Erotic Pleasure and Pleasure-Seeking Associated with Implicit and Explicit Sexual Motives

Two studies examined the proposal that implicit and explicit sexual motives are associated with the experience of pleasure in sexual situations, as well as with seeking out sexual pleasure. In Study 1, implicit and explicit motive scores of 145 heterosexually identified women and 152 heterosexually identified men were demonstrated to be independently associated with the experience of pleasure in response to videos of female-male sexual behavior, more consistently so for women than men. The implicit and explicit motive scales were also associated with the frequency of viewing erotic materials in daily life. The experience of pleasure within sexual relationships was additionally shown to be associated with sexual motives, although primarily implicit motives. In Study 2 involving 139 women and 65 men, implicit motive scales were associated with ratings of interest in a potential romantic partner. The results support the conceptualization of the two instruments as measures of sexual motivation. The difference between implicit versus explicit measures in the pattern of correlations involving acquainted versus non-acquainted individuals is consistent with research on ideal partner preference.