Erotic value of female distress in sexually explicit photographs.

The extent to which distress of the female model contributed to the erotic value of sexually explicit photographs of women in bondage was studied for a sample of 54 young-adult college males. In addition, subjects were categorized by level of antisociality and level of facial-decoding skill with the prediction that the erotic value of a model in distress would be greatest for subjects departing most from social values (antisociality) and most capable of recognizing emotions as facially displayed by another person (facial decoding). There was an overall sadism effect. Most of the men reported pictures depicting a distressed model in bondage to be more sexually stimulating than pictures in which the female model displayed positive affect. The erotic value of distressed females in bondage was greatest when subjects combined greater anti-sociality and better facial-decoding skill.