Feederism: an exaggeration of a normative mate selection preference?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Human Sexuality
• Sexual Deviance Research

Background:

• Some paraphilias may represent exaggerated normative mate selection preferences.
• Feederism, a fat fetish involving erotic eating and weight gain, is explored as a potential exaggeration of common sexual arousal patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if Feederism is an exaggerated form of normative sexual arousal patterns.
• To assess physiological and subjective sexual responses to feeding stimuli in a general population sample.

Main Methods:

• Thirty participants (15 men, 15 women) without self-identified Feederism history were recruited.
• Penile and vaginal plethysmography measured physiological sexual arousal.
• Participants viewed sexual, neutral, and feeding images alongside corresponding audio stories.

Main Results:

• No significant genital physiological responses (penile or vaginal) to feeding stimuli were observed.
• Both men and women reported feeding stimuli as subjectively more sexually arousing than neutral stimuli.
• A discordance between physiological and self-reported sexual arousal to feeding cues was noted.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest Feederism's arousal patterns may not directly correlate with physiological responses in the general population.
• The study highlights potential sex differences in sexual concordance and the complex interplay of subjective and physiological arousal.
• Further research is needed to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying Feederism and its relation to normative sexual preferences.