No Longer His and Hers, But Ours: Examining Sexual Arousal in Response to Erotic Stories Designed for Both Sexes

Abstract

Research on sexual arousal and erotica has focused primarily on men and women's responses to erotic films and stories designed for a sex-specific audience. To reduce the confounds of relying on separate materials when evaluating sex differences in arousal, the present study designed suggestive and explicit erotic stories that were rated as being equally appealing to men and women. Participants were 212 undergraduate students who completed self-report measures of sexual self-esteem, sexual desire, and pre- and posttest measures of arousal. As hypothesized, women in the suggestive and explicit conditions reported a significant increase in sexual arousal; however, only men who read the explicit story demonstrated significant elevations in arousal. The creation of “equally appealing” erotic stories has challenged the existing research paradigm and has initiated the investigation of sexual arousal from a set of common materials designed for both sexes. The benefits of creating a series of equally appealing erotic materials extends beyond empirical research and may ultimately facilitate greater openness and communication between heterosexual couples.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ron Downey for his assistance in reviewing this version of the article and Matthew Wheeler, John Stratton, Valerie Williams, Margaret Rich, Anaeis Minas-Masihi, and Hollie Almeria for their contributions to the study.