Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10297
Title: | Sex Differences in Visual Attention to Erotic and Non-erotic Stimuli | Contributor(s): | Lykins, Amy (author) ; Meana, Marta (author) | Publication Date: | 2008 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10297 | Abstract: | It has been suggested that sex differences in the processing of erotic material (e.g., memory, genital arousal, brain activation patterns) may also be reflected by differential attention to visual cues in erotic material. To test this hypothesis, we presented 20 heterosexual men and 20 heterosexual women with erotic and non-erotic images of heterosexual couples and tracked their eye movements during scene presentation. Results supported previous findings that erotic and non-erotic information was visually processed in a different manner by both men and women. In addition, we found sex differences such that men looked at opposite sex figures significantly longer than did women, and women looked at same sex figures significantly longer than did men. Within-sex analyses suggested that men had a strong visual attention preference for opposite sex figures as compared to same sex figures, whereas women appeared to disperse their attention evenly between opposite and same sex figures. These differences, however, were not limited to erotic images but evidenced in non-erotic images as well. No significant sex differences were found for attention to the contextual region of the scenes. Results are interpreted as potentially supportive of recent studies showing a greater non-specificity of sexual arousal in women. This interpretation assumes there is an erotic valence to images of the sex to which one orients, even when the image is not explicitly erotic. It also assumes a relationship between visual attention and erotic valence. | Publication Type: | Conference Publication | Conference Details: | SSTAR 2008: 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research, Chicago, United States of America, 13th - 15th March, 2008 | Source of Publication: | 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research Program Book, p. 103-103 | Publisher: | Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR) | Place of Publication: | Online | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 170105 Gender Psychology 170201 Computer Perception, Memory and Attention |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 920410 Mental Health | HERDC Category Description: | E3 Extract of Scholarly Conference Publication | Publisher/associated links: | http://www.sstarnet.org/meeting.php | Description: | Paper also presented at IASR2008: 34th Annual Meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research, Leuven, Belgium, 9th - 12th July, 2008 |
---|---|
Appears in Collections: | Conference Publication School of Psychology |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format |
---|
Page view(s)
1,302
checked on Mar 8, 2023
Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.