Can you point to some studies that discuss the physical/emotional response to physical intimacy?
I believe I first read about this in a National Geographic article about love. One thing I remember vaguely was something about how women in particular have an emotional response to physical intimacy that makes them feel emotionally close to whomever they were intimate with. This sort of explains the generalization that it is more difficult for women to have sex without attachment. I’m curious to see any other articles or studies about this.
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I think Nikipedia could offer some solid insight on this.
I asked Ben to add a “send to a fluther user” feature. I am not sure if that is in the works or not. Are you out there Ben??? : )
All I know is some hazy stuff about oxytocin and vasopressin. I have no idea if any of this is useful to you:
“Plasma [oxytocin] levels increased during sexual arousal in both women and men and were significantly higher during orgasm/ejaculation than during prior baseline testing.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3782434
“Laboratory investigations into hormonal release during human sexual activity show that oxytocin is necessary for subjective pleasure during arousal and orgasm in both sexes, while vasopressin is released only during male arousal. Vasopressin is suggested to have the opposite effect on female sexuality, and to impair women’s interest in sexual contact. As oxytocin and vasopressin are regulated by oestrogen and testosterone respectively, and are sensitive to developmental hormonal experiences, they could provide a link between biology and culture.”
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/csmt/2004/00000019/00000004/art00005
“These results suggest that oxytocin, released with mating, may be critical to formation of a partner preference in the female prairie vole; this contrasts to vasopressin, which appears to be more important for pair bonding in the male of this species.”
http://psycnet.apa.org/?fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0735–7044.109.4.782
So that was just a little bit of googling—but it looks to me like there isn’t actually a clear answer—just some speculation about different hormones acting somewhat differently in the two genders. Maybe the idea is women have more endogenous oxytocin so form stronger bonds? That seems like a reasonable guess to me but I don’t have anything to back it up with. Read the wikipedia pages on each and go from there; you might be able to find more than I did.
@BronxLens: Thanks :)
Isn’t oxytocin also released during breast-feeding? I remember hearing about these findings a year or so ago. Really interesting stuff, but any causal conclusions should be taken with a grain of salt.
Not sure about vasopressin, but I’ve heard the same thing as Tonedef.
Besides during sex, I think oxytocin is released during breastfeeding too.
I’ve also heard that it is even released when you’re snuggling.
From those three examples alone, I would guess it would have to do with building some kind of bond or partner preference. Probably some evolutionary chemical motivation to stick around and raise offspring instead of running amok participating in (as Obama put it last night) cavalier activity.
@tonedef: Yes, which is why I suggested that maybe women have more, and that contributes to the stronger attachment on our end. Oxytocin is the “cuddle drug”—it’s what gives you those warm fuzzies when you make spoons.
Whooo Nikipedia indeed have lots of insides
Depends on the woman. Definately!
I’m not sure how much you would get out of it, but the Kinsey report is quite interesting.
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