The Dual Control Model of Sexual Response: A Scoping Review, 2009–2022

ABSTRACT

The Dual Control Model proposes that sexual arousal and related processes are dependent on the balance between sexual excitation and sexual inhibition, and that individuals vary in their propensity for these processes. This scoping review provides an overview and discussion of the questionnaires used to measure the propensities for sexual excitation and inhibition, their translation and validation in other languages, and their application in empirical research on topics ranging from sexual desire and arousal, sexual (dys)function, sexual risk taking, asexuality, hypersexuality, and sexual aggression. A total of 152 papers, published between 2009 and 2022 and identified using online databases, were included in this review. The findings, consistent with those reviewed by Bancroft et al. (2009), suggest that sexual excitation is particularly relevant to sexual desire and responsivity and predictive of asexuality and hypersexuality. Sexual inhibition plays a role in sexual dysfunction. sexual risk taking, and sexual aggression, although often in interaction with sexual excitation. Suggestions for the further development of the model and for future studies are discussed.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ We recognize that distraction or cognitive interference may also involve inhibitory processes at some level and that inhibition will need to be activated (see also Janssen & Bancroft, 2007). In terms of “level of analysis,” the dual control model represents a higher or “molar” level of analysis. At a lower, “molecular” level, sexual responses are most likely controlled by multiple inhibitory and excitatory neurophysiological processes.

² The first of these two papers received the 2002 Hugo G. Beigel Award for best article published in The Journal of Sex Research.

³ This paper received the 2009 Reiss Theory Award from the Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (FSSS).

⁴ Exceptions include Bloemendaal and Laan (2015; rho = −.46 between SE and SI) and Jozkowski et al. (2016; r = −.36 between SE and SI) for the SESII, and Panzeri et al. (2021; r = + .31 between SES and SIS1) for the SIS/SES.

⁵ It has also been translated into Spanish (Moyano & Sierra, 2014; Sierra et al., 2019), but as these studies were not published in an English-language journal, they were not included in this review.

⁶ A search using PsycInfo, combining the search terms “sexual excitation” and “sexual inhibition,” revealed one publication for the period 1960 to 2000 and more than 150 following 2000. PubMed provided similar results. Google Scholar, using the same search strategy, gave approximately 50 results for the 40 years between 1960 and 2000 but more than 1300 (including theses, dissertations, and presentations) for the last 20 years.

Additional information

Funding

Work on this article was supported by a grant from the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) to the first author [K801522N].