Sexual Anxiety Scale

Abstract

The Sexual Anxiety Scale (SAS) is a comprehensive self-report measure developed to assess an individual’s affective response to a broad spectrum of sexual cues, a construct often referred to as erotophobia/erotophilia (EE). Unlike previous measures such as the Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS), the 56-item SAS covers a wider range of public and private sexual stimuli. Respondents use an 11-point Likert-type scale, ranging from “Extremely Pleasurable” to “Extremely Discomforting,” to rate their degree of discomfort across various sexually relevant situations. The scale structure was validated through a factor analysis conducted on undergraduate (N = 701) and community adult (n = 188) samples, yielding three distinct factors: Solitary and Impersonal Sexual Expression, Exposure to Information, and Sexual Communication. Higher total scores on the SAS indicate greater erotophobia.

Keywords

Sexual Anxiety Scale (SAS), Sexual Anxiety, Erotophobia, Erotophilia, Sexual Functioning, Affective Response, Self-Report Questionnaire, Psychometrics

Authors

ERIN E. FALLIS, CHRISTINA GORDON, CHRISTINE PURDON

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Sexual Anxiety Scale (SAS) is to provide a reliable and valid assessment of individuals’ affective reactions—ranging from negative to positive—to diverse sexual cues. It was specifically designed to overcome the limitations of existing measures, such as the Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS), which focused on a narrower scope of sexual behaviors, media content, and responses to homosexuality.

The SAS is intended for use in research and clinical settings for purposes including the assessment of severity, aiding in treatment planning, and monitoring progress related to issues arising from sexual apprehension or discomfort. It assesses affective responses across both public and private domains of sexual experience.

Construct

The SAS measures the psychological construct of Erotophobia/Erotophilia (EE), which is defined as the tendency to respond to sexual stimuli with either negative affect (erotophobia) or positive affect (erotophilia). Sexual anxiety, which is a key component captured by the scale, is defined as a fear or apprehension regarding sexual activity. This anxiety can stem from various sources, including negative past experiences, cultural beliefs, or medical conditions, and significantly impacts sexual function and overall quality of life.

The total score on the SAS reflects the degree of erotophobia, with higher scores indicating greater discomfort or negative affect toward sexual stimuli. The scale breaks down this broad construct into three measurable factors, allowing for a nuanced understanding of specific areas of sexual discomfort.

Validity

The validity of the SAS was established through comprehensive testing of both discriminant and construct validity across undergraduate and community samples.

For discriminant validity, the SAS total scores showed only a very small correlation with general measures of mood, specifically anxiety (measured by the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), and were not found to be a simple reflection of neuroticism or other general personality traits (measured by the International Personality Item Pool; Goldberg, 1999). This indicates that the SAS measures a distinct construct separate from general distress or personality dimensions.

For construct validity, the SAS demonstrated strong correlations with other measures of sexuality. In the community sample, SAS scores correlated highly with the Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS). Furthermore, lower SAS scores (indicating greater erotophilia) were significantly correlated with greater sexual satisfaction (Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction), less anti-gay prejudice (Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Scale), and better sexual functioning (Sexual Functioning Questionnaire). Regression analyses indicated that the SAS, particularly the Sexual Communication subscale, was a superior predictor of sexual functioning compared to the SOS.

Reliability

The SAS demonstrated strong evidence of internal consistency and stability over time.

Internal consistency, measured by Cronbach’s alphas, was excellent: .96 in the undergraduate sample and .95 in the community sample. The individual factor subscales also showed robust internal consistency, with alphas ranging from .87 to .95. Test-retest reliability, assessed in a subset of undergraduate students (n = 42), confirmed the stability of the scores over time, yielding a correlation coefficient of r = .87 (p < .01).

Factor Analysis

A factor analysis was conducted on the responses from the combined undergraduate and community samples (N = 889). This analysis yielded a robust three-factor solution, which collectively accounted for 49.5% of the total variance in the SAS. These three factors form the basis for the subscales used in the measure:

1. Solitary and Impersonal Sexual Expression (Factor 1): This factor accounted for the largest portion of the variance (35.8%) and includes 23 items related to pornographic and erotic material, masturbation, and impersonal sexual experiences.
2. Exposure to Information (Factor 2): This factor accounted for 8.1% of the variance and consists of 14 items concerning giving, receiving, or being exposed to information of a sexual nature.
3. Sexual Communication (Factor 3): This factor accounted for 5.6% of the variance and includes 16 items reflecting openness to consensual sexual activity and the ability to communicate sexual preferences, likes, and dislikes.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire, Psychological Scale

Format: 56 items rated on an 11-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 (Extremely Pleasurable) to 100 (Extremely Discomforting). Administration time is approximately 5 to 15 minutes.

Language Available: English (Original development language)

Population Group: Adults (General and Student populations)

Age Group: Late adolescence to adulthood

Population Details: Validation samples included undergraduate students (N=701) and a community sample of adults (n=188) from Ontario, Canada.

Test Methodology: The total score is calculated by summing the responses to all 56 items. Higher scores indicate greater erotophobia (sexual anxiety/discomfort). Individual subscale scores are calculated by summing the items within the relevant factor.

Keywords

Erotophobia, Erotophilia, Sexual Communication, Solitary Sexual Expression, Sex Education, Psychometrics, Self-Report, Psychological Assessment

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Erin Fallis)

Correspondence Address: Erin Fallis, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and validated in studies published around 2005 (Purdon & Gordon, 2005) by researchers at the University of Waterloo. Specific information regarding current licensing fees or formal permissions for clinical use beyond academic research is not detailed in the source content, but correspondence should be directed to the corresponding author, Erin Fallis.

Reference’s

• Fisher, W. A., Byrne, D., White, L. A., & Kelley, K. (1988). Erotophobiaerotophilia as a dimension of personality. The Journal of Sex Research, 25, 123–151.
• Goldberg, L. R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F. Ostendorf (Eds.), Personality psychology in Europe, 7 (pp. 7–28). Tilburg, The Netherlands: Tilburg University Press.
• Larsen, K. S. (1998). Heterosexual attitudes toward homosexuality scale. In C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber, R. Bauserman, G. Schreer, & S. L. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures (pp. 394–395). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Lawrance, K., & Byers, E. S. (1992). Sexual satisfaction: A social exchange perspective. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Quebec.
• Lawrance, K., & Byers, E. S. (1995). Sexual satisfaction in long-term heterosexual relationships: The Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction. Personal Relationships, 2, 267–285.
• Lovibond, P. F., & Lovibond, S. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour, Research and Therapy, 33, 335–343.
• Purdon, C., & Gordon, C. (2005, November). Development of the Sexual Anxiety Scale. Poster presented at the Association for the Advancement of Behavior and Cognitive Therapies Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
• Rust, J., & Golombok, S. (1998). The GRISS: A psychometric scale and profile of sexual dysfunction. In C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber, R. Bauserman, G. Schreer, & S. L. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures (pp. 192–194). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Items of the Sexual Anxiety Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

For each item presented below, you are asked to rate how much discomfort you would experience using the following scale: How much discomfort would you feel in each situation? (Place this rating under column “D”)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Extremely Neutral Extremely Pleasurable Discomforting

D

1. Wearing clothes that show off my sexually attractive features c
2. Seeing two people kissing or fondling each other a
3. Watching a movie scene from a major box office movie in which people were naked a
4. Talking with my friends about my sex life
5. Masturbating a
6. Looking at hardcore or pornographic photos in a magazine (explicit scenes of the genitals and penetration)a
7. Using sex toys, such as a vibrator, during sex with my partner a
8. Exploring the erogenous, or sexually exciting, parts of my partner’s body c
9. Hearing about someone engaging in a consensual sexual act that I personally would never want to engage in a
10. Discussing my sexual fantasies with my partner c
11. Having arousing sexual thoughts that are unrelated to my current sexual partner a
12. Hearing about a woman who enjoyed sex and was sexually adventurous a
13. Watching a “hardcore” or “pornographic” film a
14. Being exposed to information about sexually transmitted infections b
15. Kissing or fondling my partner in a public place
16. Vocalizing my pleasure during sex with my partner c
17. Watching a movie scene from a major box office movie in which people were kissing or fondling each other c
18. Hearing about someone who has a biological sexual abnormality, such as undescended testicles, or a fertility problem b
19. Reading books with sexually explicit passages c
20. Agreeing to try sexual activities or positions that I find unusual but my partner suggests c
21. Using sex toys, such as a vibrator, when I am alone a
22. Engaging in foreplay with my partner c
23. Finding myself becoming sexually aroused in response to something I never would have expected myself to be aroused by c
24. Visiting Internet sites that feature erotic or softcore photos or video clips a
25. Having arousing sexual thoughts that are related to my current sexual partner c
26. Talking with my partner about his/her sexual fantasies c
27. Talking with my friends about general matters of a sexual nature, such as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth b
28. Changing my clothes in a public change room that does not have privacy cubicles b
29. Being exposed to information about contraceptive devices that require intimate genital contact (e.g., diaphragm, sponge, foam)b
30. Overhearing other people (not parents) having sex a
31. Watching a scene from a major box office movie in which people were engaging in sex a
32. Exploring erogenous, or sexually exciting, parts of my body when I am alone a
33. Someone knowing that I look at/watch erotic photos/films a
34. Suggesting new sexual activities or positions to my partner c
35. Visiting Internet sites that features hardcore or pornographic photos or video clips a
36. Engaging in a casual sexual encounter (e.g., a one-night stand)a
37. Being invited by an acquaintance/friend/partner to engage in an unusual sexual acta
38. Hearing about sexual issues or matters from the newspaper or TV b
39. Fantasizing about arousing sexual acts during sex with my partner in order to enhance my sexual excitement c
40. Disclosing to my friends that I have a sexual problem b
41. Answering questions about sexual matters such as conception b
42. Someone overhearing me and my partner having sex a
43. Being around others who are changing their clothes‌
44. Being exposed to information about diseases of the sex organs, such as cervical cancer, testicular cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer b‌
45. Watching an “erotic” or “softporn” film (no explicit scenes of the genitals or penetration)a
46. Allowing my partner to explore my erogenous, or sexually exciting, parts of my body c
47. Someone knowing that I look at/watch pornographic photos/films a
48. Changing activities or positions during sex with a partner to help ensure that I have an orgasm c
49. Looking at erotic or softcore photos in a magazine a
50. Telling my partner what pleases me and does not please me sexually c
51. Hearing about people I don’t consider to be sexual engaging in sex, such as the elderly, my parents, disabled people b
52. Having a conversation with my friends about their sex lives b
53. Fantasizing about arousing sexual thoughts during masturbation in order to enhance my sexual excitement a
54. Watching coverage of the Gay Pride Day parade b
55. Being exposed to information about contraceptives and contraceptive use b
56. Completing questionnaires about my sexuality b

a = Solitary and Impersonal Sexual Expression (Factor 1)

b = Exposure to Information (Factor 2)

c = Sexual Communication (Factor 3)