While previous research has argued that neuroticism is a vulnerability factor for the experience of sexual difficulties, the basic cognitive processes associated with the impact of such a personality trait on the processing of sexually explicit stimuli are less understood. The current study examined the influence of neuroticism on the attentional processes and its neurophysiological correlates during the perception of sexual and non-sexual images. Event-related potentials from 30 women and 28 men were recorded during a modified oddball paradigm in which participants of both sexes visualized stimuli from three different categories (sexual, non-sexual positive, and non-sexual negative), and two arousal levels (high and low arousal). A P1 latency effect was found for female participants, in which high neuroticism was associated with longer latencies for pornographic compared to romantic sexual images. Higher levels of neuroticism were also associated with higher P3 amplitudes for highly arousing images, with both sexual and non-sexual content. Results were interpreted in light of the information processing model of sexual arousal and showed that neuroticism seems to impact both automatic and conscious pathways of processing of sexual stimuli.

虽然之前的研究认为神经质是性困难经历的一个脆弱因素，但与这种人格特质对性暴露刺激处理的影响相关的基本认知过程却鲜为人知。目前的研究检查了神经质对性和非性图像感知过程中注意力过程的影响及其神经生理学相关性。来自 30 名女性和 28 名男性的事件相关电位被记录在一个改良的古怪范式中，其中两性的参与者都将来自三个不同类别（性、非性积极和非性消极）和两个唤醒水平（高和低唤醒）。在女性参与者中发现了 P1 潜伏期效应，其中与浪漫的性图像相比，高度的神经质与色情的更长的延迟有关。对于具有性和非性内容的高度唤醒图像，较高水平的神经质也与较高的 P3 振幅相关。结果根据性唤起的信息处理模型进行解释，并表明神经质似乎影响性刺激处理的自动和有意识途径。