Gender, Culture, and Arousal Cultural,

Gender, Culture, And Arousal

Cultural, physical, and cognitive processes play a huge role in the ways people respond to images that have the potential to arouse. For example, people from different cultures may be socialized to value certain aspects of physical beauty over others: blonde hair over brown hair, or large breasts vs. small. Similarly, physical factors such as gender and personal body image can affect the ways people respond to arousing visual imagery. Cognitive processes, ranging from memories to prejudices can definitively impact the way people respond to images that have the potential to arouse.

A person's culture of origin impacts the way an individual perceives physical beauty and attractiveness. For example, people from Korea will have seen images of Korean models, actors, and other celebrities on television and in films. These images will program individuals to appreciate certain body types, faces, and alluring looks more than others. If a Korean person were to look at a photo of supermodel Kate Moss, he or she might not feel sexually aroused because Kate Moss does not fit into the Korean person's model of female physical beauty.

On the other hand, cognitive processes can often override cultural background. Using the same example, a Korean person might be attracted to Kate Moss precisely because she is exotic. If the individual's personality and cognitive processes gear him or her up to be rebellious, then he or she might become attracted to persons with different ethnic features. Other cognitive factors such as memory or ethnic and gender stereotypes may come into play when viewing arousing imagery. For instance, if a woman was once raped by a man with a mustache, she might respond negatively to a photo of a man in a mustache, even if the man is found alluring to other women. Likewise, a person who is prejudiced against African-American people might not find potentially arousing images of Blacks stimulating.