Roles of Genital Self-Image, Distraction, and Anxiety in Women’s Sexual Pleasure: A Preregistered Study

Women with negative genital self-image are more likely to experience sexual dysfunction , but the processes underlying this association unknown. We theorized that is mediated by distraction from arousing cues foster pleasure and orgasm . In a sample of 1,619 women who had sex in previous four weeks, were be distracted self-critical concerns (i.e., appearance- performance-based embarrassment) during sex, turn, experienced less worse function. Additionally, indirect effect via appearance-based was strongest among trait-level anxiousness social anxiety. found similar pattern results when investigating on Implications for understanding function therapeutic approaches discussed.