Abstract

The psychological experience of the sexual response cycle has, in recent years, been theoretically redefined to take into account the multidimensional nature of its different stages and the important biopsychosocial factors that influence them. The first chapter of this thesis advocates a four-dimensional model to describe the subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire in both men and women, with three positive dimensions including an evaluative, a motivational, and a physiological factor, as well as a fourth aversive or inhibitive negative factor. An adjective-rating questionnaire, called the Sexual Arousal and Desire Inventory (SADI), was developed to evaluate this multidimensional model of sexual arousal and desire. A sample of 195 women and 195 men completed the questionnaire to convey their subjective experiences of sexual arousal and desire. Results supported the four-factor model to describe men and women's experiences of sexual arousal and desire, suggesting they involve similar experiences. Further inquiry into the questionnaire's psychometric properties as a measure of subjective sexual arousal and desire and of the four-dimensional model revealed excellent reliability and validity, and is covered in chapter one as well. Chapter two examines whether the presence or absence of specific sexual cues, including the ejaculation ending and the soundtrack of an erotic film segment, would alter the subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire of men and women. The third and final chapter of this thesis introduces a Quebec French translation of the SADI. In a preliminary study, 310 women and 59 men completed the questionnaire. Results supported the four-factor model in this French version of the SADI and suggested that this model is adequate to describe the subjective experience of sexual arousal and desire of Quebec Francophone populations. A more equal sample of men and women will need to be evaluated in order to confirm the validity of these results in both sexes.