Gender-Specificity of Solitary and Dyadic Sexual Desire among Gynephilic and Androphilic Women and Men

Abstract

Introduction Incentive motivation theory proposes that sexual desire emerges from sexual arousal, and is triggered by sexually competent stimuli. Research demonstrates gender and sexual orientation differences in the features that contribute to the competency of sexual stimuli. Men's and gynephilic women's genital arousal tends to be gender-specific with preferred gender eliciting significantly greater genital arousal than nonpreferred gender. In contrast, stimuli depicting preferred and nonpreferred gender elicit similar degrees of genital arousal among androphilic women, termed a gender-nonspecific pattern. Given these differences in the features that elicit a sexual response, and that sexual desire is proposed to emerge from sexual arousal, the question remains as to whether sexual desire would emerge only through exposure to preferred stimuli or whether patterns of responsive desire would parallel those observed for genital arousal. Aim The study aims to examine patterns of dyadic and solitary sexual desire in response to stimuli differing in incentive value. Methods Thirty androphilic women, 21 gynephilic women, 21 gynephilic men, and 16 androphilic men participated in a sexual psychophysiological session. Participants viewed sexual stimuli that varied the gender of the actors and the intensity of sexual activities depicted. Main Outcome Measures Participants reported their degree of desire for sex with a partner (dyadic desire) and desire to masturbate (solitary desire), before and after each film. Results Men and gynephilic women exhibited gender-specific patterns of sexual desire. Androphilic women's dyadic desire showed significantly less differentiation between genders, and their solitary desire did not differentiate at all. No gender difference was observed for either type of desire. All groups reported greater desire as stimulus intensity increased. Conclusions Gender-nonspecific sexual response is not limited to the sexual arousal patterns of androphilic women, but extends to include responsive sexual desire. Men and gynephilic women, however, show gender-specific responsive sexual desire that parallels their sexual arousal patterns.

A neural circuit encoding sexual preference in humans

“…Given findings showing greater fluidity in heterosexual women’s behavioral responses to sex-related stimuli than is evident in homosexual women, heterosexual men, or homosexual men (Chivers et al 2015; Dawson and Chivers, 2014), also group differences in the neural correlates of sexual preference might exist. However, there is also evidence for gender-specific genital and subjective responses in heterosexual women (Spape et al, 2014).…”

Straight but Not Narrow; Within-Gender Variation in the Gender-Specificity of Women’s Sexual Response

“…Toates [ 62 ] proposed that sexual stimuli become incentivized through positive experiences and that the motivational value of incentives is amplified if accompanied by sexual arousal. Positive experiences such as genital vasocongestion and accompanying pleasurable sensations, particularly in the absence of negative affect to female sexual stimuli [ 5 ], could therefore incentivize nonpreferred sexual stimuli among androphilic women [ 63 ]. Multiple opportunities exist for further incentivization of same-gender sexuality beyond direct sexual contact with women, such as sexual fantasy with or without sexual activity (solitary or partnered) and consumption of sexual media.…”

Sexual Desire and Fantasies in the LGBT+ Community: a Focus on Bisexuals, Transgender, and Other Shades of the Rainbow

“…Studies on arousal provided evidence that, while men demonstrated genital arousal primarily to female or male sexual stimuli (based on their sexual orientation), women exhibit genital arousal to both male and female sexual stimuli regardless of their orientation [44,47]. Dawson and Chivers [48] reported the presence of a higher level of nonspecific gender pattern of arousal in androphilic women, both in solitary and dyadic desire rather than gynephilic women.…”