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Cited by 808Evolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorGender and Feminist StudiesSexual function and dysfunction studies

Gender differences in erotic plasticity: The female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive.

Baumeister, Roy F.·2000·Psychological Bulletin
DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.126.3.347
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Abstract

Responding to controversies about the balance between nature and culture in determining human sexuality, the author proposes that the female sex drive is more malleable than the male in response to sociocultural and situational factors. A large assortment of evidence supports 3 predictions based on the hypothesis of female erotic plasticity: (a) Individual women will exhibit more variation across time than men in sexual behavior, (b) female sexuality will exhibit larger effects than male in response to most specific sociocultural variables, and (c) sexual attitude-behavior consistency will be lower for women than men. Several possible explanations for female erotic plasticity are reviewed, including adaptation to superior male political and physical power, the centrality of female change (from no to yes) as a prerequisite for intercourse, and the idea that women have a milder sex drive than men.

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Crossref · 10.1037/0033-2909.126.3.347

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  • Women routinely report more plurisexual behavior and attractions relative to men.

    “Previous research suggests that women routinely report more plurisexual behavior and attractions relative to men: a pattern that has led many to frame men's sexuality as fixed and biological and women's as erotically plastic, changing in response to environmental pressures (Baumeister, 2000).”

    From Fixed or Fluid? Sexual Identity Fluidity in a Large National Panel Study of New Zealand Adults (2024) · cites this paper as Baumeister, 2000

  • The study did not support the notion that women show erotic plasticity.

    “While there has been much excitement about women showing erotic plasticity (Baumeister, 2000), our study did not support this notion.”

    From Fixed or Fluid? Sexual Identity Fluidity in a Large National Panel Study of New Zealand Adults (2024) · cites this paper as Baumeister, 2000

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Authors
Baumeister, R. F.
Affiliations
Case Western Reserve University (US)
Corresponding author
Baumeister, Roy F.
ORCID
Baumeister, Roy F.
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2000
Volume
126
Issue
3
Pages
347-374
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
DOI
10.1037/0033-2909.126.3.347
OpenAlex
W1985372710
Cited by
808
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 48 · 2015: 56 · 2014: 44 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 41
FWCI
19.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Sexual function and dysfunction studies
Keywords
gender differences in sexuality, sexual behavior, sexual attitudes, attitude-behavior consistency, nature versus nurture
MeSH terms
Animals, Erotica, Biological Evolution, Female, Gender Identity, Humans, Individuality, Libido, Male, Sexual Behavior, Social Environment, Social Values

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