The relationship of sexual daydreaming to sexual activity, sexual drive, and sexual attitudes for women across the life-span

Abstract

The association among sexual daydreaming and sexual attitudes and activity was examined in a cross-sectional life-span sample of women (N = 117, 26 to 78 years). Sexual daydreaming was measured using the Imaginal Processes Inventory (IPI) while sexual history measures of sexual activity, sexual drive, and sexual attitudes were derived from a comprehensive personal interview. A factor analysis and varimax rotation of the sexual history variables, age, and the Sexual Daydream Scale of the IPI revealed three primary factors representing dimensions of sexual activity and drive, attitudes toward sexual activity, and sexual satisfaction. Age was associated with less sexual daydreaming, less sexual drive, less sexual activity, and more negative sexual attitudes. Sexual daydreaming varied directly with sexual drive and sexual activity and with a positive sexual attitude.

Male sexuality and regulation of emotions: a study on the association between alexithymia and erectile dysfunction (ED)

“…The limited imaginative activity of alexithymic subjects can also be reflected in a lack of sexual fantasies, considered central to human sexuality. [26][27][28] These results can be integrated with those of previous studies that suggested the association between psychosocial risk factors and ED. Prospective results from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS) 29,30 underlined that the risk of ED can be associated with a submissive personality, but not with depressive symptoms and with the way anger is expressed, although in several crosssectional studies the prevalence of ED has been shown to be associated both with anger and depression.…”

The Importance and Meaning of Sexual Fantasies in Intimate Relationships

“…Current sexuality researchers and therapists are much more likely to interpret sexual fantasies positively and suggest that fantasy can be used as a healthy outlet for expressing sexual thoughts without jeopardizing romantic relationships. For example, evidence supports the notion that sexual fantasies are likely related to positive sexual outcomes, including higher levels of sexual interest, activity, desire, and more positive attitudes about sexuality (Purifoy et al 1992). We now know that women, almost universally, experience some form of sexual fantasy (Brown and Hart 1977;Crepault et al 1976;Davidson and Hoffman 1986;Ellis and Symons 1990).…”

Toronto Alexithymia Scale in Outpatients with Sexual Disorders

“…The psychoanalytical model, on the one hand, refers to the notion of alexithymia as the description of the pensée opératoire of psychosomatic personalities [4]. From this model, the importance of the process of fantasising and the ability to experience and express emotions in human sexuality constitutes one of the structural points in human eroticism [5,6]. Erotic fantasy can be considered as the organiser of the mental representation of sexual behaviour, and not merely a superfluously added ornament of erotic life.…”