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Asexuality: Investigations Into a Lack of Sexual Attraction

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Asexuality: Investigations Into a Lack of Sexual Attraction ASEXUALITY: INVESTIGATIONS INTO A LACK OF SEXUAL ATTRACTION by Morag Allison Yule M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2011 B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2007 B.Sc., Honours, The University of Victoria, 2003 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Psychology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2016 © Morag Allison Yule, 2016 Abstract Human asexuality is generally defined as a lack of sexual attraction. Various theories have been proposed to explain how asexuality should best be conceptualized, including that asexuality should be classified as a sexual orientation, that it is due to a mental health difficulty, that it is an extreme variant of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), or that some asexual individuals actually experience a paraphilia of some kind. This dissertation employed a series of Internet-based research studies to investigate these three topics: an examination into mental health correlates of asexuality, a comparison of asexual individuals with individuals who meet diagnostic criteria for HSDD, and an investigation into patterns of sexual fantasy among asexual individuals. By investigating these topics, I sought to test whether asexuality might be a psychopathology, sexual dysfunction, or a paraphilia, with the ultimate goal of testing my hypothesis that asexuality is, in fact, a unique sexual orientation. My findings suggested that asexuality may be associated with higher prevalence of mental health and interpersonal problems, including anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, psychoticism, and suicidality, but that it is not, itself, a mental disorder. I concluded that this may be in response to perceived stigma against their sexual orientation, which might lead to psychological symptoms, or that lack of sexual attraction may arise from an underlying difficulty such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Next, I found that asexuality is unique from the well-known sexual dysfunction HSDD. In my test of whether asexuality was a paraphilia, I found that asexual individuals were less likely to masturbate than sexual individuals, and that they were more likely to report never having had a sexual fantasy. Further, there was a large amount of ii unexpected overlap in the content of sexual fantasies between asexual and sexual participants. Together, these findings suggest that at least some asexual individuals may have a paraphilic characterization. Overall, this dissertation highlights that no single theory can explain asexuality, and underscores the diversity among the asexual population. This dissertation leads to a number of new hypotheses about the nature of asexuality that will be the focus of future research. iii Preface Ethics approval for the studies included in this dissertation was obtained from the University of British Columbia’s Behavioural Research Ethics Board (Certificate Numbers: H09-00671, H10-03130 & H14-01469). The research in this dissertation has led to several peer-reviewed publications in well-known academic journals. These publications are included in the appropriate chapters. Modifications of some of the published material have been made to reduce redundancies throughout this dissertation and to improve continuity between chapters. However, there may continue to be some overlap in content between sections and chapters. I carried out all research under the supervision of Drs. Lori Brotto and Boris Gorzalka, was responsible for the majority of writing, data analysis, and manuscript preparation of all first-author publications, and played a significant role in manuscript preparation, data analysis, and writing of the co-authored publication. All reprints used with permission. Relevant publications are as follows, by chapter: Chapter 2: Yule, M. A., Brotto, L. A. & Gorzalka, B. B. (2013). Mental health and interpersonal functioning among asexual individuals. Psychology & Sexuality, 4(2), 136-151. DOI:10.1080/19419899.2013.774162. Chapter 3: Brotto, L. A., Yule, M. A., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2015). Asexuality: An extreme variant of sexual desire disorder? Journal of Sexual Medicine, 12(3). 646-660. DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12806 iv Chapter 4: Yule, M. A., Brotto, L. A., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2014). Sexual fantasy and masturbation among asexual individuals. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 23(2), 89-95. DOI: 10.3138/chjs.2409 Yule, M. A., Brotto, L. A., & Gorzalka, B. B. (Provisionally Accepted). An in-depth exploration of sexual fantasy among asexual individuals. Archives of Sexual Behaviour. v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ ii Preface ......................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ ix List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... xii Dedication ............................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Mental health and interpersonal functioning in self-identified asexual men and women ..................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Method .................................................................................................................................. 15 2.3 Results ................................................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 28 2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 36 Chapter 3: Asexuality: An extreme variant of sexual desire disorder? .............. 37 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 37 3.2 Methods ................................................................................................................................ 39 3.3 Results ................................................................................................................................... 46 3.4 Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 60 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 71 Chapter 4: Sexual fantasy and masturbation among asexual individuals ......... 73 4.1 Preliminary study on sexual fantasy and masturbation ..................................... 73 4.1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 73 4.1.2 Method ............................................................................................................................................. 75 4.1.3 Results .............................................................................................................................................. 80 4.1.4 Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 87 4.2 Sexual fantasy and masturbation among asexual individuals: An in-depth exploration ......................................................................................................................................... 92 4.2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 92 4.2.2 Method ............................................................................................................................................. 95 4.2.3 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 101 4.2.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 128 4.2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 137 Chapter 5: Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 140 References
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