One of the strongest correlates of male sexual orientation is sexual arousal to male versus female stimuli. Subjectively and genitally, gay men respond much more strongly to sexual stimuli depicting men than women, and heterosexual men show an opposite pattern. The investigators refer to the tight linkage between sexual orientation and sexual arousal patterns as """"""""target specificity."""""""" There has been inadequate attention to the question of whether female sexual orientation is target specific. However, some research to data, including our own preliminary data, suggests that target specificity is much weaker for women than for men. This is particularly true of genital sexual arousal. To date research has failed to identify any aspect of sexual stimuli, including the sex of individuals depicted in the stimuli, that correlates reliably with female sexual orientation. One interpretation is that female genital arousal is provoked by a broad range of sexual stimuli. The investigators will assess the subjective and genital arousal of 180 lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women as they watch erotic video clips of lesbian, gay, or heterosexual interactions. They will also include a sexual stimulus depicting nonhuman animals, which we expect to be nonarousing, in an attempt to demonstrate at specificity of female genital response. If female target specificity exists, then lesbians should be most aroused by lesbian stimuli, and heterosexual women should be most aroused to the gay male stimuli, with bisexual women showing an intermediate pattern. The investigators argue that results will inform psychological theories of female sexual orientation regardless of specific outcome. This proposed study represents a marked departure from the principal investigator's previous work, which has primarily focused on the genetic and developmental origins of male and female sexual orientation.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
5R03HD041770-02
Application #
6526505
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-RPHB-4 (01))
Program Officer
Freund, Lisa S
Project Start
2001-09-01
Project End
2003-08-31
Budget Start
2002-09-01
Budget End
2003-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$73,500
Indirect Cost
Name
Northwestern University at Chicago
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Evanston
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60201
Chivers, Meredith L; Bailey, J Michael (2005) A sex difference in features that elicit genital response. Biol Psychol 70:115-20
Chivers, Meredith L; Rieger, Gerulf; Latty, Elizabeth et al. (2004) A sex difference in the specificity of sexual arousal. Psychol Sci 15:736-44