory Latency, and Attempts to Prolong Heterosexual Intercourse

Comorbidity of Gender Dysphoria and Other Major Psychiatric Diagnoses

Anthropometrical Measurements and Androgen Levels in Males, Females, and Hormonally Untreated Female-To-Male Transsexuals

Gender as a Moderator of the Effects of the Love Motive and Relational Context on Sexual Experience

Announcement

Psychological Correlates of Male Child and Adolescent Sexual Experiences with Adults: A Review of the Nonclinical Literature

Book Reviews

Ritual Female Genital Surgery Among Ethiopian Jews

Gender Differences in Sexual Interest

Effect of Testosterone Administration on Sexual Behavior and Mood in Men with Erectile Dysfunction

Sexual Content-Induced Delay With Double-Entendre Words

The Perception of Sexual Attractiveness: Sex Differences in Variability

The Prevalence and Nature of Biphobia in Heterosexual Undergraduate Students

Dimensions of AIDS Knowledge and Risky Sexual Practices: A Study of Northern Thai Males

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