Effects of Emotions on Sexual Behavior in Men with and without Hypersexuality

Abstract

The association between positive and negative affect and sexual behavior in 39 MSM with and without hypersexuality (HS) was explored using ecological momentary assessment. Participants reported their current positive and negative affect three times per day and their sexual behavior each morning and evening. The relationship between affect and sexual behavior differed between men with or without HS. In those with HS, the timing of and interactions between experienced affect differentially predicted types of sexual behavior, indicating differing mechanisms driving partnered sexual behavior and masturbation. These findings lend support to conceptualizing HS behavior as a coping strategy for affective arousal.

Author Note

Michael H. Miner, Janna Dickenson, and Eli Coleman, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School.

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to Michael Miner (R01MH094229). The authors would like to thank Cathy Strobel-Ayres, the project coordinator, without whom this project would never have been completed. We would also like to thank Ann Person, our research assistant who conducted much of the data collection, and Ross Crosby, PhD, who provided the methodology and daily management of the daily diary/ecological momentary assessment procedure. We would also like to thank the project co-investigators, Nancy Raymond, Erick Janssen, and Angus MacDonald, III. Finally, we want to thank Heidi Fall for contributing her expertise in editing, formatting, and references for the final manuscript.