Sari van Anders | Queen's University at Kingston (original) (raw)

In Press by Sari van Anders

Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity, 2024

Authors: S.M. van Anders, Z.C. Schudson, W.J. Beischel, & S.B. Chadwick Feminist/queer science of... more Authors: S.M. van Anders, Z.C. Schudson, W.J. Beischel, & S.B. Chadwick
Feminist/queer science offers exciting possibilities for psychology and other fields. In this article, we review a set of dynamic principles for feminist/queer science, based in research with gender, sex, and sexuality (gender/sex/uality). There are potentially surprising ways that queer and science overlap for a queer science, and we focus on four: construction, openness, challenge, and multiplicities. There are also meeting points between feminism and science that support a feminist science, and we again focus on four: bias, truth, objectivity, and empiricism. Yet there are a number of challenges to feminist/queer science, including those that are epistemological, empirical, and methodological. We detail these, articulating how feminist/queer science also provides ways to address, sidestep, and move beyond them. Throughout, we articulate how feminist/ queer science provides a dynamic and rigorous way forward for psychological science as well as other fields, and we conclude by articulating how it can lead to more empirical, accurate, and just knowledge. Public Significance Statement Science is one crucial approach to understanding gender, sex, and sexuality and can be more empirical, less harmful, and more just when combined with feminist and queer principles. This article describes these principles and highlights how feminist/queer science is a dynamic and powerful approach for building knowledge that reflects and contributes to the fullness of gender/sex and sexual diversity.

American Psychologist, 2024

Authors: K. De France, M. Lucas, S. M. van Anders, & C. Cipriano How gender identity is assessed... more Authors: K. De France, M. Lucas, S. M. van Anders, & C. Cipriano
How gender identity is assessed directly shapes how students are supported in elementary schools in the United States. Despite the existence of gender diversity, calls for more inclusive science, and recommendations from national research associations and societies to incorporate and emphasize the voices of individuals with diverse gender identities, most studies exploring gender disparities in education have relied heavily on the assumption of a gender binary. As a result, the omission of diverse gender identities from educational research in the elementary years is troubling. To address this area of need, the current article summarizes the opportunities for and constraints surrounding inclusive evaluation of gender identity in the elementary school years. We begin with a brief review of common methods used to assess gender identities for children in elementary school, including the strengths and limitations of each. We next contextualize these measures by outlining the current state-level barriers to including diverse gender identities in assessments of gender. In highlighting the best available practices and the structural systems of oppression realized through state-level policies that perpetuate an inability to represent student voices across the gender spectrum, we conclude with a call to action to inspire the evolution of best practices in the service of all students.

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity

Human biobehavioral research is often rooted in and supports two interrelated binaries: one that ... more Human biobehavioral research is often rooted in and supports two interrelated binaries: one that divides and essentializes humans into two sexes and values maleness over femaleness, and a second that divides behavior into two sides, assigning more truth to one-nature and sex-over the other-gender, nurture, and culture. As such, biobehavioral research can contribute to the marginalization of gender/sex/ual minorities and policing of people of all gender/sex/ualities. Yet biophenomena are important to psychology and understandings of human behavior. In this article, I lay out how concepts like gender/sex, and methodological approaches like social neuroendocrinology, can help provide a biobehavioral research framework for and from gender/sex/ual diversity. To do so, I go beyond the binaries to define gender, sex, and gender/sex in dynamic and multifaceted ways with aspects that branch and coincide. I delineate the utility of gender/sex, including over sex/gender. I explain how gender/sex and social neuroendocrinology offer biological dynamism, expansiveness/emergence, and contextualism to counter the problematics of biological determinism, reductionism, and essentialism. And, I provide two examples of how gender impacts sex, transforming understandings of each: a pretheory route that constrains biobehavioral research questions and thus understandings of testosterone that circulate in our cultures, and a biomaterial gender?testosterone pathway whereby acute or "chronic gender" modulate levels of testosterone that circulate in our bodies. Throughout, I make clear how this biobehavioral research framework can be a feminist and queer successor science that moves beyond binaries to more empirical, accurate, and just knowledge. Public Significance Statement Biobehavioral research often reflects and is used to buttress the gender binary and restrict the rights of gender/sex/ual minorities but is also important to fully addressing many questions of human psychology. This article articulates an approach for feminist and queer biobehavioral research beyond the binary that is reflective of and meaningful to gender/sex/ual diversity.

2024 by Sari van Anders

Feminism & Psychology, 2024

Authors: A. Ibrahim, J. Clarke, W.J. Beischel, & S.M. van Anders Policies about changing gender/... more Authors: A. Ibrahim, J. Clarke, W.J. Beischel, & S.M. van Anders
Policies about changing gender/sex on identity documents provide insights into definitions of gender/sex, and impact especially transgender and/or nonbinary lives. We investigated these on U.S. driver's licenses and birth certificates to understand variability in these policies, including in comparison to an earlier report in 2014, and to explore what kinds of "bio/logics" (decision rules rooted in biological or biologistic thinking) might be at play. Results show that the most common requirements in 2020 included proof of gender affirming surgery, a letter from a medical doctor, and hormone therapy. Compared to 2014, results showed an increase in requirements for hormone therapy and letters from therapists or medical doctors, and a decrease in requirements for gender affirming surgery. We highlight how this suggests a shift to "pubertal bio/logics": rooting gender/sex definitions in secondary sex characteristics. This contrasts with previous requirements that pointed to "newborn bio/logics": rooted in genital definitions of gender/sex affirmed by a surgico-medical authority. Both support policy framings of

Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity, 2024

Authors: Jason A. Burns, Will J. Beischel, & Sari M. van Anders Hormone therapy (HT) is one of th... more Authors: Jason A. Burns, Will J. Beischel, & Sari M. van Anders
Hormone therapy (HT) is one of the most commonly used transition-related medical interventions for trans people. While there is much research on the impacts of HT, the literature related to sexuality is scattered across disciplines, leaving researchers, clinicians, and trans people themselves with little systematic guidance about expected changes to sexuality. In this article, we first delineate the limitations of the extant research on associations between HT and sexuality. We then synthesize this research, focusing on several key aspects of sexuality: physical changes, sexual desire, contributors to sexual satisfaction and sexual distress, experiences of sexual orientation or identity, and sexual behaviors. We find that the most well-established changes associated with HT are initial changes to libido and increased sexual satisfaction, likely through increased body satisfaction. We outline areas for future research and conclude that, though HT is a medical process, to fully understand the impacts of HT, research must incorporate a sociocultural lens. Public Significance Statement We review the effects of hormone therapy (HT) on trans sexuality to give trans people and clinicians an informed idea of what to expect when starting HT. We find that the most well-established changes are initial changes to libido and increased sexual satisfaction, and that sociocultural factors are crucial to understanding these and other changes in sexuality.

2023 by Sari van Anders

Sex Roles, 2023

Authors: Eun Ju Son, Emily A. Harris, & Sari M. van Anders. Given feminist backlash and stigma in... more Authors: Eun Ju Son, Emily A. Harris, & Sari M. van Anders. Given feminist backlash and stigma in society, whether people would publicly say that they are a feminist might depend on their social context, which could have implications for understanding who identifies as a feminist and why, as well as community and coalition-building. We therefore tested whether disclosure of feminist identity varies across interaction contexts and by gender/sex, given some gender/sex-specificities to stigma about feminist identity. In our study, we asked women, men, and nonbinary people who are feminists (N = 640) about their willingness to disclose their feminist identity in eight interaction contexts: immediate family, extended family, friends, partners, work, strangers, anti-feminists, and pro-feminists. Results revealed substantial intra-person contextual variability in feminist identity disclosure, suggesting participants' decision to disclose their feminist identity varies across contexts. In general, participants were most reluctant to disclose their feminist identity to a stranger, with anti-feminists and work contexts showing the next greatest likelihood to not disclose. Finally, participants were most likely to share their feminist identity with their immediate family, friends, pro-feminist, and romantic partners. We also examined the disclosure pattern for each gender/sex group (women, men, and nonbinary participants). Results emphasize that holding a feminist identity might not necessarily lead to identity disclosure and that disclosure decisions may depend on contextual pressure and gender/sex considerations.

Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity, 2023

Authors: Will J. Beischel, Zach C. Schudson, Rhea Ashley Hoskin, & Sari M. van Anders Critiques o... more Authors: Will J. Beischel, Zach C. Schudson, Rhea Ashley Hoskin, & Sari M. van Anders
Critiques of gender/sex measurement tend to focus on the questions researchers ask, including their binaristic, static nature, or overfocus on/erasure of transgender/cisgender status. The questions matter, as does the way gender/sex responses may be categorized, which has received less focus. In this article, we report on the "Gender/Sex 333," which we developed via two studies to produce a novel framework for conceptualizing, measuring, and categorizing gender/sex. It represents two intersecting dimensions: "gender trajectory" (cisgender/transgender/allogender [i.e., neither cisgender nor transgender]) and "binary relation" (binary/nonbinary/allobinary [i.e., neither binary nor nonbinary]). In Study 1, we created gender/sex questions structured by the Gender/Sex 333 and asked 737 gender/sex-diverse participants to directly evaluate them. Descriptive quantitative feedback indicated the comprehensibility and inclusivity of the questions; qualitative feedback suggested wording changes. In Study 2, we tested these revised questions with 317 gender/sex-diverse participants and again found high levels of comprehensibility and inclusivity. We conclude by providing recommendations for questions about gender/sex that are inclusive of all nine locations in the Gender/Sex 333 and useful for flexible categorizations of gender/sexes.

Psychology & Sexuality, 2023

Authors: Sara B. Chadwick & Sari M. van Anders Orgasm coercion occurs when someone pressures a pa... more Authors: Sara B. Chadwick & Sari M. van Anders
Orgasm coercion occurs when someone pressures a partner to orgasm by implying that not orgasming will have negative consequences. But what happens when the coerced partner refuses to go along with orgasm coercion? And how do perpetrators of orgasm coercion react? In the current study, we analysed 100 participants' (cisgender women, n = 66; cisgender men, n = 24; gender/sex minorities, n = 10) descriptions of refusing orgasm coercion during their most recent orgasm coercion encounter. We assessed how participants expressed refusals, perpetrators reacted to these refusals, and perpetrator reactions connected to relationship and psychological outcomes. Results showed that participants used a variety of refusal strategies that were positively-or negatively-valenced. Some perpetrators (31%) reacted in positive, understanding ways. However, most perpetrators (61%) reacted negatively or with more coercion when confronted. Of note, results suggested that whether perpetrators responded in positive vs. negative ways did not depend on participants' refusal strategies. We also found that positive perpetrator reactions were associated with positive relationship outcomes, but participants reported high negative psychological outcomes regardless of perpetrators' reactions. Findings support that perpetrators of orgasm coercion are not necessarily invested in partners' positive experiences and that orgasm coercion cannot be resolved through better communication.

Psychology of Women Quarterly

2022 by Sari van Anders

Psynopsis, 2022

Authors: Michele Morningstar & Sari M. van Anders

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

Authors: Sara B. Chadwick & Sari M. van Anders Orgasm coercion involves pressuring a partner to o... more Authors: Sara B. Chadwick & Sari M. van Anders
Orgasm coercion involves pressuring a partner to orgasm by implying that not orgasming will have negative consequences. In the present study, we used mixed methods to explore (1) how various individual and contextual factors-i.e., frequency of orgasm coercion, orgasm frequency, gender/sex, sexual identity, the orgasm coercion tactics used, and perceptions of the perpetrator's intention-affect relationship and psychological outcomes associated with orgasm coercion, and (2) how different individuals characterize these outcomes. Cisgender women, cisgender men, and gender/sex minority participants (N = 308, M age = 30.44 years, SD = 8.16) described the most recent encounter in which they experienced orgasm coercion and then rated and described the positive and negative relationship and psychological outcomes associated with the incident. Quantitative results showed that the following predicted significantly higher negative relationship and psychological outcomes: a higher frequency of experiencing orgasm coercion, lower frequency of orgasming with partners in general, and experiencing orgasm coercion via physical or emotional threats. Believing that the perpetrator was motivated by altruism or social pressures mitigated these effects. And, experiencing orgasm coercion via implied fault predicted significantly higher negative relationship outcomes only for cisgender women. Additionally, being a sexual minority predicted higher negative relationship (but not psychological) outcomes, whereas being a gender/sex minority predicted higher negative psychological (but not relationship) outcomes. Qualitative results showed that relationship and psychological outcomes varied; for example, participants discussed making a partner happy, disappointment with their partner's behaviors, ending the relationship, and lasting feelings of anxiety, guilt, and abuse. Together, findings offer new insights into how orgasm coercion affects those who experience it.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

Authors: Sara B. Chadwick & Sari M. van Anders Trying to ensure that a partner orgasms during sex... more Authors: Sara B. Chadwick & Sari M. van Anders
Trying to ensure that a partner orgasms during sex is generally seen as positive, but research has yet to assess how this might involve pressuring partners to orgasm in coercive ways. In the present study, we tested whether pressuring a partner to orgasm is a coercive behavior by assessing how this behavior overlaps with sexual coercion (i.e., pressuring someone into having sex). Participants of diverse gender/sex and sexual identities (N = 912, M age = 31.31 years, SD = 9.41) completed an online survey that asked them whether they had ever felt pressured by a partner to orgasm, to describe what partners have said or done to pressure them, and to answer a series of questions about the most recent incident in which this occurred. Mixed quantitative and qualitative results showed that orgasm pressure tactics were analogous to sexual coercion tactics and that being pressured to orgasm was associated with experiencing sexual coercion, faking orgasms, and negative psychological and relationship outcomes. Together, findings challenge the assumption that trying to ensure a partner's orgasm occurrence is necessarily positive and demonstrate that orgasm coercion exists.

Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2022

Authors: Jennifer Saslove, Aki M. Gormezano, Zach C. Schudson, & Sari M. van Anders Many actors r... more Authors: Jennifer Saslove, Aki M. Gormezano, Zach C. Schudson, & Sari M. van Anders
Many actors report, anecdotally, a phenomenon known as a "showmance, " whereby actors develop romantic and/or sexual feel ings for acting partners, often in the process of portraying romance onstage together. Because acting partners spend so much time together and may be engaging in several activities that facilitate emotional and physical closeness, it is possible that performing intimacy may influence feelings of actual intimacy. In this study, we aimed to understand the association between the type of onstage relationship that an actor portrays with their acting partner and the degree of intimacy-specifically nurturance and eroticism-that they feel toward this partner. We surveyed actors (amateur and professional) about their past theatrical experiences performing with a romantic acting partner (romantic/intimate), a non-romantic but still intimate partner (non-romantic/intimate; e.g., friendship, parent-child), and a non-romantic and non-intimate partner (non-romantic/non-intimate; e.g., strangers, colleagues). We found that actors reported significantly higher levels of nurturance when recalling romantic and non-romantic/intimate onstage roles, compared to non-romantic/non-intimate roles. We also found that actors reported significantly higher levels of eroticism when recalling romantic onstage roles compared to other roles. Finally, we found that actors reported having experienced a signifi cantly greater proportion of romantic/sexual feelings across their acting careers toward romantic acting partners, compared to other acting partners. Th e findings of this study provide a better understanding of the bidirectional relationship between behaviour and aff ect, as well as the predictors of intimacy, through a theatrical lens.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

Authors: Emily A. Harris, Aki M. Gormezano, & Sari M. van Anders Low sexual desire in women is us... more Authors: Emily A. Harris, Aki M. Gormezano, & Sari M. van Anders
Low sexual desire in women is usually studied as a problem, one that is located within women. However, other possibilities exist, including known gender inequities related to heteronormative gender roles. In this study, we provide the first test of the theory that heteronormativity is related to low sexual desire in women partnered with men, focusing specifically on inequities in the division of household labor. In two studies with women who were partnered with men and had children (Study 1, N = 677; Study 2, N = 396), performing a large proportion of household labor was associated with significantly lower sexual desire for a partner. Together, the results suggest that this association was mediated by both perceiving the partner as a dependent and perceiving the division of labor as unfair. These results support the heteronormativity theory of low sexual desire in women partnered with men, and show that gender inequities are important, though understudied, contributors to low desire in women partnered with men.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

Authors: Aki M. Gormezano, Emily A. Harris, Stephanie E. M. Gauvin, Jude Pinto, Greg van Anders, ... more Authors: Aki M. Gormezano, Emily A. Harris, Stephanie E. M. Gauvin, Jude Pinto, Greg van Anders, & Sari van Anders
Sexual orientation describes sexual interests, approaches, arousals, and attractions. People experience these interests and attractions in a number of contexts, including in-person sexuality, fantasy, and porn use, among others. The extent to which sexual orientation is divergent (branched) and/or overlapping (coincident) across these, however, is unclear. In the present study, a gender/sex and sexually diverse sample (N = 30; 15 gender/sex/ual minorities and 15 majorities) manipulated digital circles representing porn use, in-person sexuality, and fantasy on a tablet during in-person interviews. Participants used circle overlap to represent the degree of shared sexual interests across contexts and circle size to indicate the strength and/or number of sexual interests within contexts. Across multiple dimensions of sexual orientation (gender/sex, partner number, and action/behavior), we found evidence that sexual interests were both branched and coincident. These findings contribute to new understandings about the multifaceted nature of sexual orientations across contexts and provide a novel way to measure, conceptualize, and understand sexual orientation in context.

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2022

Authors: Sara B. Chadwick, Petal Grower, & Sari M. van Anders Psychological sexual coercion is k... more Authors: Sara B. Chadwick, Petal Grower, & Sari M. van Anders
Psychological sexual coercion is known to negatively impact those who experience it, yet sexual encounters where orgasm is present are often presumed to be positive and absent of coercion. In the present study, we conducted an online survey with women (n = 179) and men (n = 251) to test associations between sexually coercive experiences that include orgasm and negative psychological, sexual, and relationship outcomes. To do so, we focused on three experiences: having an orgasm during coerced sex (CS), having a coerced orgasm during desired sex (CO), and having a coerced orgasm during coerced sex (COS). Using structural equation modeling, we found that ever having any of these coercion-plus-orgasm experiences with a current partner predicted significantly higher avoidance motivations (i.e., engaging in sex to avoid conflict with one's partner), which in turn predicted significantly worse psychological distress, sexual satisfaction, relationship

Review of General Psychology, 2022

With co-authors Zach C Schudson, Will J Beischel, Emma C. Abed, Aki Gormezano, & Emily R Dibble D... more With co-authors Zach C Schudson, Will J Beischel, Emma C. Abed, Aki Gormezano, & Emily R Dibble
Diversity-focused research can provide important insights about gender/sex and sexual diversity, including in relation to oppression and privilege. To do so, it needs to critically engage with power and include minoritized and majoritized participants. But, the critical methods guiding this are typically aimed at empowering marginalized groups and may "overempower" majority participants. Here, we discuss three diversity-focused research projects about gender/sex and sexual diversity where our use of critical methods overempowered majority participants in ways that reinforced their privilege. We detail how diversity-focused research approaches thus need to be "majority-situating": attending to and managing the privilege and power that majority participants carry to research. Yet, we also lay out how diversity-focused research still needs to be "minority-inclusive": validating, welcoming, and empowering to people from marginalized social locations. We discuss these approaches working synergistically; minority-inclusive methods can also be majority-situating, providing majorities with opportunities for growth, learning, and seeing that they-and not just "others"-are socially situated. We conclude by laying out what a diversity-focused research program might look like that includes both majority-situating and minority-inclusive approaches, to work towards a more just and empirical scholarship that does not lead to majorities who are even more overempowered.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

With co-authors: Debby Herbenick, Lori A Brotto, Emily A Harris, and Sara B Chadwick. Low sexual ... more With co-authors: Debby Herbenick, Lori A Brotto, Emily A Harris, and Sara B Chadwick.
Low sexual desire in women partnered with men is typically presumed to be a problem-one that exists in women and encourages a research agenda on causation and treatment targeting women. In this paper, we present a distinct way forward for research on low sexual desire in women partnered with men that attends to a more structural explanation: heteronormativity. A heteronormative worldview assumes that relationships and structures are heterosexual, gender (usually conflated with sex) is binary and complementary, and gender roles fit within narrow bounds including nurturant labor for women. We propose the heteronormativity theory of low sexual desire in women partnered with men, arguing that heteronormative gender inequities are contributing factors. We outline four hypotheses and their predictions related to: inequitable divisions of household labor, blurring of partner and mother roles, objectification of women, and gender norms surrounding sexual initiation. We discuss some mechanisms-social, physiological, and otherwise-for the heteronormativity theory, especially related to stress, objectification, and nurturance. We close by noting some limitations of our paper and the ways that the heteronormativity theory of low sexual desire in women partnered with men provides a rigorous, generative, and empirical way forward.

Group Process & Intergroup Relations, 2022

Prejudice against or affirmation of gender/sex minorities is often framed in terms of beliefs abo... more Prejudice against or affirmation of gender/sex minorities is often framed in terms of beliefs about the ontology of gender/sex (i.e., what gender/sex is), or gender/sex diversity beliefs. We constructed the Gender/Sex Diversity Beliefs Scale (GSDB) to assess ontological beliefs about the nature of gender/sex, including essentialist and social constructionist beliefs, and validated the GSDB across a series of studies. In Study 1 (N = 304), we explored the factor structure of the GSDB and found evidence of associations with prejudice against transgender and/or nonbinary people. In Study 2 (N = 300), we
assessed the stability of the factor structure of the GSDB and examined its criterion-related validity, including its relationship to feelings toward multiple gender/sex groups. In Studies 3a (N = 48) and 3b (N = 500), we established test–retest reliability. We conclude that gender/sex diversity beliefs are important for understanding contemporary attitudes about gender/sex, including prejudice against gender/sex minorities, and that the GSDB is a reliable and valid way to measure them.

International Journal of Transgender Health, 2022

Authors: Will J. Beischel, Stephanie E.M. Gauvin, & Sari M. van Anders Background: Gender euphor... more Authors: Will J. Beischel, Stephanie E.M. Gauvin, & Sari M. van Anders
Background: Gender euphoria is an important experience and concept for many, especially transgender and/or nonbinary individuals, but has not received much attention from psychological and clinical research. In contrast to gender dysphoria, which originates in psychiatry, the term “gender euphoria” has been mobilized by some LGBTQ people to describe the powerfully positive emotions that can come from one’s gender/sex. As such, researchers and clinicians may benefit from conceptual clarity as to what gender euphoria is and what kinds of experiences might result in gender euphoria.
Aim: We aimed to better understand how trans community members and others conceptualize the term “gender euphoria,” including its relationship to gender dysphoria, as well as the contexts and behaviors that elicit gender euphoria.
Method: We administered an online qualitative survey to participants (N = 47) of diverse
sexualities and gender/sexes (including transgender, cisgender, and/or nonbinary participants) who had heard of or used the term “gender euphoria.” Participants answered open-ended questions about where they had heard the term being used, how they would define gender euphoria and gender dysphoria, the relation between these terms, and their gender euphoric experiences.
Results: Analyses resulted in five themes: (1) gender euphoria describes a joyful feeling of
rightness in one’s gender/sex, (2) gender euphoric experiences can be external, internal,
and/or social, (3) “gender euphoria” originated in and circulates in online and in-person
gender/sex minority communities, (4) dysphoria describes a negative feeling of conflict
between gender/sexed aspects of one’s self, and (5) the relationship between euphoria and dysphoria is complex.
Discussion: These results can inform qualitative and quantitative research, gender affirmative clinical practice, political fights for transgender rights, and understandings of gendered experiences for people of all identities.

Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity, 2024

American Psychologist, 2024

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity

Feminism & Psychology, 2024

Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity, 2024

Sex Roles, 2023

Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Diversity, 2023

Psychology & Sexuality, 2023

Psychology of Women Quarterly

Psynopsis, 2022

Authors: Michele Morningstar & Sari M. van Anders

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2022

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2022

Review of General Psychology, 2022

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2022

Group Process & Intergroup Relations, 2022

International Journal of Transgender Health, 2022

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Tran Studies, 2021

Sexual configurations theory (SCT) is a trans-inclusive theory, model, and measure of gender/sex ... more Sexual configurations theory (SCT) is a trans-inclusive theory, model, and measure of gender/sex and partnered sexuality that destabilizes ideas of universal gender truths and recognizes individuals’ authority to self-define. SCT makes space for binary and nonbinary trans existences and provides a visual medium for trans people and their partners to communicate their genders and/or sexualities with or without identity labels for themselves or others. It was published in 2015 by Sari van Anders and is rooted in trans lived experiences and scholarship, feminist and queer approaches, and marginalized and majority gender and sexual experiences. This entry summarizes the concepts in SCT and explains their relevance to trans understandings and experiences of gender, sex, and sexuality.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2021

Gender/sex and sexual diversity are increasingly understood by the public as complex. But, scient... more Gender/sex and sexual diversity are increasingly understood by the public as complex. But, scientific frameworks that address the
complexity of gender/sex and sexual diversity are few and not well situated for the public. Sexual configurations theory (SCT; van Anders, 2015) is one approach that provides a visual framework for understanding and measuring gender/sex and sexual diversity.
But how might knowledge users and creators actually use it? To make SCT more accessible to researchers, educators, clinicians, and the general public, we created three instructional videos (individual gender/sex, gender/sex sexuality, and partner number sexuality) that explained SCT and demonstrated how to use its diagrams. Participants (N = 242) of diverse gender/sex and sexual identities, including professionals who work in gender/sex- and sexuality-related fields, watched one of the three videos, filled out the diagrams, and evaluated the video and diagrams via scaled and open-ended questions. Results demonstrated that the SCT videos were sufficient for most participants to fill out the diagrams. Participants evaluated the video generally positively, with some variation by condition, identity group, and professional status. These results indicate that instructional videos are able to translate SCT, potentially facilitating uptake of SCT by clinicians, researchers, and educators as well as increasing awareness of gender/sex and sexual diversity more broadly within the public.

Author list is: WJ Beischel, ZC Schudson, RA Hoskin, J Mao, A Zielinksi, SM van Anders

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2021

Eliciting direct feedback on theories and measures, particularly when they attempt to represent m... more Eliciting direct feedback on theories and measures, particularly when they attempt to represent marginalized populations, is an important part of refining research methods and conducting culturally sensitive research. In this study, we collected reactions to and perceptions of a novel survey method using sexual configurations theory (SCT; van Anders, 2015). SCT is a theory and measure of gender/sex and sexual diversity that allows for greater nuance, flexibility, and specificity than most existing measures of gender/sex. After they had filled out SCT's gender/sex, gender, and sex diagrams, we asked participants (N ϭ 242) of diverse gender/sexes to report on their prior engagement with these concepts, their understanding of SCT, the ease/difficulty of the diagrams, and their perception of the utility of SCT. Participants reported generally understanding the concepts, and although some found the diagrams unnecessarily complicated, many saw their utility, either for describing their own gender/sex or as a tool for understanding gender/sex diversity in general. Gender/sex majorities and minorities differed in their level of prior engagement with gender/sex concepts, and accordingly, minorities found it more useful in describing themselves, whereas majorities were more likely to indicate that the study shifted their thinking around gender/sex. These findings indicate that SCT provides both challenges and opportunities for deeply engaging with gender/sex diversity and demonstrates the utility of direct feedback from community members. This article is Part 2 of a two-part report, and Part 1 contains visualizations of the ways people used SCT's diagrams (Beischel, Schudson, & van Anders, 2021). Public Significance Statement In this online survey, participants gave direct feedback about sexual configurations theory (SCT): their perception of its concepts and their reactions to its gender, sex, and gender/sex diagrams. The results indicated that using the diagrams is a challenging but productive process, with gender/sex majorities especially finding it educational and gender/sex minorities especially appreciating the nuance and flexibility SCT affords.

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2021

Gender and sex diversity exist in humans, but are often seen as too complex for scientists to inc... more Gender and sex diversity exist in humans, but are often seen as too complex for scientists to incorporate beyond a female/male binary or placement on single dimensions. Here, we demonstrate a novel method for assessing and visualizing diverse gender/sexes using diagrams adapted from sexual configurations theory (SCT; van Anders, 2015). We asked participants (N ϭ 242) with diverse gender/sex identities to locate their genders, sexes, and gender/sexes (i.e., "gender/sex configurations") by marking and writing on SCT's diagrams via an online platform. Results showed that visualizing gender/sex (a) demonstrated the complexity underlying seemingly simple gender/sexes such as "woman" and "man," and (b) provided a way to systematically describe seemingly complex gender/sexes. These findings suggest that SCT visualizations provide a way for people of diverse gender/sex identities and experiences to represent the fullness and complexity of their gender/sexes in ways that can help create a more inclusive psychological science. This article is Part 1 of a 2-part report, and Part 2 explores the ways participants reacted to and perceived SCT and this novel survey (Beischel, Schudson, & van Anders, 2021). Public Significance Statement We demonstrate a new way of visualizing gender, sex, and gender/sex via sexual configurations theory (SCT) that reveals insights into the complex nature of gender/sex categories. Our findings indicate that SCT may be a useful tool for researchers, educators, and clinicians who study and work with gender/sex diversity.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2020

(no abstract) Authors: Sari M. van Anders, Meredith L. Chivers, Lori A. Brotto, Debby Herbenick, ... more (no abstract) Authors: Sari M. van Anders, Meredith L. Chivers, Lori A. Brotto, Debby Herbenick, Sofia Jawed-Wessel, Jayleen Galarza

Authors: A. Iantaffi, M-H Barker, S. van Anders, J. Scheele Translated by: I. Otero, R. Vargas Mo... more Authors: A. Iantaffi, M-H Barker, S. van Anders, J. Scheele
Translated by: I. Otero, R. Vargas Molina, C. Rodriguez-Diaz

Sex Roles, 2019

Research on feminist identification in men has often focused on men who identify as feminist or w... more Research on feminist identification in men has often focused on men who identify as feminist or who assert agreement with feminist goals. For some men, however, choices surrounding feminist self-identification may be uncertain in ways that are meaningful indicators of their beliefs and values. We hypothesized that men who were uncertain about their feminist identity held beliefs that fell between their feminist and non-feminist peers, representing a unique ideological position. We tested this possibility by comparing feminist, Bunsure^, and non-feminist U. S. college (n = 533) and community (n = 277) men's masculinity stress and conformity, gender role values, and approaches to sexual relationships. Results showed that unsure men's gender role values fell between feminist and non-feminist men, but unsure men were more like feminists for some components of masculinity and more like non-feminists for others; on some constructs, feminist, unsure, and non-feminist men were similar. For sexual relationships, all men were equally invested in a sexual partner's pleasure, but unsure men and feminist men were less concerned with receiving sexual favors in exchange compared to non-feminists. We discuss how acknowledgement of men's uncertainty about their feminist identity may be useful for how researchers assess men's relationship to feminism, how instructors teach men about feminism in classroom settings, and how activists involve men in the feminist movement.

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2019

Our research investigated variation in how individuals define 6 gender/sex categories (woman, man... more Our research investigated variation in how individuals define 6 gender/sex categories (woman, man, feminine, masculine, female, and male). Evidence suggests that, contemporary understandings of gender/ sex are less static and less binary than they have been in the past. However, questions remain about exactly how diverse these understandings are, how that diversity might be reflected in how people define and use gender/sex-related language, and whether understandings of gender/sex are linked to social location, particularly gender/sex or sexual minority/majority status. To further explore how individuals understand gender/sex categories, we administered a brief online survey to a sample diverse by gender/sex and sexual minority/majority status (N ϭ 307) in which participants provided their own definitions of the 6 aforementioned gender/sex terms. We coded participants' definitions for a range of sociocultural and biological content, and for how complex each definition was. We found that participants defined feminine/masculine primarily with sociocultural content, female/male primarily with biological content, and woman/man with intermediate amounts of each, notably contrasting popular perceptions of female/male and woman/man as interchangeable. Cisgender sexual majority individuals included more biological content and less sociocultural content in their definitions of woman/man and female/male than transgender individuals. Cisgender individuals also had less complex definitions of woman/man than transgender individuals. We concluded that contemporary understandings of gender/sex exhibit a degree of heterogeneity that is partially structured by social location via sexuality and gender/sex.

Public Significance Statement Our research showed that people define "woman" and "man" using both biological and sociocultural content, but define "feminine" and "masculine" with mostly sociocultural content, and define "female" and "male" using mostly biological content. And, people defined these categories with differing content and levels of complexity depending on their own gender identities and sexual orientations.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2019

Recent research on gender and sexual majority individuals suggests that their attractions, identi... more Recent research on gender and sexual majority individuals suggests that their attractions, identities, and experiences may not be as homogenous or easily generalizable as is often assumed. Sexual configurations theory (SCT; van Anders, 2015) is a framework for conceptualizing individuals' partnered sexualities and gender/sexes with a focus on gender/sex and sexual diversity. SCT has been successfully used in recent empirical work with gender and sexual minority individuals (Schudson, Manley, Diamond, & van Anders, 2018), but it has not yet been tested with heterosexual, cisgender individuals. In the present study, we tested the use of SCT in qualitative interviews with 26 gender and sexual majority participants to address the following research questions: What are the strengths and weaknesses of SCT for representing heterosexual, cisgender individuals' gender/sexes and partnered sexualities? How do gender and sexual majority individuals use SCT to express their gender/ sexes and partnered sexualities? And, what insights about sexual and gender diversity can be gained from using SCT with a gender and sexual majority sample? Using thematic analysis, we evaluated how participants interacted with SCT and the SCT diagrams. Results showed that our participants used components of SCT to convey comprehensive and nuanced interests, which included gender/sex and sexual diversity outside of what is typically expected in research on heterosexual, cisgender individuals. We discuss findings and challenges specific to working with majority participants and offer implications for future work on gender/sex and sexual majorities and on gender/sex and sexual diversity in general.

First author is Emma Abed!

Psychology & Sexuality, 2019

Emergent gender and sexual identity discourses that circulate on social networking sites in space... more Emergent gender and sexual identity discourses that circulate on social
networking sites in spaces organised around non-normative genders and
sexualities (i.e. networked counterpublics) challenge dominant conceptions of gender and sexuality. These emergent discourses increasingly represent sexual and gender identities as pluralistic, potentially infinite, and able to be tailored to the individual. Using interviews with asexual, queer, and trans young people (AQTYP; n = 16), we examined how AQTYP in networked counterpublics appropriate hegemonic norms of identity construction to creatively articulate new sexual and gendered subjectivities. We employ thematic discourse analysis to trace how AQTYP use these labels to navigate and complicate sexual and gender self-labelling imperatives in counterpublic contexts. We conclude that AQTYP engage with gender and sexual identity discourses in online counterpublics in ways that challenge many, but not all, parameters of hegemonic identity discourses. Ultimately, we argue that new understandings of sexuality and gender in AQTYP’s networked counterpublics are a form of queer world-making in which the feelings and relationalities that constitute sexual and gendered subjectivities cannot be considered self-evident, stable, or universal.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2019

Orgasms during consensual sex are often assumed to be wholly positive experiences. This assumptio... more Orgasms during consensual sex are often assumed to be wholly positive experiences. This assumption overshadows the possibility that orgasm experiences during consensual sex could be "bad" (i.e., negative and/or non-positive). In the present study, we employed an online survey to explore the possibility that orgasm experiences could be "bad" during consensual sex by asking participants of diverse gender and sexual identities (N = 726, M age = 28.42 years, SD = 7.85) about a subset of potential bad orgasm experiences. Specifically, we asked participants whether they have ever had an orgasm during coerced sex, compliant sex, and/or when they felt pressured to have an orgasm (i.e., orgasm pressure). We also asked participants who had such an experience to describe it, resulting in qualitative descriptions from 289 participants. Using mixed quantitative and qualitative analyses, we found compelling evidence that orgasm experiences can be "bad" during consensual sex. Specifically, many participants described their experiences in negative and/or non-positive ways despite orgasm occurrence, reported that their orgasms were less pleasurable compared to other experiences, and suggested that their orgasm experiences had negative impacts on their relationships, sexuality, and/or psychological health. Participants also suggested that social location shaped their bad orgasm experiences, citing gender and sexual identity, gender identity conflict, race/ethnicity, and religion as important to their perceptions of and responses to their experiences. Results directly challenge the assumption that orgasms during consensual sex are always and/or unilaterally positive experiences.

Co-author also includes Miriam Francisco!

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2019

(No Abstract); Author list: Debby Herbenick, Sari M. van Anders, Lori A. Brotto, Meredith L. Chiv... more (No Abstract); Author list: Debby Herbenick, Sari M. van Anders, Lori A. Brotto, Meredith L. Chivers, Sofia Jawed-Wessel, Jayleen Galarza

American Psychologist

The view that humans comprise only two types of beings, women and men, a framework that is someti... more The view that humans comprise only two types of beings, women and men, a framework that is sometimes referred to as the “gender binary,” played a profound role in shaping the history of psychological science. In recent years, serious challenges to the gender binary have arisen from both academic research and social activism. This review describes 5 sets of empirical findings, spanning multiple disciplines, that fundamentally undermine the gender binary. These sources of evidence include neuroscience findings that refute sexual dimorphism of the human brain; behavioral neuroendocrinology findings that challenge the notion of genetically fixed, nonoverlapping, sexually dimorphic hormonal systems; psychological findings that highlight the similarities between men and women; psychological research on transgender and nonbinary individuals’ identities and experiences; and developmental research suggesting that the tendency to view gender/sex as a meaningful, binary category is culturally determined and malleable. Costs associated with reliance on the gender binary and recommendations for future research, as well as clinical practice, are outlined.

Journal of Sex Research, 2018

Sexuality research has generally privileged attractions based on partners’ sexed physical bodies ... more Sexuality research has generally privileged attractions based on partners’ sexed physical bodies over attractions based on other features, including gender expression and personality traits. Gender may actually be quite central to sexual attractions. However, its role has received little empirical attention. To explore how gendered and sexed features, among others, are related to sexual attractions, the current study assessed how sexually diverse individuals described their attractions to feminine, masculine, and gender-nonspecific features of women and men. A sample of 280 individuals responded to the open-ended questions: What do you find attractive in a man?” and “What do you find attractive in a woman?” We coded responses as pertaining to physical and/or psychological features, and as being gendered masculine, feminine, or gender-nonspecific. Our analyses showed that participants named gender-nonspecific features most frequently in responses to both questions, feminine features more than masculine features in attractions to women, and masculine features more than feminine features in attractions to men. Additionally, participants named feminine physical features more than masculine physical features, and masculine psychological features more than feminine psychological features, both
in their attractions to women and overall. These results highlight the importance of considering attractions based on gender, rather than sex alone.

Conferences are vital forums for academic researchers. At these meetings, scientists communicate ... more Conferences are vital forums for academic researchers. At these meetings, scientists communicate new discoveries, form research collaborations, make contacts with funding agencies, and attract new members to our labs and programs. Even with new technological advances that allow remote communication, resource sharing, and networking, face-to-face interactions are a crucial component for one's career advancement and ongoing education. Early-stage researchers, who benefit significantly from these events, face some notable barriers to attendance. One major challenge is what we call the childcare-conference conundrum: Parent-researchers face a conundrum as they struggle to attend key conferences and further their careers while finding care for the children. Conferences face a conundrum as they assess how to better accommodate mothers and families.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2018

Women often expect to encounter negative, problematic content when they consume pornography, yet ... more Women often expect to encounter negative, problematic content when they consume pornography, yet many women use and enjoy pornography anyway. Some research has centered content type (e.g., sexist/violent vs. nonsexist/women-focused) as a key determinant of women’s pornography experiences, but this precludes the notion that women are
active, engaged consumers of pornography and minimizes women’s role in shaping their own experiences. In the present study, we explored how a sample of sexually diverse women in the U.S. (aged 18–64; N = 73) worked toward positive experiences with pornography via active negotiation with negative content, using a secondary analysis of focus group data on women’s sexual pleasure. We found that, although women
often experienced pornography as risky, many women used it anyway and actively employed strategies to increase the likelihood of having a positive experience. Women’s strategies were similar across sexual identity and age groups, but the heteronormative, youth-oriented portrayals of sexuality in mainstream pornography presented unique concerns for heterosexual, queer, and older women. Results have implications for how women can be conceptualized as active, rather than passive, consumers of pornography as well as for how women's agency might influence women's arousal responses to sexually explicit stimuli in research.

It's a zine! A more accessible description of some of sexual configurations theory (van Anders, 2... more It's a zine! A more accessible description of some of sexual configurations theory (van Anders, 2015). You are welcome to download, print, share, and read! It's free, and just cite us :)

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2018

Sexual desire and testosterone are widely assumed to be directly and positively linked to each ot... more Sexual desire and testosterone are widely assumed to be directly and positively linked to each other despite the lack of supporting empirical evidence. The literature that does exist is mixed, which may result from a conflation of solitary and dyadic desire, and the exclusion of contextual variables, like stress, known to be relevant. Here, we use the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds as a framework for examining how testosterone, solitary and partnered desire, and stress are linked over time. To do so, we collected saliva samples (for testosterone and cortisol) and measured desire as well as other variables via questionnaires over nine monthly sessions in 78 women and 79 men. Linear mixed models showed that testosterone negatively predicted partnered desire in women but not men. Stress moderated associations between testosterone and solitary desire in both women and men, but differently: At lower levels of stress, higher average testosterone corresponded to higher average solitary desire for men, but lower solitary desire on average for women. Similarly, for partnered desire, higher perceived stress predicted lower desire for women, but higher desire for men. We conclude by discussing the ways that these results both counter presumptions about testosterone and desire but fit with the existing literature and theory, and highlight the empirical importance of stress and gender norms.

Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 2018

Testosterone (T) is implicated in tradeoffs between competition for new partners and nurturance w... more Testosterone (T) is implicated in tradeoffs between competition for new
partners and nurturance within existing pair bonds. Some evidence suggests women in committed romantic relationships have lower T than singles, similar to findings in men. However, it is unclear whether lower T predicts pair bonding or vice versa, as well as how sexual activity might be implicated in within-person links between T and partnering. We conducted a longitudinal study on T and partnering in women, rooted
in the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds. Participants (78 women) provided saliva samples for T and completed questionnaires about relationships and sexuality at up to nine monthly study sessions. T and relationship status were bidirectionally linked: lower T predicted becoming committed, and becoming committed then increased women’s T. Masturbation was associated with higher T across relationship statuses; however, dyadic sexual activity moderated T-partnering links, such that committed women only had lower T than singles when they were dyadically sexually active. Results point to reciprocal, interactive associations between partnering, sexuality, and T and generate testable hypotheses for unexpected associations via the S/P Theory.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2017

Sexual desire is increasingly understood to be multifaceted and not solely erotically oriented, b... more Sexual desire is increasingly understood to be multifaceted and not solely erotically oriented, but measures are still generally unitary and eroticism-focused. Our goals in this article were to explore the multifaceted nature of sexual desire and develop a measure to do so, and to determine how multifaceted sexual desire might be related to gender/sex and sexual orientation/identity. In the development phase, we generated items to form the 65-item Sexual Desire Questionnaire (DESQ). Next, the DESQ was administered to 609 women, 705 men, and 39 non-binary identified participants. Results showed that the DESQ demonstrated high reliability and validity, and that sexual desire was neither unitary nor entirely erotic, but instead was remarkably multifaceted. We also found that multifaceted sexual desire was in part related to social location variables such as gender/sex and sexual orientation/identity. We propose the DESQ as a measure of multifaceted sexual desire that can be used to compare factor themes, total scores, and scores across individual items in diverse groups that take social context into account. Results are discussed in light of how social location variables should be considered when making generalizations about sexual desire, and how conceptualizations of desire as multifaceted may provide important insights.

Journal of Sex Research, 2017

Orgasms have been promoted as symbols of sexual fulfillment for women, and have perhaps become th... more Orgasms have been promoted as symbols of sexual fulfillment for women, and have perhaps become the symbol of a woman’s healthy sex life. However, some research has suggested that this focus on women’s orgasms, though ostensibly for women, may actually serve men; but the mechanisms of this are unclear. In the present experiment, we hypothesized that women’s orgasms specifically function as a masculinity achievement for men. To test this, we randomly assigned 810 men (M age = 25.44, SD = 8.31) to read a vignette where they imagined that an attractive woman either did or did not orgasm during a sexual encounter with them. Participants then rated their sexual esteem and the extent to which they would feel masculine after experiencing the given situation. Our results showed that men felt more masculine and reported higher sexual esteem when they imagined that a woman orgasmed during sexual encounters with them, and that this effect was exacerbated for men with high masculine gender role stress. These results suggest that women’s orgasms do function—at least in part—as a masculinity achievement for men.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2017

Sexual desire is typically measured as a unitary erotic phenomenon and is often assumed by biolog... more Sexual desire is typically measured as a unitary erotic phenomenon and is often assumed by biological and biomedical researchers, as well as the lay public, to be directly connected to physiological parameters like testosterone (T). In the present study, we empirically examined how conceptualizing sexual desire as multifaceted might clarify associations with T and contextual variables. To do so, we used the Sexual Desire Questionnaire (DESQ), which assesses multifaceted dyadic sexual desire, to explore how contextual variables such as social location, relationship status, and desire target (e.g., partner vs. stranger) might be meaningful for reports of sexual desire and associated hormonal correlations. We focused on women (N = 198), because sexual desire and testosterone are generally unlinked in healthy men. Participants imagined a partner or stranger while answering the (65) DESQ items and provided a saliva sample for hormone assay. Analyses showed that the DESQ factored differently for the current sample than in previous research, highlighting how sexual desire can be constructed differently across different populations. We also found that, for the Intimacy, Eroticism, and Partner Focus factors, mean scores were higher when the desire target was a partner relative to a stranger for participants in a relationship, but equally high between partner vs. stranger target for single participants. DESQ items resolved into meaningful hormonal desire components, such that high endorsement of Fantasy Experience was linked to higher T, and higher cortisol was linked with lower endorsement of the Intimacy factor. We argue that conceptualizing desire as multifaceted and contextualized when assessing hormonal links – or questions in general about desire – can clarify some of its complexities and lead to new research avenues.

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2017

Policy debates have focused on who can participate in or access single-sex activities or services... more Policy debates have focused on who can participate in or access single-sex activities or services. This article describes how science of the biology of sex is relevant to three major policy areas: parenting (including leaves), sports, and public spaces. We focus on what scientists know about sex and gender (and gender/sex, where gender and sex are intertwined), and the role of various biological factors, including hormones such as testosterone and estradiol as well as genetics, gonads, genitals, and more. The policies under debate often use “biological sex,” but this fails to account for scientific understandings of sex and gender, misrepresents sex as single-faceted and binary, and overlooks scientific consensus about the importance of gender and identity.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2017

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2017

Sexual configurations theory (SCT; van Anders, 2015) provides theoretical and methodological tool... more Sexual configurations theory (SCT; van Anders, 2015) provides theoretical and methodological tools for describing, understanding, and studying gender/sex and sexual diversity. It may be of use to sexuality and gender researchers, as well as clinicians, activists, and individuals, but has not been empirically tested. In the present study, we tested the qualitative application of SCT in interviews with 25 gender and sexual minority participants and addressed 2 research questions: RQ1 ("Insights "): what features of partnered sexualities and gender/sex emerge from individuals' engagement with SCT diagrams? and RQ2 ("Utility "): how might SCT be useful for qualitative research with sexual and gender minorities? We thematically analyzed participants' engagement with SCT and its diagrams in the interviews. Results showed that SCT and its diagrams allowed participants to represent diverse experiences with their partnered sexualities and gender/sexes, and also to articulate nuanced conceptualizations of the structure and significance of SCT parameters, including gender/sex sexuality, partner number sexuality, and individual gender/sex, in their own lives. We discuss implications of our findings for qualitative research with sexual and gender minorities, social justice, and sexual and gender diversity more broadly. Public Significance Statement In this interview-based study based on sexual configurations theory (SCT), participants used SCT's diagrams to locate their gender/sex identities and sexualities (including separating out gender, sex, and gender/sex, a combination of the 2) and partner number sexualities (including separating nurturant and erotic sexualities). We describe how SCT provides useful ways to conceptualize and study gender/sex and sexual diversity and gives important insights into sexual and gender minority experiences, orientations, and identities.

It is a real delight to present the 2017 Annual Review of Sex Research (ARSR), my second as edito... more It is a real delight to present the 2017 Annual Review of Sex Research (ARSR), my second as editor. The 2017 ARSR addresses a fascinating range of sexual topics, including medicalization of erectile dysfunction, space and place, the "one-in-five" statistic, sexual orientation measurement, and parent-child communication. And it focuses on a number of important populations-including trans men, pregnant women, young men who have sex with men, and Black men. This issue's authors have excelled at providing the indepth, comprehensive, and insightful treatment for which ARSR is known, while doing so on a number of important, hot, emerging, and/or marginalized topics.

Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 2017

Testosterone (T) and pair bonding in men are linked such that lower T is associated with monoamor... more Testosterone (T) and pair bonding in men are linked such that lower T is associated with monoamorous partnering (i.e., with one person) and high T is associated with singlehood. However, it has remained unclear whether T levels predict partnering status or vice versa. Evidence suggests time course of T measurements in relation to partnering as well as nurturant and sexual experiences may affect whether T predicts partnering or vice versa and that transitions into or out of partnerhood may have unique associations with changes in T. We examined links between salivary T levels, relationship status, and relationship status transitions in 78-first year male college students over an approximately year-long period. Using longitudinal data, our findings largely support trait associations between T and relationship status in men, i.e., that T predicts relationship status. However, our data also provide novel evidence of dynamic associations and differences in T levels at different relationship status transitions.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2016

Solitary and partnered sexuality are typically depicted as fundamentally similar, but empirical e... more Solitary and partnered sexuality are typically depicted as fundamentally similar, but empirical evidence suggests they differ in important ways. We investigated how women's definitions of sexual pleasure overlapped and diverged when considering solitary versus partnered sexuality. Based on an inter-disciplinary literature, we explored whether solitary pleasure would be characterized by eroticism (e.g., genital pleasure, orgasm) and partnered pleasure by nurturance (e.g., closeness). Via focus groups with a sexually diverse sample of women aged 18–64 (N = 73), we found that women defined solitary and partnered pleasure in both convergent and divergent ways that supported expectations. Autonomy was central to definitions of solitary pleasure, whereas trust, giving pleasure, and closeness were important elements of partnered pleasure. Both solitary and partnered pleasure involved exploration for self-discovery or for growing a partnered relationship. Definitions of pleasure were largely similar across age and sexual identity; however, relative to queer women, heterosexual women (especially younger heterosexual women) expressed greater ambivalence toward solitary masturbation and partnered orgasm. Results have implications for women's sexual well-being across multiple sexual identities and ages, and for understanding solitary and partnered sexuality as overlapping but distinct constructs.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2016

Sexual thoughts are sufficient to increase testosterone (T) in women, yet erotic films are not. A... more Sexual thoughts are sufficient to increase testosterone (T) in women, yet erotic films are not. A key confound in past studies is autonomy in stimulus selection: women choose the content of their sexual thoughts but films have been selected by researchers. We hypothesized that self-chosen erotic films, compared to researcher-chosen erotic films, would (1) increase women’s self-reported arousal, enjoyment, and identification with stimuli, and decrease negative affect; and (2) increase T. Participants (N=116 women)were randomly assigned to a neutral documentary condition or one of three erotic film conditions: high choice (self-chosen erotica from participants’ own sources), moderate choice self-chosen erotica from films preselected by sexuality researchers), or no choice (researcher-chosen erotica). Participants provided saliva samples for T before and after viewing the film in the privacy of their homes.Compared to researcher-chosen erotica, self-chosen erotica increased self reported arousal and enjoyment, but also unexpectedly disgust, guilt, and embarrassment. Self-chosen erotica only marginally increased identification with stimuli compared to researcher-chosen erotica. Overall, film condition did not affect T, but individual differences in identification moderated T responses: among women reporting lower levels of identification, the moderate choice condition decreased T compared to the no-choice condition, but this difference was not observed among women with higher identification. These results highlight the importance of cognitive/emotional factors like identification for sexually modulated T. However, self-chosen erotica results in more ambivalent rather than unequivocally positive cognitive/emotional responses, perhaps because stigma associated with viewing erotica for women becomes more salient when choosing stimuli.

Testosterone is typically understood to contribute to maleness and masculinity, although it also ... more Testosterone is typically understood to contribute to maleness and masculinity, although it also responds to behaviors such as competition. Competition is crucial to evolution and may increase testosterone but also is selectively discouraged for women and encouraged for men via gender norms. We conducted an experiment to test how gender norms might modulate testosterone as mediated by two possible gender→testosterone pathways. Using a novel experimental design, participants (trained actors) performed a specific type of competition (wielding power) in stereo-typically masculine vs. feminine ways. We hypothesized in H1 (stereotyped behavior) that wielding power increases testoster-one regardless of how it is performed, vs. H2 (stereotyped performance), that wielding power performed in masculine but not feminine ways increases testosterone. We found that wielding power increased testosterone in women compared with a control, regardless of whether it was performed in gender-stereotyped masculine or feminine ways. Results supported H1 over H2: stereotyped behavior but not performance modulated testosterone. These results also supported theory that competition modulates testosterone over masculinity. Our findings thus support a gen-der→testosterone pathway mediated by competitive behavior. Accordingly, cultural pushes for men to wield power and women to avoid doing so may partially explain, in addition to heritable factors, why testosterone levels tend to be higher in men than in women: A lifetime of gender socialization could contribute to " sex differences " in testosterone. Our experiment opens up new questions of gender→testosterone pathways, highlighting the potential of examining nature/nurture interactions and effects of socialization on human biology. testosterone | gender | socialization | competition | sex

Sexual orientation typically describes people’s sexual attractions or desires based on their sex ... more Sexual orientation typically describes people’s sexual attractions or desires based on their sex relative to that of a target. Despite its utility, it has been critiqued in part because it fails to account for non-biological gender-related factors, partnered sexualities unrelated to gender or sex, or potential divergences between love and lust. In this article, I propose Sexual Configurations Theory (SCT) as a testable, empirically grounded framework for understanding diverse partnered sexualities, separate from solitary sexualities. I focus on and provide models of two parameters of partnered sexuality—gender/sex and partner number. SCT also delineates individual gender/sex. I discuss a sexual diversity lens as a way to study the particularities and generalities of diverse sexualities without privileging either. I also discuss how sexual identities, orientations, and statuses that are typically seen as misaligned or aligned are more meaningfully conceptualized as branched or co-incident. I map out some existing identities using SCT and detail its applied implications for health and counseling work. I highlight its importance for sexuality in terms of measurement and social neuroendocrinology, and the ways it may be useful for self-knowledge and feminist and queer empowerment and alliance building. I also make a case that SCT changes existing understandings and conceptualizations of sexuality in constructive and generative ways informed by both biology and culture, and that it is a potential starting point for sexual diversity studies and research.

Prior research has documented shifts in sexual orientation identity, attractions, and partnering ... more Prior research has documented shifts in sexual orientation identity, attractions, and partnering behavior over time and social context, commonly referred to as sexual fluidity (Diamond, 2008). Social contextual factors may include relationship status and type of relationship, and these may be particularly salient in polyamorous communities where multiple relationships and some degree of fluidity are common. Also common, and potentially important for experiences of fluidity, are nonheteronormativities and nonmononormativities. This study aimed to explore the sexual trajectories (experiences of sexual identity, sexual attractions, and sexual and romantic partnering) over time in people of diverse relational identities and genders. A sample of 55 polyamorous or otherwise consensually nonmonogamous individuals and 61 monoamorous individuals completed online questionnaires regarding sexual identity, attractions, and partnering behaviors at two time points approximately 7 months apart. Relational identity had a number of implications for sexuality. Polyamorous individuals were more likely than monoamorous participants to identify their sexuality in nonpolar and nontraditional ways. Polyamorous women shifted attraction ratings over time at a higher rate than polyamorous men or monoamorous women or men, and differences in present and ideal attractions at Time 1 partially predicted these shifts. Results indicate the importance of relational identity alongside sexual identity and gender in sexuality research.

Testosterone (T) is generally understood to influence sexual behavior, but how T responds to sexu... more Testosterone (T) is generally understood to influence sexual behavior, but how T responds to sexuality is less well characterized across vertebrate species. Here, we review and synthesize findings on sexual modulation of T in primates (including humans), birds, fish, and rodents, with attention to the specific elements of sexual situations that drive T responses. We use a comparative perspective to show how research with females and males from a wide distribution of taxa provides novel insights for understanding effects of
sexuality on T in humans. Among other patterns, our cross-species synthesis highlights a) the importance of the context surrounding a sexual interaction, over and above specific
sensory modalities, to sexual modulation of T; b) that changes in T and changes in sexual behavior or arousal do not always occur in concert; c) that sexual contexts may be especially likely to increase T when coupled with aggression or competition, but sexuality contributes to T profiles independently as well; and d) that variation in T responses may be adaptive in balancing behavioral and physiological costs and benefits of T.We discuss how broadening the ways sexuality is defined, and especially decoupling sexuality from reproduction, would
further clarify predictors and potential functions of sexually-modulated T. Overall, effects of sexuality on T across species highlight the malleability of androgens, particularly in response
to the social environment. Not only does sexual behavior affect T, but the social environment in turn modulates the extent of sexuality’s effect on T.

Jealousy evokes strong psychological responses, but little is known about physiological effects. ... more Jealousy evokes strong psychological responses, but little is known about physiological effects. This study investigated whether actively thinking about a jealousy-provoking situation would result in a testosterone (T) response, and what factors might mediate this effect. We examined T responses to imagining one’s partner engaging in one of three activities: a neutral conversation with a co-worker, a flirtatious conversation with an attractive person, or a passionate kiss with an attractive person. Women in the flirting condition experienced a significantly larger increase in T relative to those in the neutral condition; the kissing condition was intermediate. In men, there were no significant effects of jealousy condition on T. These findings are consistent with the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds, such that the flirting condition elicited a ‘competitive’ T response, and the kissing condition elicited responses consistent with defeat.

Testosterone is thought to be positively associated with "mating effort”, or the initiation and e... more Testosterone is thought to be positively associated with "mating effort”, or the initiation and establishment of sexual relationships (Wingfield et al., 1990). Yet, because testosterone is negatively associated with nurturance (van Anders et al., 2011), high levels of testosterone may be incompatible with relationship maintenance. For instance, partnered men with high testosterone report lower relationship quality compared to partnered men with low testosterone (e.g., Booth and Dabbs, 1993). Findings for women are inconsistent, however, and even less is known about potential dyadic associations between testosterone and relationship quality in couples. In the current report,we assessed relationship satisfaction, commitment, and investment in heterosexual couples and tested the hypothesis that these aspects of relationship quality would be negatively associated with an individual's own and his/her partner's testosterone levels. We found that testosterone was in fact negatively associated with relationship satisfaction and commitment in both men and women. There was also evidence for dyadic associations: Participants' satisfaction and commitment were negatively related to their partners' levels of testosterone, and these associations were larger for women's than men's testosterone. Our findings are consistent with the idea that high testosterone may be incompatible with the maintenance of nurturant relationships.
The current findings also provide some of the first evidence for dyadic associations between testosterone and relationship
quality in couples, highlighting the interdependent nature of close relationship processes and the importance of considering this interdependence in social neuroendocrine research.

The target meta-analysis (Wood, Kressel, Joshi, & Louie, 2014) raises a number of red flags for r... more The target meta-analysis (Wood, Kressel, Joshi, & Louie, 2014) raises a number of red flags for research on menstrual shifts in women’s psychology. In this commentary, I particularly address one: the near absent attention to sociocultural forces in this body of work. I use social neuroendocrinology as one example of a research paradigm that integrates both evolution and socialization into studies of human behavior. I argue that incorporating attention to social constructions actually provides
clearer answers to evolutionary questions and also fills the biobehavioral comparative mandate by seriously attending to human specificities alongside cross-species generalities. I close by noting that human bodies simultaneously reflect evolved and sociocultural forces, an understanding that undergirds contemporary biobehavioral research.

Legal enactments are de facto definitions of gender/sex and affect the day-to-day lives of trans-... more Legal enactments are de facto definitions of gender/sex and affect the day-to-day lives of trans-identified individuals. We assessed requirements for changing gender/sex designations
on US driver’s licenses and birth certificates alongside their potential foundations to explore these legal definitions. Analyses showed that surgico-medical authority and sex reassignment surgery were privileged over lived experiences, psychology, and physiology (e.g. genetics; hormones). Though ‘biologism’ is typically theorized to explain legal conceptualizations and treatments of gender/sex and transgender, we argue for a diverse set of ‘bio/logics’ (implicit biological decision rules) that have profoundly different
implications for trans lives. Over two other possibilities (trace bio/logics: a conceptual or physiological persistence of sexed origins; and interior bio/logics: a privileging of more embedded and immutable sex features), we conclude that US state enactments of gender/sex rely on ‘newborn bio/logics’: those binaristic features of genital sex immediately observable in newborns and naturalized via surgico-medical authority.

Interacting with infants changes affect and hormones in adult men; do these interactions and thei... more Interacting with infants changes affect and hormones in adult men; do these interactions and their effects also influence aggressive responding? In the present study, we tested 96 men in the Michigan Infant Nurturance Simulation Paradigm (MINSP)
using a simulated infant (SI). Men provided saliva samples and responded to baseline questionnaires about health and affect, and then engaged in one of four randomly assigned conditions: neutral, audio cries (taped from infants), SI-R (responsive: (where the SI could be nurtured in ways that ended its crying), and SIN (nonresponsive: where the SI could be nurtured, but its crying could not be ended). After this, they viewed a neutral film video as a time filler, and then engaged in an aggressive responding task. Our results showed that hearing audio cries increased testosterone relative to baseline and the other conditions, and that the SI conditions increased negative affect relative to the other conditions. We found that the audio cries condition elicited more aggressive responding than the other conditions, but only marginally so. However, the hormonal changes were not associated with different patterns of aggressive responding. Results are discussed in light of biopsyschosocial pathways from nurturant and challenging infant interactions to psychological, hormonal, and behavioral outcomes.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2014

Testosterone (T) and other androgens are incorporated into an increasingly wide array of human se... more Testosterone (T) and other androgens are incorporated into an increasingly wide array of human sexuality research, but there are a number of issues that can affect or confound research outcomes. This review addresses various methodological issues relevant to research design in human studies with T; unaddressed, these issues may introduce unwanted noise, error, or conceptual barriers to interpreting results. Topics covered are
(1) social and demographic factors (gender and sex; sexual orientations and sexual diversity; social/familial connections and
processes; social location variables), (2) biological rhythms (diurnal variation; seasonality; menstrual cycles; aging and menopause), (3) sample collection, handling, and storage (saliva
vs. blood; sialogogues, saliva, and tubes; sampling frequency,
timing, and context; shipping samples), (4) health, medical issues, and the body (hormonal contraceptives; medications and nicotine; health conditions and stress; body composition, weight, and exercise), and (5) incorporating multiple hormones. Detailing a comprehensive set of important issues and relevant empirical evidence, this review provides a starting point for best practices in human sexuality research with T and other androgens that may be especially useful for those new to hormone research.

Research links explicit sexuality (e.g., physical attraction and pleasure) to high testosterone (... more Research links explicit sexuality (e.g., physical attraction and pleasure) to high testosterone (T) and nurturance (loving contact) to low T. Engaging in sexual fantasy, which can include explicit sexual and nurturant elements, increases T in women but not in men. We examined whether individual differences in the explicit sexual and nurturant content of fantasy were linked with T or with estradiol (E2). In addition, we explored whether fantasy content differed or overlapped by gender/sex. Participants (26 women, 23 men) provided saliva samples for hormones before and after imagining a self-defined positive sexual encounter and responding to open-ended questions about the situation they imagined. We systematically content-coded responses for explicit sexual and nurturant content. In men, lower inclusion of nurturant content predicted larger T responses to fantasy. Fantasy content was not linked with T in women or with E2 in women or men. Women and men did not differ significantly in explicit sexual and nurturant content. Our findings suggest that individual experiences of fantasy as more or less nurturant affect T in men, provide support for the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds, and highlight the value of integrating hormones and content analysis to investigate research questions relevant to sexuality and gender/sex.

Science reflects cultural practices and also occurs within them, and this ‘knowledge-culture’ is ... more Science reflects cultural practices and also occurs within them, and this ‘knowledge-culture’ is constituted by the public imaginary (general understandings and perceptions of phenomena) and the ‘scientific imaginary’ (the ability to envision scientific questions, methods, meanings and material possibilities for studying phenomena). In this feminist science laboratory case study, I argue that nomenclature contributes to epistemologies
of ignorance, delimiting knowledge-culture and the scientific imaginary about vaginal fluid, which has implications for understandings of women’s bodies as well as sexual health potentials. Abject terms for vaginal fluid (vaginal mucous; vaginal discharge) preclude its existence in the scientific imaginary except as passive signs of dis-ease. I argue for a gendered abjectness of vaginal fluid’s names by situating it next to fluids
that are tied to other mucosal surfaces, thus showing that even when gender is not involved in the name, gendered knowledge-culture can still affect science. I discuss how my ongoing lab research in social neuroendocrinology attends to the immune properties of vaginal fluid and positions women’s bodies as agentic, taking seriously the promise that ‘vaginal fluid’ might afford.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2013

""Largely based on pre-theory that ties high testosterone (T) to masculinity, and low T to femini... more ""Largely based on pre-theory that ties high testosterone (T) to masculinity, and low T to femininity, high T is mainly studied in relation to aggression, mating, sexuality, and challenge, and low T with parenting. Evidence, however, fails to support this, and the social variability in T is better accounted for by a competition–
nurturance trade-off as per the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds (van Anders et al., 2011). Four key domains are discussed: adult–infant interactions, sexual desire, sexual behavior, and partnering. Empirical engagements with gender/sex are shown to lead to important insights over assumptions about masculinity–femininity. Humans are discussed within a comparative framework that attends to cross species principles informed by human insights alongside human-specific particularities like social constructions, which are critical to evolutionary understandings of the social role of T. This paper thus integrates seemingly orthogonal perspectives to allow for transformative approaches to an empirically supported social phenomenology of T.""

Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2013

"Introduction. Research on postpartum sexuality has focused primarily on mothers, though new find... more "Introduction. Research on postpartum sexuality has focused primarily on mothers, though new findings suggest that relational perceptions may have a strong influence over sexual desire and behavior. Little investigation exists regarding sexuality in partners of postpartum women. Additionally, recent findings point to the importance of a partner’s sexuality for postpartum women’s perceptions of their own sexuality in this time.

Aims. The goal of this research was to explore women’s partners’ sexuality in the early postpartum phase taking into account psychosocial context.

Methods. Partners (N = 114; 95 men, 18 women, 1 unspecified) of postpartum women completed a retrospective online questionnaire about their sexuality during the 3 months following their youngest child’s birth.

Main Outcome Measures. Primary measures included sexual desire (Sexual Desire Inventory), latency to sexual behavior, and enjoyment and initiation of sexual behavior. Other psychosocial variables were investigated: partners’ perceptions of the birth mother’s sexual desire, perceptions of the birth experience (Questionnaire Measuring Attitudes About Labor and Delivery), postpartum stress (Perceived Stress Scale), body image self-consciousness (Body Image Self-Consciousness Scale), social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support),
fatigue, and experiences surrounding breastfeeding.

Results. Partners reported most frequent engagement in intercourse in the postpartum period, earliest engagement
in masturbation, and highest enjoyment of receiving oral sex compared with other sexual activities. Partners’ sexual desire was not correlated with the psychosocial variables measured in the study. Findings for partners’ sexuality were similar by gender, except for perceptions of social support and likelihood to engage in intercourse.

Conclusions. This study provided a novel perspective on the study of postpartum sexuality by investigating physical and psychosocial influences on the experiences of partners of parous women. Given parallels between sexuality reported by partners in this study and by birth mothers in past studies, this study provided evidence that sexuality in the postpartum period may be experienced similarly, highlighting the social and relational nature of the postpartum."

Touch is a critical factor in intimate bonds between romantic partners. Although cuddling is a ke... more Touch is a critical factor in intimate bonds between romantic partners. Although cuddling is a key expression of intimacy, it has received little empirical attention. Past research suggests that cuddling has some sexual aspects (e.g., it increases testosterone [T]), but there are theoretical reasons to expect cuddling to also involve nurturant intimacy (which should decrease T). In this article, we examined the phenomenon of partner cuddling to: (1) provide a descriptive examination; (2) determine if cuddling involved only nurturant intimacy or also sexual intimacy; and (3) test whether cuddling was perceived as nurturant but experienced as sexual. Via an online questionnaire, 514 participants (338 women) responded to quantitative and qualitative questions about cuddling with their romantic partners. Results suggested that cuddling occurred frequently and for relatively long durations, and was viewed very positively. Findings also showed that cuddling was perceived as nurturant and nonsexual but was experienced as at least somewhat sexual, which may explain why past research had found that cuddling increased T. Correlational analyses linked cuddling frequency and enjoyment positively with partnered sexual activities, but negatively with solitary sexuality. Results were discussed relative to evolutionary theories of distinct but overlapping neurobiological systems underlying pair bonding that involve sexual and nurturant intimacy.

Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2012

None

Bisexuality is studied within the biological sciences, in fields like neuroscience, biopsychology... more Bisexuality is studied within the biological sciences, in fields like neuroscience, biopsychology, evolution and biomedicine, yet these fields typically do not train researchers to consider the social locations of their participants. However, bisexuality is a marginalized sexuality, and minorities and researchers have increasingly called for scientific research to attend to issues around power and social identity. This article provides a set of guidelines written by a bioscientist for bioscientists, to help delineate and address potential issues when studying bisexuality.

Psychoneuroendocrinology,

Women's postpartum sexuality can be influenced by factors related to physical, personal, and rela... more Women's postpartum sexuality can be influenced by factors related to physical, personal, and relationship transitions after the newborn arrives. Despite this, many experiential and social factors remain unexplored. Aims. This study aims to (i) investigate a range of variables thought to influence postpartum sexuality; (ii) expand the focus beyond latency to penis-vagina intercourse; and (iii) assess positive aspects of postpartum sexuality. Methods. Via retrospective reporting on the first 3 months postpartum, 304 women completed an online questionnaire. Main Outcome Measures. The main outcome measures were retrospective reports of sexual desire (Sexual Desire Inventory), latency to resumption of sexual activity, and perceptions of partner's sexual desire. Other measures were birth experience (Questionnaire Measuring Attitudes About Labor and Delivery), breastfeeding status, perceptions of social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support), stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and body image (Body Image Self-Consciousness Scale). Results. Significant differences in time to resumption were found. Women performed oral sex on their partners earlier than engaging in masturbation, which was followed by intercourse and then receiving oral sex. Post hoc analyses identified birth experience, social support, importance of partner's sexual fulfillment, and perception of partner's desire as contributors to this pattern. Women's postpartum sexual desire was influenced by their perceptions of their partner's postpartum sexuality and individual's level of fatigue. Results suggested that postpartum desire was not significantly influenced by breastfeeding status, vaginal issues, or psychosocial variables including stress, body image, or social support. Conclusion. Results suggest that women's perceptions of their partner's sexuality impact postpartum sexuality more than the physical factors most commonly studied (e.g., vaginal trauma and breastfeeding). These results portray postpartum sexuality as a multidimensional phenomenon and highlight the need for further research that addresses its social context. Hipp LE, Kane Low L, and van Anders SM. Exploring women's postpartum sexuality: Social, psychological, relational, and birth-related contextual factors. J Sex Med 2012;9:2330-2341.

"Sexual stimuli increase testosterone (T) or cortisol (C) in males of a variety of species, inclu... more "Sexual stimuli increase testosterone (T) or cortisol (C) in males of a variety of species, including humans, and just thinking about sex increases T in women. We investigated whether sexual thoughts change T or C in men and whether hormone measures (baseline, post-activity, and changes) correlate
with psychological sexual arousal. We used the Imagined Social Situation Exercise to assess how hormones respond to and correlate with sexual thoughts and arousal relative to three control conditions: neutral, stressful, and positive. A total of 99 men provided a baseline saliva sample, imagined and wrote about a sexual or control situation, and provided a second saliva
sample15 min later.Results indicated that, for participants in the sexual condition, higher baseline and post-activity C corresponded to larger increases in self- reported sexual and autonomic arousal. Although sexual thoughts increased sexual arousal, they did not change T or C compared to control conditions. Our results suggest that sexual thoughts are not sufficient to change T or C in men,but C may facilitate sexual arousal by directing energy towards a sexual situation."

Higher testosterone (T) is tied to risk-taking, especially in financial domains but also in healt... more Higher testosterone (T) is tied to risk-taking, especially in financial domains but also in health domains relevant to acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, safer sex constructs could themselves carry the possibility of "social risk" due to sexual stigma or embarrassment, or could involve boldness or confidence because they could represent status displays of frequent sexual activity. Aim. To determine how T and behaviorally relevant attitudes about sexual risk-taking are linked, to better understand biopsychosocial aspects of sexual health related to STIs. Methods. In 78 first-year male college students, we examined correlations between salivary T and behaviorally relevant safer sex attitudes assessed via questionnaires. Main Outcome Measures. T, via saliva; safer sex attitudes, via a composite and the University of California, Los Angeles Multidimensional Condom Attitudes Scale (MCAS). Results. Higher T was significantly correlated with higher scores on the following: safer sex likelihood composite, r(73) = 0.33, P = 0.003; the MCAS safer sex resilience, r(32) = 0.36, P = 0.037; and the MCAS condom purchase comfort, r(32) = 0.37, P = 0.031. Associations between T and safer sex likelihood and resilience were still robust after controlling for potential confounds, though the association between T and purchase comfort diminished to a trend. Conclusions. Higher T was positively linked with safer sex attitudes, especially those most closely tied to STI risk avoidance. Thus, future research and interventions for STI prevention should address the possibility that safer sex may be paradoxically perceived as a "bold" or "risky" choice even as it decreases STI risk. van Anders SM, Goldey KL, Conley TD, Snipes DJ, and Patel DA. Safer sex as the bolder choice: Testosterone is positively correlated with safer sex behaviorally relevant attitudes in young men. J Sex Med 2012;9:727-734.

Testosterone (T) is generally theorized within a trade-off framework that contrasts parenting and... more Testosterone (T) is generally theorized within a trade-off framework that contrasts parenting and low T with competitive challenges and high T. Paradoxically, baby cues increase T, prompting questions of whether T or its behavioral expression has been mischaracterized. We tested 55 men using a novel interactive infant doll paradigm, and results supported our hypotheses: We showed for the first time that baby cries do decrease T in men, but only when coupled with nurturant responses. In contrast, baby cries uncoupled from nurturant responses increased T. These findings highlight the need to partition infant cues and interactions into nurturant versus
competitive-related contexts to more accurately conceptualize T, as per the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds. This experiment also supports the utility of this paradigmfor studying effects of infant interactions on hormonal responses, which may provide critical insights into ameliorating the darker sides of caregiving (e.g. anger, frustration, violence) and enhancing the positive sides (e.g. intimacy, nurturance, reward).

Sexual desire is typically higher in men than in women, with testosterone (T) thought to account ... more Sexual desire is typically higher in men than in women, with testosterone (T) thought to account for this difference as well as within-sex variation in desire in both women and men. However, few studies have incorporated both hormonal and social or psychological factors in studies of sexual desire.The present study addressed how three psychological domains (sexual–relational, stress–mood, body–embodiment) were related to links between T and sexual desire in healthy adults and whether dyadic and solitary desire showed associations with T. Participants (n=196) were recruited as part of the Partnering, Physiology, and Health study, which had 105men and 91women who completed questionnaires and provided saliva for cortisol and T assays. T was positively linked to solitary desire in women, with masturbation frequency influencing this link. In contrast, T was negatively correlated with dyadic desire in women, but only when cortisol and perceived social stress were controlled. Replicating past findings, no significant correlations between T and desire in men were apparent, but these analyses showed that the null association remained even when psychological and confound variables were controlled. Men showed higher desire than women, but masturbation frequency rather than T influenced this difference. Results were discussed in terms of challenges to assumptions of clear links between T and desire, gendered approaches to T, and the unitarity of desire.

"Introduction. Traditionally, sexual desire is understood to occur spontaneously, but more recent... more "Introduction. Traditionally, sexual desire is understood to occur spontaneously, but more recent models propose that desire responds to sexual stimuli.
Aims. To experimentally assess whether sexual stimuli increased sexual desire; to compare how sexual arousal and desire responded to three modalities of sexual stimuli: erotic story, unstructured fantasy, and the Imagined Social Situation Exercise (ISSE).
Methods. In an online study, participants (128 women, 98 men) were randomly assigned to one of four arousal conditions (ISSE, story, fantasy, or neutral), and then completed desire measures. In the ISSE, participants imagined and wrote about a positive sexual encounter with a self-defined attractive person.
Main Outcome Measures. Sexual arousal (perceived genital, psychological, and perceived autonomic), anxiety, positive and negative affect, and state sexual desire via self-report measures pre- and post-condition; “trait” desire via the Sexual Desire Inventory post-condition.
Results. All three sexual conditions significantly increased sexual arousal and positive affect compared with the neutral condition, with trends for higher arousal to unstructured fantasy than the ISSE or story conditions. Sexual conditions significantly increased scores on state measures of sexual desire. In addition, sexual context influenced measurement of “trait” solitary sexual desire in women, such that women reported significantly higher trait desire after the neutral and ISSE conditions vs. fantasy.
Conclusion. Results highlight the responsiveness of sexual desire, problems with measurement of desire as a long-term trait, trade-offs of using the ISSE and other stimuli in sexuality research, and the need to address context in discussions of women’s and men’s desire."

Previous research suggests that sexual stimuli increase testosterone (T) in women and shows incon... more Previous research suggests that sexual stimuli increase testosterone (T) in women and shows inconsistent effects of sexual arousal on cortisol (C), but effects of cognitive aspects of arousal, rather than behaviors or sensory stimuli, are unclear. The present study examined whether sexual thoughts affect T or C and whether hormonal contraceptive (HC) use moderated this effect, given mixed findings of HC use confounding hormone responses. Participants (79 women) provided a baseline saliva sample for radioimmunoassay. We created the Imagined Social Situation Exercise (ISSE) to test effects of imagining social interactions on hormones, and participants were assigned to the experimental (sexual) or one of three control (positive, neutral, stressful) conditions. Participants provided a second saliva sample 15min post-activity. Results indicated that for women not using HCs, the sexual condition increased T compared to the stressful or positive conditions. In contrast, HC using women in the sexual condition had decreased T relative to the stressful condition and similar T to the positive condition. The effect was specific to T, as sexual thoughts did not change C. For participants in the sexual condition, higher baseline T predicted larger increases in sexual arousal but smaller increases in T, likely due to ceiling effects on T. Our results suggest that sexual thoughts change T but not C, baseline T levels and HC use may contribute to variation in the T response to sexual thoughts, and cognitive aspects of sexual arousal affect physiology.

Hormones, and hormone responses to social contexts, are the proximate mechanisms of evolutionary ... more Hormones, and hormone responses to social contexts, are the proximate mechanisms of evolutionary pathways to pair bonds and other social bonds. Testosterone (T) is implicated in tradeoffs relevant to pair bonding, and oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are positively tied to social bonding in a variety of species. Here, we present the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds (S/P Theory), which integrates T and peptides to provide a model, set of predictions, and classification system for social behavioral contexts related to social bonds. The S/P Theory also resolves several paradoxes apparent in the literature on social bonds and hormones: the Offspring Defense Paradox, Aggression Paradox, and Intimacy Paradox. In the S/P Theory, we partition aggression into antagonistic and protective aggression, which both increase T but exert distinct effects on AVP and thus social bonds. Similarly, we partition intimacy into sexual and nurturant intimacy, both of which increase OT and facilitate social bonds, but exert distinct effects on T. We describe the utility of the S/P Theory for classifying 'tricky' behavioral contexts on the basis of their hormonal responses using partner cuddling, a behavior which is assumed to be nurturant but increases T, as a test case of the S/P Theory. The S/P Theory provides a comparative basis for conceptualizing and testing evolved hormonal pathways to pair bonds with attention to species, context, and gender/sex specificities and convergences.

Cross-cultural evidence links pair bonding and testosterone (T). We investigated what factors acc... more Cross-cultural evidence links pair bonding and testosterone (T). We investigated what factors account for this link, how casual relationships are implicated, and whether gender/sex moderates these patterns in a North American sample. We gathered saliva samples for radioimmunoassay of T and self-report data on background, health, and social/relational variables from 115 women and 120 men to test our predictions, most of which were supported. Our results show that singles have higher T than long-term (LT) partnered individuals, and that casual relationships without serious romantic commitment are more like singlehood for men and LT relationships for women–in terms of T. We were also able to demonstrate what factors mediate the association between partnering and T: in women, frequency of partnered sexual activity mediated the effect in men, interest in more/new partners mediated the effect. This supported our prediction of relationship status interpretations in women, but relationship orientation in men. Results replicated past findings that neither sexual desire nor extrapair sexuality underlie the T-partnering link. We were able to rule out a large number of viable alternative explanations ranging from the lifestyle (e.g., sleep) to the social (e.g., social support). Our data thus demonstrate pattern and mediators for the development of T-pair bonding associations, and emphasize the importance of neither under- nor overstating the importance of gender/sex in research about the evolution of intimacy.

The mind in …, Jan 1, 2010

Journal of Sexual …, Jan 1, 2009

Few studies have examined how sexual arousal influences healthy premenopausal women's hormones, l... more Few studies have examined how sexual arousal influences healthy premenopausal women's hormones, limiting our understanding of basic physiology and our ability to transfer knowledge from clinical and nonhuman populations. Aim. To examine how sexual arousal and steroid hormones (testosterone [T], cortisol [C], estradiol [E]) were linked, to see whether hormone levels influenced and/or changed in response to sexual arousal elicited via visual erotic stimuli in healthy women. Methods. Participants included 40 healthy premenopausal women not using exogenous hormones. Main Outcome Measures. Change in genital sexual arousal (vaginal pulse amplitude), change in subjective sexual arousal, sexual desire (via the Sexual Desire Inventory and Female Sexual Function Index scales), as well as T, C, and E via saliva samples taken before and following viewing of erotic stimuli as genital arousal was recorded via a vaginal photoplethysmograph.

Hormones and behavior, Jan 1, 2009

Past findings suggest links between orgasms and testosterone (T), as well as sexuality and estrad... more Past findings suggest links between orgasms and testosterone (T), as well as sexuality and estradiol (E), and we examined hormone-orgasm links in this study via two hypotheses (below). Participants were 86 women and 91 men who provided a saliva sample and completed a demographics questionnaire, the Orgasm Checklist , the Hurlbert (1991) Index of Sexual Assertiveness, and the Sexual Desire Inventory . Results supported the first hypothesis of correlations between T and positive orgasm experience in women, specifically with the relaxation, soothing, and peaceful items in both partnered and solitary orgasm contexts. Results also indicated correlations between E and flooding and spreading items in a solitary orgasm context. There were no associations between hormones and men's perceptions of their orgasm experiences. There was no support for the second hypothesis of associations between higher T and more sexual assertiveness. Post hoc analyses showed associations between E and women's sexual desire, and T and men's sexual desire. We discuss implications of these findings including that solitary vs. partnered orgasm experiences may differ, and suggest that T might be associated with perceptions of psychological experiences of orgasms, and E might be associated with perceptions of physical experiences of orgasms.

Endocrinology of social relationships, Jan 1, 2009

Research on the associations between hormones and human partnering represents an exciting advance... more Research on the associations between hormones and human partnering represents an exciting advance in understanding human behavior, relationships, and sexuality. We review empirical literature on circulating hormones and human partnering (i.e., pair bonding, sexual/romantic relationships, pairing). We begin by reviewing steroids (e.g., androgens, estrogens, cortisol) and peptides (e.g., oxytocin, vasopressin). We then move on to androgen-partnering associations, attending to early stages of' relationships, and partnering behaviors. A major focus includes relevant theoretical frameworks, possible directional or causal associations, and related controversies. We next cover associations between pair bonding, partnering behaviors, and both peptide (e.g., oxytocin) and stress hormones (e.g., cortisol). Following is a discussion of some contextual factors that might be important to understanding hormone-partnering associations, such as pregnancy or menopausal status. We conclude by summarizing and highlighting the main findings of partneringhormone links and their implications; and we close by describing some of the challenges facing the field and some future directions given the field's current trajectory.

Hormones and behavior, Jan 1, 2007

Previous research has shown that being partnered is associated with lower testosterone (T) in men... more Previous research has shown that being partnered is associated with lower testosterone (T) in men and women. To address how multiple partners may be associated with T, we examined 47 men and 48 women who were single, monoamorously partnered (partnered), polyamorous (having multiple committed relationships), or in a polyamorous lifestyle but not currently multipartnered. Men who were partnered had lower T than all other men, and polyamorous men had higher T than single men. Polyamorous women had higher T than all other women. Measures of sociosexual orientation (SOI) and sexual desire differed in women by relationship type, but not in men. Findings are interpreted in light of 'competitive' and 'bond-maintenance' relationship orientations and statuses.

Hormones and …, Jan 1, 2007

Some studies show an increase in testosterone (T) after sexual activity; this literature has inco... more Some studies show an increase in testosterone (T) after sexual activity; this literature has inconsistent findings, focuses mostly on men, and does not employ control activities. The present study examined within-subject effects of intercourse versus control activities (cuddling; exercise) on salivary T. The initial sample included 49 women (mostly heterosexual), though not all participants returned all samples or engaged in all activities, leaving a smaller sample for endocrine analyses (n = 16). Participants attended an initial session in the laboratory where they completed questionnaires, and then engaged in the activities on their own. On three separate nights, they provided pre-activity, post-activity, and nextmorning saliva samples and completed brief questionnaires at the last two timepoints. Women's T was higher pre-intercourse than pre-control activity. Women's T was also higher post-intercourse than post-control activity, though the percent change in T from pre-to post-activity was highest for cuddling, then intercourse, then exercise. Next-morning T did not differ by activity. Data pointed to an association between T and orgasming, sexual desire, and relationship commitment. Analyses on post-activity appraisals suggest that the close intimate physicality of a sexual and non-sexual nature can affect T and be beneficial in short-term and perhaps longer-lasting ways for women's sexuality and relationships.

Hormones and behavior, Jan 1, 2007

Research points to an association between testosterone (T) and partnering in some women and men, ... more Research points to an association between testosterone (T) and partnering in some women and men, and this association has been interpreted as an effect of either relationship status (i.e. differences in relationship status lead to differences in T) or relationship orientation (i.e. T is associated with the likelihood of entering relationships). To address whether physical partner presence was associated with decreased T, we examined T levels in people (72 women; 49 men) who were single, in long-distance relationships, or in same-city relationships. No participants were using exogenous hormones, including hormonal contraceptives. Participants provided a saliva sample and responded to questions about their relationship status. Single men had higher T than long-distance and same-city partnered men, which supports the relationship orientation interpretation. In contrast, same-city partnered women had lower T than single women and women in long-distance relationships, which supports the relationship status interpretation. We conclude that physical partner presence is not necessary to see an association between partnering and hormones in men (since same-city and long-distance partnered men had similar T levels), but may be necessary in women (since same-city partnered women had lower T than long-distance partnered women).

Psychoneuroendocrinology, Jan 1, 2006

Cross-cultural evidence links pair bonding and testosterone (T). We investigated what factors acc... more Cross-cultural evidence links pair bonding and testosterone (T). We investigated what factors account for this link, how casual relationships are implicated, and whether gender/sex moderates these patterns in a North American sample. We gathered saliva samples for radioimmunoassay of T and self-report data on background, health, and social/relational variables from 115 women and 120 men to test our predictions, most of which were supported. Our results show that singles have higher T than long-term (LT) partnered individuals, and that casual relationships without serious romantic commitment are more like singlehood for men and LT relationships for women-in terms of T. We were also able to demonstrate what factors mediate the association between partnering and T: in women, frequency of partnered sexual activity mediated the effect in men, interest in more/new partners mediated the effect. This supported our prediction of relationship status interpretations in women, but relationship orientation in men. Results replicated past findings that neither sexual desire nor extrapair sexuality underlie the T-partnering link. We were able to rule out a large number of viable alternative explanations ranging from the lifestyle (e.g., sleep) to the social (e.g., social support). Our data thus demonstrate pattern and mediators for the development of T-pair bonding associations, and emphasize the importance of neither under-nor overstating the importance of gender/sex in research about the evolution of intimacy.

Human nature, Jan 1, 2006

Page 1. Social Neuroendocrinology Effects of Social Contexts and Behaviors on Sex Steroids in Hum... more Page 1. Social Neuroendocrinology Effects of Social Contexts and Behaviors on Sex Steroids in Humans Sari M. van Anders and Neil V. Watson Simon Fraser University In this paper we provide a critical review of research concerned ...

Orgasms have been promoted as symbols of sexual fulfillment for women, and have perhaps become th... more Orgasms have been promoted as symbols of sexual fulfillment for women, and have perhaps become the symbol of a woman’s healthy sex life. However, some research has suggested that this focus on women’s orgasms, though ostensibly for women, may actually serve men; but the
mechanisms of this are unclear. In the present experiment, we hypothesized that women’s orgasms specifically function as a masculinity achievement for men. To test this, we randomly assigned 810 men (M age = 25.44, SD = 8.31) to read a vignette where they imagined that an attractive woman either did or did not orgasm during a sexual encounter with them. Participants then rated their sexual esteem and the extent to which they would feel masculine after experiencing the given situation. Our results showed that men felt more masculine and reported higher sexual esteem when they imagined that a woman orgasmed during sexual encounters with them, and that this effect was exacerbated for men with high masculine gender role stress. These results suggest that women’s orgasms do function—at least in part—as a masculinity achievement for men.