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First published January 2006

Is High Sex Drive Associated With Increased Sexual Attraction to Both Sexes?: It Depends on Whether You Are Male or Female

Abstract

If sex drive is a generalized energizer of sexual behaviors, then high sex drive should increase an individual's sexual attraction to both men and women. If sex drive energizes only dominant sexual responses, however, then high sex drive should selectively increase attraction to men or to women, but not to both, depending on the individual's sexual orientation. Data from three studies assessing a total of 3,645 participants show that for most women, high sex drive is associated with increased sexual attraction to both men and women. For men, however, high sex drive is associated with increased sexual attraction to only one sex or the other, depending on the individual's sexual orientation. These results suggest that the correlates of sex drive and the organization of sexual orientation are different for women and men.

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Article first published: January 2006
Issue published: January 2006

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© 2006 Association for Psychological Science.
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PubMed: 16371143

Authors

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Richard A. Lippa
California State University, Fullerton

Notes

Richard Lippa, Psychology Department, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 92834, e-mail: [email protected].

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