Abstract
Demographic, sexual, and personality characteristics of volunteers and nonvolunteers for a laboratory study of sexual arousal were compared. Subjects were 296 female students from an introductory psychology course who had volunteered for a study on sexuality and personality. After completing several questionnaires, subjects were presented with a written description of an experiment that involved viewing sexually explicit videotapes and measurement of sexual arousal with a vaginal photoplethysmograph and indicated in writing whether or not they would be interested in participating in the experiment. Chi-square analyses revealed that a greater percentage of volunteers had experienced sexual trauma and that fewer women in this group reported objections to viewing sexually explicit films than nonvolunteers. A discriminant function analysis revealed that the volunteers masturbated more frequently, had more exposure to commercialized erotica materials, were exposed to these materials at an earlier age, and reported less sexual fear than nonvolunteers. Other personality, demographic, and sexual characteristics did not differ across the groups. This study demonstrates that the external validity of studies employing vaginal measures of sexual arousal is limited. Researchers must use caution when discussing the generality of findings based on genital measurement of sexual arousal.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramson, P. R., Perry, L. B., Seeley, T. T., Seeley, D. M., and Rothblatt, A. B. (1981). Thermographic measurement of sexual arousal. A discriminant validity analysis.Arch. Sex Behav. 10: 171–176.
Annon, J. S. (1975).The Behavioral Treatment of Sexual Problems (Vol. 2). Enabling Systems, Honolulu.
Baker, W. J., and Perlman, D. (1975). Volunteer bias and personality traits in sexual standards research.Arch. Sex. Behav. 4: 161–171.
Beggs, V. E., Calhoun, K., and Wolchik, S. A. (1979). Inhibiting effects of anxiety on female sexual arousal. Unpublished manuscript, University of Georgia.
Bentler, P. (1968). Heterosexual behavior assessment: II. Females.Behav. Res. Ther. 6: 27–30.
Crowne, D. P., and Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology.J. Consult. Psychol. 24: 349–354.
Diamant, L. (1970). Attitude, personality and behavior in volunteers and nonvolunteers for sexual research. InProceedings of the 78th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (Vol. 5), American Psychological Association, Washington, D. C., pp. 423–424.
Farkas, G. M., Sine, L. F., and Evans, I. M. (1978). Personality, sexuality, and demographic differences between volunteers and nonvolunteers for a laboratory study of male sexual behavior.Arch. Sex Behav. 7: 513–520.
Geer, J. H., Morokoff, P., and Greenwood, P. (1974). Sexual arousal in women: The development of a measurement device for vaginal blood volume.Arch. Sex. Behav. 559–564.
Heiman, J. R. (1977). A psychophysiological exploration of sexual arousal patterns in females and males.Psychophysiology 14: 266–274.
Heiman, J. R. (1978). Uses of psychophysiology in the assessment and treatment of sexual dysfunction. In LoPiccolo, J., and LoPiccolo, I. (eds.),Handbook of Sex Therapy Plenum, New York.
Henson, C., Rubin, H. B., and Henson D. E. (1979). Women's sexual arousal concurrently assessed by three genital measures.Arch. Sex Behav. 8: 459–469.
Henson, D. E., and Rubin, H. B. (1978). A comparison of two objective measures of sexual arousal of women.Behav. Res. Ther. 16: 143–151.
Henson, D. E., Rubin, H. B., Henson, C., and Williams, J. R. (1973). Temperature change of the labia minora as an objective measure of human female eroticism.J. Behav. Ther. Exper. Psychiat. 8: 401–410.
Henson, D. E., Rubin, H. B., and Henson, C. (1979). Analysis of the consistency of objective measures of sexual arousal in women.J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 12: 701–711.
Hoon, P. W., Wincze, J..P., and Hoon, E. F. (1976). Physiological assessment of sexual arousal in women.Psychophysiology 13: 196–204.
Hoon, P. W., Wincze, J. P., and Hoon, W. F. (1977). A test of reciprocal inhibition: Are anxiety and sexual arousal in women mutually inhibitory?J. Abnorm. Psychol. 86: 65–74.
Kaats, G. R., and Davis, K. E. (1971). Effects of volunteer biases in studies of sexual behavior and attitude.J. Sex Res. 7: 26–34.
Kazdin, A. E., and Wilson, G. T. (1978). Criteria for evaluating psychotherapy.Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 35: 407–416.
Kenrick, D. T., Stringfield, D. O., Wagenhals, W. L., Dahl, R. H., and Ransdell, H. J. (1980). Sex differences, androgyny, and approach responses to erotica: A new variation on the old volunteer problem.J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 38: 517–524.
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., Martin, C., and Gebhard, P. (1953).Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Saunders, Philadelphia.
Lanyon, (1973). Psychological screening inventory: Mammal Research Psychologists Press, Goshen, New York.
Morokoff, P. J., and Heiman, J. R. (1980). Effects of erotic stimuli on sexually functional and dysfunctional women: Multiple measures before and after sex therapy.Behav. Res. Ther. 18: 127–137.
Mosher, D. L. (1966). The development and multitrait-multimethod matrix analysis of three measures of three aspects of guilt.J. Consult. Psychol. 30: 25–29.
Mosher, D. (1973). Sex differences, sex experience, sex guilt and explicitly sexual films.J. Soc. Issues 29: 95–112.
Sintchak, G., and Geer, J. (1975). A vaginal photoplethysmograph system.Psychophysiology 12: 113–115.
Wilson, G. T., and Lawson, D. M. (1978). Expectancies, alcohol, and sexual arousal in women.J. Abnorm. Psychol. 87: 358–367.
Wincze, J. P., Hoon, E. F., and Hoon, P. W. (1976). A comparison of the physiological responsivity of normal and sexually dysfunctional women during exposure to erotic stimulus.J. Psychosom Res. 20: 44–50.
Wincze. J. P., Hoon, P. W., and Hoon. E. F. (1977). Sexual arousal in women. A comparison of cognitive and physiological responses by continuous measurement.Arch. Sex. Behav. 6: 121–133.
Wincze, J. P., Hoon, E. F., and Hoon, P. W. Multiple measure analysis of women experiencing low sexual arousal. (1978).Behav. Res. Ther. 16: 43–49.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wolchik, S.A., Spencer, S.L. & Lisi, I.S. Volunteer bias in research employing vaginal measures of sexual arousal. Arch Sex Behav 12, 399–408 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542883
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542883