I first heard this story on the radio and then again at Sciencedaily.

Images of sexy women tend to whet men’s sexual appetite. But stimulating new research in the Journal of Consumer Research says there’s more than meets the eye. A recent study shows that men who watched sexy videos or handled lingerie sought immediate gratification—even when they were making decisions about money, soda, and candy.

I don’t think this finding is that surprising, though it is interesting.  What I suspect, is that the evolution has selected for males who seek immediate sexual gratification.  Reproducing early and often is a trait selected for in the right conditions.  What these results seem to suggest, is that there is a psychological link between sexual desire and other material desire, such as tasty snacks, or an impulse purchase.

Though, brain scanning experiments will have to be done to confirm this (if they haven’t been done already) what I expect is that these ‘desire’ traits will be linked in the area of the brain as well.

What I want to know next, is that if it works the other way around.  Does seeing a delicious snack make us want to fufill sexual gratification as well?

Regardless, I’m sure the advertisers are all over this one.  Soon, we’ll be seeing pictures of bikini-clad women in all male-oriented stores.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 11:48 am and is filed under evolution, neurobiology, news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.