Women’s genital and subjective sexual arousal and visual attention to naked male stimuli does not vary with the attractiveness and sexual arousal state of the target

Salient sexual cues (erect penis, attractive individuals) are thought to capture initial attention and automatically trigger genital arousal in women. Conscious appraisal activates subjective sexual arousal and further visual attention. The present study tested whether the attractiveness category (attractive/unattractive) and/or sexual arousal condition (in underwear, naked with flaccid penis, naked with erect penis) of male stimuli predicted female sexual responding and attentional patterns. Genital arousal, visual attention, and subjective ratings (subjective sexual arousal, pleasantness) of 26 predominantly heterosexual women (Mage = 31.2, SDage = 6.8) were measured while exposed to male stimuli across the experimental conditions. Neither attractiveness nor sexual arousal condition of male models significantly predicted genital arousal, subjective sexual arousal ratings or visual attention patterns of women. Results however showed high concordance between genital and subjective sexual arousal measures, and the pleasantness rating of the stimuli positively predicted subjective sexual arousal, suggesting a positive feedback loop of female sexual response.