Feelings of disgust and disgust-induced avoidance weaken following induced sexual arousal in women.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sex and disgust are basic, evolutionary relevant functions that are often construed as paradoxical. In general the stimuli involved in sexual encounters are, at least out of context strongly perceived to hold high disgust qualities. Saliva, sweat, semen and body odours are among the strongest disgust elicitors. This results in the intriguing question of how people succeed in having pleasurable sex at all. One possible explanation could be that sexual engagement temporarily reduces the disgust eliciting properties of particular stimuli or that sexual engagement might weaken the hesitation to actually approach these stimuli.

Methodology

Participants were healthy women (n = 90) randomly allocated to one of three groups: the sexual arousal, the non-sexual positive aro

SUBMITTER: Borg C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3440388 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature