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Sexual Arousal Discounting: Devaluing Condom-Protected Sex as a Function of Reduced Arousal

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Abstract

Sexual discounting is a growing area of research aimed at identifying factors that reduce people’s reported willingness to have safe sex. One commonly reported reason for condom non-use is that a condom reduces sexual arousal. However, researchers have yet to isolate the specific role of sexual arousal using a sexual discounting framework. We extended past research by measuring how sexual arousal reduced people’s willingness to have condom-protected sex (“sexual arousal discounting”: SAD). College students (n = 379; 67.5% females) selected partners they most wanted and least wanted to have sex with and were randomized to one of two groups. In one group, participants rated their willingness to have sex with a condom if their own arousal decreased (from 100 to 10%) from condom use. The other group completed the same task except their partner’s arousal decreased from condom use instead of their own. We observed a three-way interaction between arousal levels, most versus least desirable partners, and self versus partner groups. Participants’ willingness to have condom-protected sex systematically reduced as a function of sexual arousal. This was observed more with the most (vs. least) desirable partner and in the self-arousal (vs. partner-arousal) group but only when the partner was their least desirable. Men (vs. women) displayed more arousal discounting but only with the most desirable partner. Finally, higher arousal discounting was associated with lower safe-sex self-efficacy and higher reported frequency of unprotected sex in the past 3 months. This study demonstrates how reduced sexual arousal from condom use can be measured as a factor influencing sexual risk-taking.

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Notes

  1. In some cases (10% and 6% of the sample in the most-desirable-partner and least-desirable-partner conditions, respectively), the willingness rating in the 100% trial was not the highest, which resulted in AUC higher than 1.0. Thus, to keep AUC at or below 1.0, we divided all ratings by the highest rating found in all trials instead.

  2. We also conducted a supplementary analysis regarding how the AUC was associated with (1) impulsivity and sensation seeking and (2) sexual sensation seeking. These results are included in the online supplemental material.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Peter Kvam, Michael Marsiske, and Gregory Webster for their insights and suggestions throughout the project.

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Correspondence to Val Wongsomboon.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Wongsomboon, V., Cox, D.J. Sexual Arousal Discounting: Devaluing Condom-Protected Sex as a Function of Reduced Arousal. Arch Sex Behav 50, 2717–2728 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01907-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01907-4

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