Effects of emotional state on sexual desire and sexual dysfunction

The present study explored effects of emotional states on sexual desire and dysfunction. Three basic emotion dimensions, pleasure-displeasure, arousal-nonarousal, and dominance-submissiveness, served as the independent factors. Factor analysis of a sexual desire and problems questionnaire yielded a single factor with sexual desire as one pole and sexual problems as the opposite pole. The resulting sexual desire scale had a KR-20 reliability coefficient of .98 and constituted a highly homogeneous dependent measure. Sexual desire was greater when subjects felt pleasure rather than displeasure, unaroused rather than aroused, and dominant rather than submissive. Desire increased with increasing arousal in pleasant states and decreased with increasing arousal in unpleasant states (Pleasure × Arousal interaction). Desire increased with increasing dominance in pleasant states and decreased with increasing dominance in unpleasant states (Pleasure × Dominance interaction). In unaroused states, submissiveness attenuated the polarization of sexual desire as a function of pleasure-displeasure (Pleasure × Arousal × Dominance interaction). The highest levels of sexual desire and freedom from sexual problems were associated with pleasant and dominant feelings (e.g., admired and vigorous or relaxed and leisurely); the lowest levels were reported for unpleasant and aroused feelings (e.g., hostile and hateful or pained and embarrassed). Except for the uniformly greater sexual desire of males than of females across all conditions, all findings were applicable equally to the two sexes.