The role of anxiety on sexual arousal

Sex therapists have long argued that anxiety is the primary psychological mechanism that underlies the interference with sexual arousal that is responsible for such conditions as erectile failure. However, laboratory research on anxiety's effects has yielded mixed results. Studies have found that sexual arousal may be unaffected, disrupted, or even facilitated by anxiety. Fifty-four men, ages 21-46, viewed a series of erotic videotape segments after having received one of three types of information; (i) neutral feedback, (ii) feedback indicating that they would be receiving a painful electric shock, and (iii) feedback indicating that their level of sexual arousal during baseline measurement was subnormal. Subsequent plethysmographic measurement of sexual arousal while viewing the erotic material revealed that leading subjects to worry either about their physical well-being (shock threat) or their psychosexual well-being (negative feedback) were both effective strategies for interfering substantially with sexual arousal. The hypothesis that attention/memory would mediate the effects of anxiety on arousal received only partial support. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are explored.