Human sexual response is a complex phenomenon lacking empirical evidence on its psychological underpinnings. Information-processing models of sexual response consider that the sexual response emerges before individuals’ awareness, as indexed by their reaction to sexual stimuli presented out of consciousness. Yet, that assumption lacks empirical support, and the presentation of findings has been biased toward positive results. Accordingly, the current work aims to understand putative information-processing mechanisms underpinning sexual response in cis men and women by means of the participant’s performance of a breaking continuous flash suppression task (b-CFS) in a paradigm containing sexually explicit stimuli, opposing to non-sexual and neutral stimuli. Sexually explicit stimuli are expected to reach awareness faster than non-sexual and neutral stimuli, particularly in cis men. Likewise, awareness of sexually explicit stimuli is expected to be associated with a higher propensity for sexual excitation and a lower propensity for sexual inhibition. Contrary to expectations, findings revealed that non-sexual stimuli (dressed men and women), rather than sexual stimuli (nudes, sexualized human bodies), yielded faster detection times. Likewise, no relationship was found between detection times toward sexual stimuli and sexual excitation/inhibition propensities. While the present evidence is not aligned with core information-processing models of sexual response, it opens new veins for critical discussions in the field of sexual response and behavior.
Carvalho et al. (2026) studied this question.