Bodewits, Carmen (2025) A Study of Pain Expectancies and Female Sexual Arousal, through Aversive Conditioning and Experiential Extinction. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Approximately 27% of Dutch women experience pain during sex, which can negatively impact well-being, relationships, and physical health. Previous studies suggest that pain expectancies may reduce sexual arousal through aversive conditioning, in which sexual stimuli become associated with anticipated pain. This thesis investigated whether pairing a pornographic stimulus (CS+) with a pain stimulus (US) would reduce subjective sexual arousal in heterosexual women compared to a non-paired pornographic stimulus (CS-). It also examined whether this reduction could be restored through experiential extinction by presenting the CS+ without pain. Based on earlier findings, it was hypothesized that subjective sexual arousal would decrease towards the CS+ after acquisition and recover during extinction. In a within-subjects design, 32 women viewed pornographic videos across three phases (preconditioning, acquisition, and extinction) while reporting sexual arousal and pain expectancy. Results showed a successful pain expectancy manipulation, with significantly higher expectancy ratings for the CS+ than the CS-. However, contrary to hypotheses, subjective sexual arousal increased for the CS+ after acquisition and showed no significant change during extinction. These results may reflect misattribution of arousal, in which anxiety or relief related to pain anticipation was interpreted as sexual arousal. The lack of physiological data due to technical malfunction limited interpretation. While the restorative potential of experiential extinction could not be assessed, this thesis may point to the multidimensionality of sexual arousal and the complex role of expectancy, context, and emotion. Future research should include physiological measures and address misattribution effects to better understand pain-related sexual dysfunctions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Borg, C. and Jong, P.J. de |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Psychology (CP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jul 2025 09:45 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jul 2025 09:45 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5742 |
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