THE EFFECTS OF ANXIETY AND DISTRACTION ON SEXUAL AROUSAL IN A NONCLINICAL SAMPLE OF HETEROSEXUAL WOMEN

The effects of anxiety and distraction on sexual arousal in a nonclini cal sample of heterosexual women between the ages of 19 and 35 were st udied. Using a dichotic listening paradigm, the study extended Geer an d Fuhr's (1976) research by examining the effects of distraction on se xual arousal in women. Results indicated that both vaginal pulse ampli tude and subjective measures of sexual arousal vary as a function of d istraction level, with increased distraction leading to decreased arou sal. However, the data failed to support Masters and Johnson's (1970) assertion that anxiety decreases sexual arousal. Although no significa nt effect for anxiety emerged using a physiological measure of sexual arousal, a significant Anxiety x Distraction interaction was observed using a subjective measure of sexual arousal. Several competing interp retations of this interaction are discussed.