While women are sexually aroused by romantic films, the likes of Jack and Rose’s kiss on board the Titanic does nothing for men, according to a new study
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet: doing literally nothing for us Photo: REX FEATURES
It’s official: romantic films do nothing for men.
If you want to turn us on, you would do better to play us a documentary about
English history, according to a new study of male and female sexuality.
Volunteers of both sexes were shown four film scenes in an attempt to
understand how they responded to different stimuli, a study published in the
Archives of Sexual Behaviour
reported.
They were shown clips of a couple having sex; Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate
Winslet having their first kiss on board the Titanic; a romantic scene from
the 1993 film Indecent Proposal, followed by an extract from a documentary
on English history.
After each scene the participants were asked to report their mental and
physical response, as well as say how much they wanted sex following the
clip.
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The 86 male participants were, unsurprisingly, most likely to want sex after
watching the porn scene. But researchers were surprised by the fact that the
scene from Titanic came in last place in terms of male sexual arousal -
behind even the history documentary.
Meanwhile, the 78 female participants were more likely to say they were turned on by the clips from Titanic and Indecent Proposal than the video of the couple having sex.
Dr Mareike Dewitte, an assistant professor of clinical psychological science at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who led the study, said that men “need more [explicit] visual stimulation,” while women rely on fantasy to become aroused.
“We know that if you let women watch porn that is more female-oriented, embedded in a story, they respond with more sexual arousal,” Dr Dewitte said.
Sadly, the study did not attempt to explain why men might find a history documentary more of a turn on than a couple kissing.
Meanwhile, the 78 female participants were more likely to say they were turned on by the clips from Titanic and Indecent Proposal than the video of the couple having sex.
Dr Mareike Dewitte, an assistant professor of clinical psychological science at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who led the study, said that men “need more [explicit] visual stimulation,” while women rely on fantasy to become aroused.
“We know that if you let women watch porn that is more female-oriented, embedded in a story, they respond with more sexual arousal,” Dr Dewitte said.
Sadly, the study did not attempt to explain why men might find a history documentary more of a turn on than a couple kissing.
