Date of Award

2002

Document Type

Research Paper

First Advisor

Lori Camparo

Abstract

Romantic fantasies have been an untapped area in research on sexual behavior. The current study sought to study gender differences in romantic and sexual fantasy frequencies, and to discover the sexual arousal associated with both. It was also designed to discover factors that may be correlated with romantic and sexual fantasy frequencies (e.g., religiosity, ethnicity, sexual behavior, etc.) The current study did find significant differences between males and females in romantic and sexual fantasy frequency, and in the associated arousal to these fantasies. Males reported more sexual fantasies than females did, but there was no difference in romantic fantasy frequency. Also, males reported more associated sexual arousal to sexual fantasies than females did, but they did not differ in sexual arousal to romantic fantasies. These results are discussed in context and directions for future research are proposed.

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