Meredith L. Chivers, PhD, CPsych, presents: Sexual desire emerges from arousal; Examining responsive sexual desire among cisgender women with and without sexual difficulties

Contemporary models of sexual response describe desire as responsive, triggered by incentivized sexual cues, and emerging from sexual arousal. Symptoms of Female Sexual Interest and Arousal Disorder (FSIAD) include reduced capacity for responsive sexual desire; however, this hypothesis has not been experimentally tested. Given non-incentivized cues are capable of eliciting women’s sexual arousal, do they also elicit responsive desire? Which aspects of sexual arousal – genital responses, subjective arousal, or their correlation (sexual concordance) – are associated with responsive sexual desire? In this talk, Dr. Chivers will discuss research examining responsive desire and discuss implications for theory and treatment of FSIAD.