http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0044111
The core findings can be summarized as follows: first, the sexual arousal group rated the sex related disgusting stimuli as significantly less disgusting when compared both to the neutral group and to the positive arousal group. A similar (non-significant) trend was evident for the non-sex related stimuli. Second, for both the sex and non-sex related disgusting tasks, the sexual arousal group conducted the highest percentage of tasks, indicating that sexual arousal indeed accentuates the actual approach tendency towards disgusting stimuli.
In line with predictions, when specifically considering the sexual arousal group, this group showed reduced elicited disgust towards the sex related (and to a certain extent also for the non-sex related) disgusting stimuli. This effect of sexual arousal on disgust cannot be attributed solely to positive arousal, given that the effects, especially at the behavioural level, were restricted to the sexual arousal condition. These results are congruent with the findings of a previous study conducted with male participants [6]. Although in the previous study the effects were restricted to disgust stimuli that referred directly to sex, in the present study the effect of induced sexual arousal was also evident for stimuli that do not directly refer to sex, Appendix S2. This apparent difference between studies could perhaps be attributed to the intensity of the experimental manipulation as Stevenson and colleagues used slides instead of a film clip to elicit sexual arousal [6].
The current study presents evidence that, similar to men, sexual arousal in women attenuates the elicited disgust of particular disgusting stimuli [6]. Importantly, however, our findings go further than merely replicating the self-report data of the aforementioned studies through demonstrating that sexual arousal also affects participants’ behaviour and attenuates actual approach tendencies. This seems particularly relevant here, when one considers that the subjective self-reported disgust does not mediate the impact of the experimental condition on the willingness to approach and conduct the tasks. This suggests that sexual arousal seems to have a largely independent influence on the experience of disgust and on people’s tendency to avoid disgust-relevant stimuli.
