A study of fantasy: Determinants of fantasy function and content

Abstract

This study is concerned with the role of fantasy. Prior research has studied the role of fantasy by investigating the content or types of fantasy and fantasy frequency with the reasoning that such knowledge provides implications as to fantasy's role in human functioning. The present study examined fantasy frequency and content in relation to the variables of gender and the social attitude of liberalism/conservatism (N = 304). It was proposed that (a) liberals would engage in more sexual, and bizarre‐improbable fantasies than conservatives; (b) males would be more liberal and engage in sexual fantasy more frequently than females; (c) subjects would engage in less sexual and bizarre‐improbable fantasies as age increased; and (d) fantasies would be present oriented. The study yielded mixed results. Using an adapted version of the Imaginal Processes Inventory, it was found that the second and third research questions were supported entirely, while the first and fourth research questions were supported only partially.

The Sexual Arousal and Desire Inventory (SADI): A Multidimensional Scale to Assess Subjective Sexual Arousal and Desire

“…Regarding the SADI, the only significant difference found was that the scores for women were higher than men on the Physiological subscale in the fantasy condition. This finding is not consistent with past research showing that men are more likely to engage in sexual fantasy and be sexually aroused by their fantasies than women [32,34]. Because the specific content of participants’ fantasies was not monitored or recorded in this study, it is difficult to know what led to this difference.…”

“…Because fantasies are typically private, people can engage in any type they enjoy, without fear of rejection or embarrassment. Sexual fantasies are believed to vary with feelings about sexuality, perceived opportunities for sexual encounters, and the mental and physical well‐being of the person [32]. Engaging in sexual thoughts and imagery increases subjective sexual arousal, and arousal levels correlate positively with the vividness and content of the imagery in the absence of direct erotic stimulation [33].…”

“…Studies that have compared the frequency and content of men’s and women’s sexual fantasies have documented important gender differences. For example, men have been reported to be more likely to engage in sexual fantasy and be sexually aroused by their fantasies than women [32,34]. However, compared with men, women’s fantasies are more likely to include descriptions of the context, setting, and feelings of a sexual encounter, and to contain familiar partners [34].…”

Personality and Socio‐familial Correlates of Conservatism in Indian Youth

“…Girls were found to be more conservative than boys, and mothers more conservative than fathers. The finding is consistent with some earlier ones (Feather 1978;Houston 1984;Halderman et al 1985;Ojha 1988) but contrary to others (Stacy 1977; Vasudeva 1974). The explanation for a higher level of conservatism in females may be searched out in personality differences of men and women.…”

Re-Examining the Relationship between Fantasy and Optimum Stimulation Levels

“…The notion of optimum stimulation suggests that people need to maintain certain levels of arousal in order to meet their innate individual needs [2,11]. And it has been suggested that fantasies (or daydreams) may serve as mechanisms that provide internal stimulation to maintain OSLs in certain situations, e.g., to help alleviate boredom [5,[11][12][13]. One of the most heuristic OSL paradigms has been sensation-seeking theory, which describes "the tendency to seek novel, varied, complex, and intense sensations and experiences and the willingness to take risks for the sake of such experience" [2].…”