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Abstract
Literature examining gender-specificity of sexual response has not investigated the sexual arousal patterns of women with mixed-gender sexual interests. This study examined the genital and self-reported sexual response of women endorsing one or more dimensions of bisexuality (i.e., sexual identity, sexual attractions, romantic attractions, sexual fantasies, sexual behaviors) in response to audiovisual films that varied by gender and sexual activity level. Contrary to hypotheses, women exhibited and reported greater sexual response to female than male stimuli, for all dimensions of bisexuality. Consistent with our hypotheses and previous research, women's sexual responses generally increased with the level of sexual activity occurring in the films. Implications for our understanding of women's sexual response and sexual interests are discussed.
Notes
1Negative average continuous self-reported arousal scores indicate that the participant reported less arousal during the stimulus presentation than during the pretrial baseline period.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Amanda D. Timmers
Amanda D. Timmers, MSc, is a doctoral student in clinical psychology under the supervision of Dr. Meredith L. Chivers at Queen's University. She received her MSc in Clinical Psychology from Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, in 2013.
Katrina N. Bouchard
Katrina N. Bouchard, MSc, is a doctoral student in clinical psychology under the supervision of Dr. Caroline F. Pukall at Queen's University. She received her MSc in Clinical Psychology from Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, in 2014.
Meredith L. Chivers
Meredith L. Chivers, PhD, CPsych, is a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Queen's University. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, in 2003 and completed her clinical residency at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada. Between 2003 and 2007, Dr. Chivers completed postdoctoral fellowships at CAMH. Dr. Chivers joined the Psychology faculty at Queen's University in the spring of 2009 as a Queen's National Scholar. She serves on the editorial boards for the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Journal of Sex Research, and the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.