THE EFFECTS OF SECONDARY STIMULUS CHARACTERISTICS ON MENS SEXUAL AROUSAL

The penile plethysmograph is believed by many researchers and clinicia ns to be the most valid and reliable instrument currently available fo r assessing male sexual arousal patterns. Stimuli used to elicit sexua l arousal in research studies as well as in plethysmographic assessmen ts, however have varied considerably. We examined the effects of two s timulus characteristics that may greatly influence the measurement of male sexual arousal-the type of sexual behavior depicted and the prese nce of accompanying audio cues. The sexual arousal of 18 male college students was individually assessed via penile plethysmograph and self- report while they viewed 60-second erotic video clips. Each video clip depicted a single sexual behavior; half of the clips were presented w ith accompanying audio. Separate 2 (sound) x 6 (behavior) x 2 (session ) repeated measures ANOVAs revealed significant main effects for sound and behavior for both the physiological and self-report data, as well as a significant sound x behavior interaction for the self-report dat a. The physiological data and self-report data were also highly correl ated (r = .78). Results are discussed in the context of implications f or male sexual arousal research and penile plethysmographic assessment s.