Motivation Science, Vol 9(4), Dec 2023, 272-287; doi:10.1037/mot0000301
Replicating and extending previous work by Hinzmann et al. (in press), the present research aimed at validating a picture-story measure of sexual motivation, termed need for sex (n Sex). In two experimental studies (Ns = 154 and 171) with repeated-measures design, we showed that (a) n Sex is sensitive to experimental manipulation of sexual motivation via film clips, (b) that this effect is mediated by increased subjective arousal as an indicator of a motivational process, and (c) that the part of n Sex variance that is sensitive for experimental manipulation is also the one accounting for variations in a behavioral criterion (key pressing and viewing time measures of relative preference for erotic over nonerotic pictures). These effects emerged specifically when film clips portrayed sex positively, but not when they showed sex with embarrassing or threatening consequences. As a dispositional measure, n Sex correlated positively with self-report measures of sexual desire and behavior. But it did not feature the sex difference associated with these measures and retained incremental validity above and beyond them for behavioral criterion measures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)