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Timmers AD, Blumenstock SM, DeBruine L, Chivers ML. The Role of Attractiveness in Gendered Sexual Response Patterns. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2023:1-16. [PMID: 38127771 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2284346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Previously documented sexual response patterns of gender-specificity among gynephilic men and gender-nonspecificity among gynephilic women could be explained by women responding more strongly to non-gendered aspects of sexual stimuli. Cues of attractiveness are known determinants of sexual decision-making, yet have not been directly tested as determinants of sexual response. The current study investigated the role of attractiveness cues in explaining gender-based patterns of sexual response. Thirty-one gynephilic men and 60 androphilic women were presented slideshows of images depicting individual nude men and women that were pre-rated in a pilot study as either attractive or unattractive. The men and women were posed with legs spread and aroused genitals displayed prominently. Images were isolated against a white background and included minimal contextual information. Three sexual responses - genital arousal (via photoplethysmographs), self-reported arousal, and visual attention (via eye-tracking) - were recorded continuously. Across all three response modalities, men's and women's responses were stronger for the attractive versus unattractive images and for their preferred versus non-preferred gender. For men's arousal and women's self-reported arousal, the effect of attractiveness was stronger for their preferred versus non-preferred gender. Thus, both men and women demonstrated preference-specific patterns of sexual response. Gender cues had the strongest effect on men's visual attention, whereas attractiveness cues had the strongest effect on women's visual attention. Findings establish the importance of target attractiveness in arousal to sexual stimuli and add to mounting evidence that androphilic women's sexual responses are sensitive to gender, but may be more sensitive to non-gendered features of sexual stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Lisa DeBruine
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow
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2
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Human brain activity reflecting facial attractiveness from skin reflection. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3412. [PMID: 33619295 PMCID: PMC7900112 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82601-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial attraction has a great influence on our daily social interactions. Previous studies have mainly focused on the attraction from facial shape and expression. We recently found that faces with radiant skin appear to be more attractive than those with oily-shiny or matte skin. In the present study, we conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and psychological experiments to determine the human brain activity that reflects facial attractiveness modulated by these skin reflection types. In the fMRI experiment, female subjects were shown successive images of unfamiliar female faces with matte, oily-shiny, or radiant skin. The subjects compared each face with the immediately preceding face in terms of attractiveness, age, and skin reflection, all based on the skin. The medial part of the orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) was significantly more active when comparing attractiveness than when comparing skin reflection, suggesting that the mOFC is involved in processing facial attractiveness from skin reflection. In the psychological experiment, attractiveness rating was highest for radiant skin, followed by oily-shiny, and then matte skin. Comparison of the results of these experiments showed that mOFC activation level increased with attractiveness rating. These results suggest that the activation level of the mOFC reflects facial attractiveness from skin reflection.
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Kramer RS, Mulgrew J, Anderson NC, Vasilyev D, Kingstone A, Reynolds MG, Ward R. Physically attractive faces attract us physically. Cognition 2020; 198:104193. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2019] [Revised: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Pandeirada JNS, Fernandes NL, Vasconcelos M. Attractiveness of Human Faces: Norms by Sex, Sexual Orientation, Age, Relationship Stability, and Own Attractiveness Judgements. Front Psychol 2020; 11:419. [PMID: 32231625 PMCID: PMC7083125 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Josefa N S Pandeirada
- Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.,William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Natália Lisandra Fernandes
- Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.,William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Marco Vasconcelos
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
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Han S, Liu S, Gan Y, Xu Q, Xu P, Luo Y, Zhang L. Repeated exposure makes attractive faces more attractive: Neural responses in facial attractiveness judgement. Neuropsychologia 2020; 139:107365. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Revised: 01/19/2020] [Accepted: 01/25/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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6
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Afdile M, Jääskeläinen IP, Glerean E, Smirnov D, Alho J, Äimälä A, Sams M. Contextual knowledge provided by a movie biases implicit perception of the protagonist. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2020; 14:519-527. [PMID: 30993342 PMCID: PMC6545537 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Revised: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We are constantly categorizing other people as belonging to our in-group (‘one of us’) or out-group (‘one of them’). Such grouping occurs fast and automatically and can be based on others’ visible characteristics such as skin color or clothing style. Here we studied neural underpinnings of implicit social grouping not often visible on the face, male sexual orientation. A total of 14 homosexuals and 15 heterosexual males were scanned in functional magnetic resonance imaging
while watching a movie about a homosexual man, whose face was also presented subliminally before (subjects did not know about the character’s sexual orientation) and after the movie. We discovered significantly stronger activation to the man’s face after seeing the movie in homosexual but not heterosexual subjects in medial prefrontal cortex, frontal pole, anterior cingulate cortex, right temporal parietal junction and bilateral superior frontal gyrus. In previous research, these brain areas have been connected to social perception, self-referential thinking, empathy, theory of mind and in-group perception. In line with previous studies showing biased perception of in-/out-group faces to be context dependent, our novel approach further demonstrates how complex contextual knowledge gained under naturalistic viewing can bias implicit social perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mamdooh Afdile
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Department of Media, School of Arts Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Correspondence should be addressed to Mamdooh Afdile, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 12200, FI-00076, Espoo, Finland. E-mail:
| | - Iiro P Jääskeläinen
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Enrico Glerean
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Department of Computer Science, School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Dmitry Smirnov
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Jussi Alho
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Anna Äimälä
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Mikko Sams
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Department of Computer Science, School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
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Vásquez-Amézquita M, Leongómez JD, Seto MC, Bonilla M, Rodríguez-Padilla A, Salvador A. Visual Attention Patterns Differ in Gynephilic and Androphilic Men and Women Depending on Age and Gender of Targets. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2019; 56:85-101. [PMID: 29028456 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2017.1372353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Visual attention patterns measured with eye-tracking techniques provide indirect clues about sexual response. This study aimed to test the category specificity of sexual responses to stimuli varying in gender and age by evaluating both early and late attention of gynephilic and androphilic men and women. We simultaneously presented sexually preferred and nonpreferred stimuli and measured time to first fixation and total duration of fixation on four areas of interest: entire body, then face, chest, and pelvis. Androphilic women's early attention patterns were nonspecific, whereas gynephilic women and both groups of men showed a category-specific pattern for the entire body. In contrast, all groups showed gender-specific patterns of late attention for all areas of interest. We also found support for age specificity of early and late visual attention in all four groups, with greater attention to adult than child stimuli. This study supports the usefulness of a competing stimulus eye-tracking paradigm as a method to examine gender specificity in gynephilic women and androphilic and gynephilic men, and as a measure of age specificity in gynephilic and androphilic men and women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milena Vásquez-Amézquita
- a Faculty of Psychology , University El Bosque
- b Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychobiology , IDOCAL, University of Valencia
| | | | | | | | | | - Alicia Salvador
- b Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychobiology , IDOCAL, University of Valencia
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Chivers ML. The Specificity of Women's Sexual Response and Its Relationship with Sexual Orientations: A Review and Ten Hypotheses. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2017; 46:1161-1179. [PMID: 28074394 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-016-0897-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2016] [Revised: 09/21/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Category-specific sexual response describes a pattern wherein the individual shows significantly greater responses to preferred versus nonpreferred categories of sexual stimuli; this pattern is described as gender specific for sexual orientation to gender, or gender nonspecific if lacking response differentiation by gender cues. Research on the gender specificity of women's sexual response has consistently produced sexual orientation effects, such that androphilic women (sexually attracted to adult males) typically show gender-nonspecific patterns of genital response and gynephilic women (sexually attracted to adult females) show more gender-specific responses. As research on the category specificity of sexual response has grown, this pattern has also been observed for other measures of sexual response. In this review, I use the Incentive Motivation and Information Processing Models as complementary frameworks to organize the empirical literature examining the gender specificity of women's sexual response at each stage of sexual stimulus processing and response. Collectively, these data disconfirm models of sexual orientation that equate androphilic women's sexual attractions with their sexual responses to sexual stimuli. I then discuss 10 hypotheses that might explain variability in the specificity of sexual response among androphilic and gynephilic women, and conclude with recommendations for future research on the (non)specificity of sexual response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meredith L Chivers
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
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Sarlo M, Buodo G. To each its own? Gender differences in affective, autonomic, and behavioral responses to same-sex and opposite-sex visual sexual stimuli. Physiol Behav 2017; 171:249-255. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2016] [Revised: 01/11/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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10
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The Motivational Salience of Faces Is Related to Both Their Valence and Dominance. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0161114. [PMID: 27513859 PMCID: PMC4981386 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2016] [Accepted: 07/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Both behavioral and neural measures of the motivational salience of faces are positively correlated with their physical attractiveness. Whether physical characteristics other than attractiveness contribute to the motivational salience of faces is not known, however. Research with male macaques recently showed that more dominant macaques’ faces hold greater motivational salience. Here we investigated whether dominance also contributes to the motivational salience of faces in human participants. Principal component analysis of third-party ratings of faces for multiple traits revealed two orthogonal components. The first component (“valence”) was highly correlated with rated trustworthiness and attractiveness. The second component (“dominance”) was highly correlated with rated dominance and aggressiveness. Importantly, both components were positively and independently related to the motivational salience of faces, as assessed from responses on a standard key-press task. These results show that at least two dissociable components underpin the motivational salience of faces in humans and present new evidence for similarities in how humans and non-human primates respond to facial cues of dominance.
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