Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
PLoS One. 2021 Dec 16;16(12):e0261434. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261434. eCollection 2021.
Attention is considered to be a critical part of the sexual response cycle, and researchers have differentiated between the roles of initial (involuntary) and subsequent (voluntary) attention paid to sexual stimuli as part of the facilitation of sexual arousal. Prior studies using eye-tracking methodologies have shown differing initial attention patterns to erotic stimuli between men and women, as well as between individuals of different sexual orientations. No study has directly compared initial attention to sexual stimuli in asexual individuals, defined by their lack of sexual attraction, to women with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD), a disorder characterized by a reduced or absent interest in sex coupled with significant personal distress. The current study tested differences in the initial attention patterns of 29 asexual individuals (Mage = 26.56, SD = 4.80) and 25 heterosexual women with SIAD (Mage = 27.52, SD = 4.87), using eye-tracking. Participants were presented with sexual and neutral stimuli, and their initial eye movements and initial fixations to both image types and areas of erotic contact within sexual images were recorded. Mixed-model ANOVAs and t-tests were used to compare the two groups on the speed with which their initial fixations occurred, the duration of their initial fixations, and the proportion of initial fixations made to sexual stimuli. On two indices of initial attention, women with SIAD displayed an initial attention preference for sexual stimuli over neutral stimuli compared to asexual participants. This study adds to a growing literature on the distinction between asexuality and SIAD, indicating that differences in early attention may be a feature that differentiates the groups.
注意被认为是性反应周期的关键部分，研究人员已经区分了对性刺激的初始（无意识）和后续（自愿）注意的作用，作为促进性唤起的一部分。先前使用眼动追踪方法的研究表明，男性和女性之间以及不同性取向的个体之间对色情刺激的初始注意模式存在差异。没有研究直接比较缺乏性吸引力的无性个体与性兴趣/唤起障碍（SIAD）女性对性刺激的初始注意，后者的特征是对性的兴趣降低或缺失，同时伴有显著的个人痛苦。本研究使用眼动追踪技术测试了 29 名无性个体（Mage = 26.56，SD = 4.80）和 25 名患有 SIAD 的异性恋女性（Mage = 27.52，SD = 4.87）的初始注意模式差异。参与者被呈现性刺激和中性刺激，并记录他们对这两种类型的图像以及性图像中性接触区域的初始眼动和初始注视。混合模型方差分析和 t 检验用于比较两组在初始注视发生速度、初始注视持续时间以及对性刺激的初始注视比例方面的差异。在两个初始注意指标上，与无性参与者相比，患有 SIAD 的女性对性刺激的初始注意力偏好强于中性刺激。这项研究增加了关于无性和 SIAD 之间区别的不断增长的文献，表明早期注意力的差异可能是区分这两个群体的一个特征。
