Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Priming the sexual system: implicit versus explicit activation.

Mark Spiering1, Walter Everaerd, Erick Janssen

  • 1Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 15, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. kp_spiering@macmail.psy.uva.nl.

Journal of Sex Research
|August 9, 2003
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Attachment orientation and sexual excitation and inhibition independently predict sexual desire and sexual arousal, but their interaction does not.

International journal of impotence research·2026
Same author

Development of the Perceived Synchrony During Sex Questionnaire (PSSQ).

Journal of sex & marital therapy·2026
Same author

Sexual Well-Being of Young People in Times of Widespread Pornography Use: Protocol for a Multidisciplinary Research Framework.

JMIR research protocols·2026
Same author

Exploring sexual arousal synchrony: A pilot study on dyadic sexual arousal covariation in the lab.

The journal of sexual medicine·2026
Same author

The Porto Proclamation: Advancing a Global Agenda for Sexual Health, Rights, and Justice.

International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health·2026
Same author

Are All Not What They Seem? An Exploration of Proactive and Reactive Perpetrator Profiles in Young, Heterosexual Men with a History of Sexual Aggression.

Journal of sex research·2025
Same journal

Associations Between Childhood Maltreatment, Fluctuations and Discrepancies in Partners' Sexual Desire and Distress: A Dyadic Daily Diary Study.

Journal of sex research·2026
Same journal

It's Not What You Do, it's Why: Motives and Outcomes of Technology-Mediated Sexual Interactions in Romantic Relationships.

Journal of sex research·2026
Same journal

Effectiveness of Digital Interventions in Reducing Chemsex-Related Health Risks Among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): A Systematic Review.

Journal of sex research·2026
Same journal

"We don't Have to Live in Such a Constrained World": Plurisexual Women Navigating Stigma, Bi+ Erasure, Monosexuality, and Heteronormativity."

Journal of sex research·2026
Same journal

Sexual Behaviors and Psychosocial Health Among Men Who Have Sex with Men with and without Female Partners in Kenya: Baseline Findings from the Tatu Pamoja Study.

Journal of sex research·2026
Same journal

Prevalence and Correlates of Condom Use Resistance Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Reporting Recent Heavy Alcohol Use and Condomless Sex.

Journal of sex research·2026
See all related articles

Sexual stimuli can be processed automatically without conscious awareness, but conscious processing slows down responses and elicits subjective sexual arousal. This research explores the automatic and conscious activation of the sexual system.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Sexuality

Background:

  • Understanding the sexual system's activation is crucial for addressing sexual dysfunctions.
  • Differentiating between automatic and conscious processing is key to understanding human sexual response.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate implicit versus explicit activation of the sexual system.
  • To determine the role of conscious awareness in sexual arousal and response.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a priming paradigm with sexual and neutral cues.
  • Manipulated prime accessibility to conscious elaboration across two experiments.
  • Measured identification of sexual targets and subjective sexual arousal.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Implicit sexual primes automatically activated sexual representations, facilitating target identification.
  • Explicit sexual primes decelerated target identification and elicited subjective sexual arousal.
  • Conscious cognitive elaboration is necessary for subjective sexual experience.

Conclusions:

  • Sexual system activation can occur both automatically and consciously.
  • Conscious processing is required for subjective sexual arousal.
  • The developed paradigm may aid in understanding sexual response mechanisms.