The Sexual Excitation\/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women<\/strong> (SESII-W<\/strong>) is a psychometric instrument designed to evaluate individual propensities for sexual excitation (SE<\/a>) and sexual inhibition (SI<\/a>) in women. Grounded conceptually in the Dual Control Model of Sexual Response<\/a> developed by John Bancroft and Erick Janssen, the SESII-W posits that human sexual response is regulated through a balance between neurobiological activation (“accelerator”) and central suppression (“brakes”). Developed by Cynthia A. Graham, Stephanie A. Sanders, and Robin R. Milhausen in 2006, the instrument addresses specific limitations observed when applying male-derived psychometric models of sexual arousal to female populations. The SESII-W contains 36 items organized hierarchically into eight lower-order factors and two higher-order factors: Sexual Excitation (encompassing Arousability<\/em>, Partner Characteristics<\/em>, Sexual Power Dynamics<\/em>, Smell<\/em>, and Setting<\/em>) and Sexual Inhibition (encompassing Concerns About Sexual Function<\/em>, Arousal Contingency<\/em>, and Relationship Importance<\/em>).<\/p>\n Items are evaluated on an authentic 4-point Likert-type rating scale<\/a> ranging from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 4 (“Strongly Agree”). Extensive psychometric evaluation among non-clinical and clinical cohorts confirms that the SESII-W possesses robust construct validity, high test-retest reliability ($r = .81$<\/span> for SE; $r = .82$<\/span> for SI), and acceptable to good internal consistency across its subscales (Cronbach’s $\\alpha = .63$<\/span> to $.80$<\/span>, overall mean $\\alpha = .72$<\/span>). The scale provides clinical and empirical insight into female sexual difficulties, such as hypoactive sexual desire disorder<\/a> and female sexual interest\/arousal disorder<\/a> (FSIAD), while also explaining individual differences in sexual risk-taking, relational dynamics, and psychophysiological arousal patterns.<\/p>\n Sexual Excitation\/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women, SESII-W, Dual Control Model, sexual excitation, sexual inhibition, female sexual arousal, psychometrics, sexual desire, sexual dysfunction, Kinsey Institute, Arousability, Arousal Contingency, sexology<\/p>\n The Sexual Excitation\/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women was developed by a team of researchers associated with The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction and Indiana University:<\/p>\n Correspondence regarding the original scale development was directed to Dr. Cynthia A. Graham at the Oxford Doctoral Course in Clinical Psychology, Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 7JX, England (Email: The primary purpose of the SESII-W is to provide a reliable, theoretically grounded self-report measure to assess individual differences in the propensity for sexual excitation and sexual inhibition in women. Historically, sexological research relied heavily on normative physiological models derived predominantly from male anatomy and subjective male experiences, exemplified by the original Sexual Inhibition\/Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS\/SES) developed by Janssen, Vorst, Finn, and Bancroft (2002). Although the SIS\/SES provided breakthroughs in understanding male erectile dysfunction and hypersexuality, subsequent empirical evaluations demonstrated that women’s sexual arousal patterns diverge markedly from men’s in contextual dependence, relational relevance, and affective appraisal.<\/p>\n To overcome these conceptual limitations, Graham and colleagues conducted qualitative investigations using focus groups involving diverse groups of women across varied ages, relationship statuses, racial\/ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientations. These qualitative analyses revealed that female sexual arousal is uniquely shaped by cognitive distraction, emotional safety, partner attributes, sensory stimuli, and relational intimacy. The resulting 36-item SESII-W was purpose-built to quantify these nuanced dimensions, allowing researchers and clinicians to:<\/p>\n The SESII-W evaluates two distinct, orthogonal higher-order constructs\u2014Sexual Excitation (SE)<\/strong> and Sexual Inhibition (SI)<\/strong>\u2014which are further subdivided into eight lower-order psychological dimensions reflecting distinct cognitive, emotional, sensory, and situational triggers:<\/p>\n Sexual Excitation represents an individual’s proneness to become sexually aroused in response to a wide array of internal and external sexual cues. It reflects the neurochemical sensitivity of the central nervous system’s appetitive drive. Within the SESII-W, SE comprises five lower-order factors:<\/p>\n Sexual Inhibition represents the propensity of the central nervous system to suppress or shut down sexual arousal in the presence of real or perceived physical, emotional, social, or performance-related threats. Within the SESII-W, SI comprises three lower-order factors:<\/p>\n The foundational framework underlying the SESII-W is the Dual Control Model of Sexual Response<\/a>, formulated by John Bancroft and Erick Janssen at the Kinsey Institute. The model posits that sexual response is governed by two independent, centrally mediated neurobiological systems:<\/p>\n From an evolutionary psychology<\/a> perspective, the dual control mechanism evolved as an adaptive survival strategy. While sexual excitation promotes reproductive success and genetic transmission, unregulated sexual arousal could lead to catastrophic consequences if enacted during situations of acute physical danger, high social costs, or in the presence of uninvested or exploitative mates. Sexual inhibition acts as a vital protective mechanism, preventing reproductive engagement in threatening, unsafe, or reproductively disadvantageous contexts.<\/p>\n The Dual Control Model proposes that individuals possess stable, trait-like differences in their thresholds for both excitation and inhibition. These systems operate relatively independently: an individual may have high excitation and low inhibition, low excitation and high inhibition, both high, or both low. The SESII-W specifically accounts for sexual response in women, in whom evolutionary pressures selected for heightened sensitivity to relational context, partner safety, emotional investment, and environmental privacy. Consequently, female sexual inhibition is heavily distributed across interpersonal dimensions (such as Relationship Importance<\/em>) rather than solely threat of physical performance failure.<\/p>\n The psychometric validity of the SESII-W was systematically evaluated by Graham, Sanders, and Milhausen (2006) across an initial development sample of 655 women (226 recruited via random postal sampling of university staff and students; 429 recruited through electronic mailing lists). Subsequent research across North America, Europe, and Asia has corroborated these findings:<\/p>\n Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the two-level hierarchical model\u2014consisting of eight lower-order factors loading onto two higher-order factors\u2014yielded superior fit compared to single-factor or non-hierarchical multi-factor configurations. The distributions of the higher-order SE and SI scores approximate a normal Gaussian distribution in community samples, confirming that individual variability in sexual excitation and sexual inhibition represents a continuous, normative trait distribution rather than discrete pathology.<\/p>\n Empirical correlations with established personality and sexuality measures confirmed theoretical expectations:<\/p>\n Laboratory-based psychophysiological investigations using vaginal photoplethysmography<\/a> have demonstrated that women scoring higher on SESII-W Sexual Excitation subscales exhibit greater vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA) changes when presented with erotic films. Conversely, women scoring high on Arousal Contingency<\/em> and Concerns About Sexual Function<\/em> demonstrate marked decreases in subjective and physiological arousal when minor cognitive distractors are introduced during laboratory testing.<\/p>\n The SESII-W exhibits strong psychometric reliability across internal consistency, inter-item stability, and temporal reproducibility:<\/p>\n In the primary validation study by Graham et al. (2006), Cronbach’s alpha coefficients across the eight lower-order factors ranged from satisfactory to strong ($\u0007lpha = .63$<\/span> to $.80$<\/span>), with a mean alpha of $.72$<\/span> across subscales:<\/p>\n Composite reliability coefficients for the higher-order domains of Sexual Excitation and Sexual Inhibition routinely exceed $.82$<\/span> in both community and clinical validation cohorts.<\/p>\n Temporal stability was established by administering the SESII-W to a subsample of participants over a 4-to-6-week retest interval. Intraclass correlations for all subscales were statistically significant at $p < .005$<\/span>. Test-retest reliability coefficients for the higher-order factors were excellent:<\/p>\n These findings demonstrate that the propensities measured by the SESII-W operate as stable psychological traits over time rather than fluctuating situational states.<\/p>\n The structural dimensionality of the SESII-W was developed using a multi-phase factor analytic strategy:<\/p>\n Item generation initially produced a comprehensive pool of 115 items derived from qualitative focus group data (Graham et al., 2004). An initial sample of 655 women completed the 115-item inventory. An exploratory factor analysis utilizing principal axis factoring with oblique (Promax) rotation was conducted, allowing underlying dimensions to correlate naturally. Items were systematically evaluated based on the following empirical criteria:<\/p>\n Through this iterative refinement, 36 items were retained across eight distinct, interpretable first-order factors accounting for the majority of the common variance.<\/p>\n Subsequent factor analysis of the correlations among the eight lower-order factor scores revealed two prominent second-order factors, demonstrating clear biological and behavioral alignment with the Dual Control Model:<\/p>\n Confirmatory factor analyses in independent replication samples have substantiated this hierarchical structure, yielding acceptable goodness-of-fit indices (Comparative Fit Index [CFI] $ge .90$<\/span>; Tucker-Lewis Index [TLI] $ge .90$<\/span>; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA] $le .055$<\/span>; Standardized Root Mean Square Residual [SRMR] $le .060$<\/span>).<\/p>\n Below are the structural specifications, administration guidelines, and scoring criteria for the instrument:<\/p>\n The Sexual Excitation\/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women was published in 2006<\/strong> in the peer-reviewed journal Archives of Sexual Behavior<\/em>. The instrument is copyrighted by its authors (Cynthia A. Graham, Stephanie A. Sanders, and Robin R. Milhausen) and Springer Science+Business Media.<\/p>\n The authors actively encourage the use of the SESII-W for non-profit academic research, scientific studies, and clinical assessment. No licensing fee is required for academic or independent scientific investigations. Researchers wishing to utilize the instrument are requested to notify the corresponding author (Dr. Cynthia A. Graham) and share empirical findings derived from its administration. Commercial applications, integration into for-profit digital applications, or pharmaceutical clinical trials require explicit written authorization and formal licensing agreements from the copyright holders.<\/p>\n2. Keywords<\/h2>\n
3. Authors<\/h2>\n
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cynthia.graham@hmc.ox.ac.uk<\/code>).<\/p>\n4. Purpose<\/h2>\n
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5. Psychological Construct<\/h2>\n
Higher-Order Factor: Sexual Excitation (SE)<\/h3>\n
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Higher-Order Factor: Sexual Inhibition (SI)<\/h3>\n
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6. Theoretical Framework<\/h2>\n
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7. Validity<\/h2>\n
Construct and Structural Validity<\/h3>\n
Convergent and Divergent Validity<\/h3>\n
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Criterion and Psychophysiological Validity<\/h3>\n
8. Reliability<\/h2>\n
Internal Consistency<\/h3>\n
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Test-Retest Reliability<\/h3>\n
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9. Factor Analysis<\/h2>\n
Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)<\/h3>\n
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Second-Order Hierarchical Factor Structure<\/h3>\n
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10. Instrument \/ Measurement Tool<\/h2>\n
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11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year<\/h2>\n
12. References<\/h2>\n
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13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)<\/h2>\n