A Survey of Biological, Psychological, Sociological, and Cultural Factors Regarding Sleep-Related Female Orgasms By Franceen H. King A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists at Maimonides University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy North Miami Beach, Florida January, 2006 DISSERTATION COMMITTEE Janice M. Epp, Ph.D. Professor and Chairman James O. Walker, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Brenda Garma, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Maimonides University North Miami Beach, Florida ______/ S/____________________________1/9/2006 Janice M. Epp Date ___ __/ S/____________________________1/18/2006 James O. Walker Date __ ___/ S/____________________________1/14/2006 Brenda Garma Date i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I want to acknowledge Alfred C. Kinsey, whose passionate curiosity, commitment, and courage brought so many truths about human sexuality into the light of intelligent discussion. Without his work, almost nothing about this topic would be known. I also acknowledge my many professional colleagues, clients, friends, and workshop participants who eagerly shared their stories with me, and repeatedly emphasized their opinions that this topic merits more research and public awareness. I greatly appreciate the comments, editing, and sensitivity to language provided by my committee chairman, Dr. Janice Epp, currently Dean of Curriculum Development at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. Lastly, I acknowledge my husband, Raymond Schmidt, who provided a wide range of household support and encouragement during the preparation of this paper, and my son Robert Schmidt who provided humor, computer assistance, and occasional proofreading. ii VITA As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Franceen King has had a clinical practice in Lutz, Florida, since 1981. Through her business, The Self-Awareness Institute , she has worked with individuals and couples in a counseling setting, and conducted workshops on a wide variety of topics throughout the state of Florida. Since 1986, she has designed and conducted weeklong residential workshops at The Monroe Institute in Virginia on topics related to consciousness expansion, development and exploration. She also conducts outreach workshops throughout the world using TMI ’s Hemi-Sync© technology. Her life-long interests in lucid dreaming and paranormal perception have led her to explore many different philosophies and disciplines. She began her career in the Washington, D.C. area where she spent seven years at the National Institutes of Health as a management intern and employee development specialist, specializing in Executive Development and Organization Development. After leaving NIH, she formed a training and consulting firm, Spectrum Associates, Inc. , which provided services to numerous government agencies; until she joined a larger consulting firm, General Research Corporation . After moving to Florida in 1980, she shifted the focus of her work from organizations to individuals. She is also an ordained minister in Church of the Creator with special interest in spiritual healing modalities. She received her B.A. degree (psychology) from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia, and her M.A. degree (community mental health counseling) from Hood College in Frederick, MD iii ABSTRACT This study looks at the phenomenon of sleep-related female orgasms (SRFOs), often referred to as female nocturnal orgasms. This paper began with a simple question, “Why don’t more people know that women can, and do, experience sleep-related orgasms?” Some of the answers have included 1) lack of inclusion in sex education classes; 2) lack of contemporary research; 3) lack of public discussion; and 4) historical association with powerful fear-based religious beliefs. The study summarizes what is known about SRFOs based on existing research and historical opinion in fields of sexology, physiology, psychology, sleep, dreaming, anthropology and spirituality. While Kinsey noted that there is no single factor or cluster of factors that is predictive of SRFOs in an individual history, the strongest predictors in his research were frequent waking orgasm and “erotic responsiveness,” low availability of other psycho-sexual outlets, masturbation, and fantasy during masturbation (Kinsey et al. 1953, 212-15). Today research suggests that overall, sleep mentations are more continuous than compensatory, and that sexual content and orgasmic experience during sleep are more likely among women who think about sex when awake. Waking cognitions include memory, fantasy, desire, imagination, prosexual attitudes, knowledge of SRFOs, and familiarity/safety with sexual pleasure and the orgasmic reflex. It is likely that formal education, intelligence, personality characteristics, and other cultural factors also influence these sleep mentations. Orgasmic responses during sleep seem more likely when there is some level of autonomic nervous system arousal before sleep, including both psychological and physiological elements. Physiological elements include lingering arousal from waking orgasms or other sexual behavior; however, this arousal may also be iv due to hormonal fluctuations, physical exercise, or emotional states such as anxiety, or anger. In these latter cases, SRFOs might serve a compensatory role in maintaining system homeostasis. It is likely that SRFOs occur more frequently among lucid dreamers due to possible neurological conditions unique to the lucid dream state, and the conscious freedom to exercise volition by choosing pleasure. SRFOs appear to be neither unhealthy nor rare. Findings of the study suggest that the term female nocturnal orgasms needs to be replaced with the term Sleep-Related Female Orgasms, which is a more accurate designation of the phenomenon since these occurrences are diurnal as well as nocturnal. Additionally, the researcher lists twenty-seven possible hypotheses based on an extensive literature review that could be used in future research on the topic, and recommends that the topic be included in sex education classes for adolescents and continuing education modules for heath care professionals. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………………ii VITA………………………………………………………………………………...……iii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...iv ILLUSTRATIONS………………………………………………...……………………viii INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………...………1 CHAPTER 1: DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES………………………………………6 Sleep Related Female Orgasms (SRFOs)………………………………………………6 Elements of Orgasm……………………………………………………………………7 Examples of SRFOs………………………………………………………..…………10 CHAPTER 2: A REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY SURVEY RESEARCH………….15 The Kinsey Report…………………………………………………………………....15 Survey Research Since Kinsey……………………………………………………….22 Other Sources of Information………………………………………………………...26 CHAPTER 3: THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SLEEP-RELATED FEMALE ORGASMS….28 The Human Sleep Cycle………..………………………………………….…………28 Sexual Arousal during REM Sleep……….……………………..……….…………..32 Impact of Drugs and Hormones on SRFOs……………………………….………….36 Recency of Intercourse or Waking Orgasms Before Sleep……………….………….40 Physical Intensity of SRFOs………………………………………………………….42 Brain Activity during SRFOS…………………………...…………………………...44 Waking into Orgasm vs. Staying Asleep……………………………………………..49 Use of SRFOs to Retain or Reject Sperm……………………...……………….……52 CHAPTER 4: BEHAVIORAL FACTORS RELATED TO SRFOs……………………54 Low Availability of Social-Sexual Outlets…………………………………...………55 Masturbation………………………………………………………………………….58 Orgasm Training…………………………………………………….………………..63 CHAPTER 5: THE ROLE OF DREAMS IN SRFOs…………………………………..68 Theories of Dreaming………………………………………………………………...69 Dreaming as a Psychological Process……………………………………………..69 The Empirical Dream Researchers………………………………………………..72 The Neurophysiologists……………………………………………...……………74 The Consciousness Researchers…………………………………………………..76 Dream Association with SRFOs…………….………………………………………..77 Content……………………………………….……………………………………….78 vi Dream Incubation……………………………………………………………………84 Lucidity and Volition………………………………………………………………..85 CHAPTER 6: OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL FACTORS RELATED TO SRFOs…………………………….………………………….…………90 Education……………………………………….……………………………………90 Personality Factors………………………….………………………………….…….93 Attitudes…………………………………….………………………………………..95 Fantasy and Imagination…………………….……………………………………….97 Anxiety and Arousal………………………………………………………………..104 CHAPTER 7: SPIRITUAL, RELIGIOUS, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING SRFOs………………….….……………………114 Overview…………………………………..…….….………………………………114 Pleasure and Volition………………………..….….……………………...………..116 Spiritual Issues Unique to Women…………………………………….…...……….121 Judaism………………………………..….………...………..….………………123 The Greco-Roman Influence……………..……………………………………..126 The Christian Influence……………………..…………………………………..128 Current Trends and Relevant Research……….…………………………………….136 Spirit Sex…………………………………….....………………………………136 The Sensed Presence…………………………….……………………………..138 CHAPTER 8: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS….………………………145 Data Gathering and Possible Research Hypotheses………………………………...146 Public Awareness……………………………………………………...……………149 APPENDIX – A……………………………………………….………………………..153 From A Taste of the Good Wife Blog……………………….…...…………………….153 APPENDIX – B…………………………………………….…………………………..161 Dream Incubation – by Gillian Holloway, PhD………………………………….…….161 REFERENCES…………………...………………………….…………………………163 vii ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Increasing Duration of REM Periods during a Night