2015•The International Encyclopedia of Human SexualityRequires access
Arousal, sexual
Kristen P. Mark, Debby Herbenick
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Abstract
Sexual arousal is a complex interconnection between emotional and physical components, which often overlaps with sexual desire and appears to be influenced by age and hormonal status. Most of the research on sexual arousal focuses on two aspects of sexual arousal: genital and subjective. Genital arousal refers to the specific physiological changes that occur. Subjective, or self‐reported, sexual arousal refers to the emotional state of arousal. Sexual arousal is not stable and may be influenced by a number of ongoing factors. The dynamic nature of sexual arousal is not well understood and treatment related to sexual arousal difficulties is likely to remain controversial for some time.