Category-specificity in sexual arousal/interest as a complex function of sex and sexual orientation

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Title Category-specificity in sexual arousal/interest as a complex function of sex and sexual orientation
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Psychology
Author Rullo, Jordan Elizabeth
Date 2008-01-30
Description The present study assessed the category-specificity of sexual interest/arousal of gay men and lesbian women toward an understanding of the possible interaction of sex and sexual orientation that may exist in this phenomenon. Utilizing viewing time as a measure of sexual interest, participants (N = 99) rated the sexual appeal of sexually provocative pictures while the length of time they spent viewing each picture was unobtrusively measured. As hypothesized, same-sex oriented individuals, both men and women, demonstrated a category-specific pattern of sexual interest. That is, (1) men and women viewed preferred sex pictures significantly longer than nonpreferred sex pictures; (2) men and women rated preferred sex pictures significantly more sexually appealing than nonpreferred sex pictures; (3) the differences in viewing time and appeal ratings between preferred and nonpreferred sexual stimuli were greater for lesbian women than that demonstrated by their heterosexual counterparts; (4) the differences in viewing time between preferred and nonpreferred sexual stimuli were greater for heterosexual men than for gay men; and (5) the appeal ratings between preferred and nonpreferred sexual stimuli were comparable for gay men and their heterosexual counterparts. The results of this study suggest that self-identified gay and lesbian men and women are categoryspecific in their sexual interest.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Gays; Lesbians; Sexual excitement
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name MS
Language eng
Relation is Version of Digital reproduction of "Category-specificity in sexual arousal/interest as a complex function of sex and sexual orientation" J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections HQ5.5 2008 .R84
Rights Management © Jordan Elizabeth Rullo
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 178,017 bytes
Identifier us-etd2,124647
Source Original: University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
Conversion Specifications Original scanned on Epson GT-30000 as 400 dpi to pdf using ABBYY FineReader 9.0 Professional Edition.
ARK ark:/87278/s6s476dj
Setname ir_etd
ID 192133
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6s476dj
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