Responses to Erotic Stimuli of Transsexual and Homosexual Males

¹ Research Fellow, New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry, School of Psychiatry, Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay, New South Wales, 2036, Australia

Penile volume and galvanic skin responses to female and male nude film sequences were studied in 24 transsexual patients, patients requesting treatment for homosexual impulses and 60 hetersexual students. Transsexual patients were found to differ significantly from homosexuals in their tendency to show more positive penile volume responses to males than to females. Student controls and homosexuals showed significantly greater galvanic skin responses to the preferred than to the non-preferred sex. Transsexuals tended to show larger galvanic skin responses to females than to males. No strong relationships were found between penile volume and galvanic skin responses to the preferred sex.

It is concluded that transsexual patients differ significantly from homosexual patients in that they show a greater tendency to respond to males with more positive penile responses than to females, and that, compared with homosexuals, they show larger galvanic skin responses to females than to males.