Sexual Response Model - Master’s and Johnson’s Four-Phase Model

SEXUAL RESPONSE MODELS

Jade M Chester

Psychology 215

Sexual Response Model

Master’s and Johnson’s Four-Phase Model

        Before the sixties, sex was a topic that was considered taboo to talk about, and with little discussion about sex there was no information on sexual responses for either sexes during this time. That was until Williams Masters and Virginia Johnson decided it was time for the world to understand how our bodies work sexually. According to NPR (2013) the duo changed history,

“William Masters and Virginia Johnson became famous in the 1960s for their groundbreaking and controversial research into the physiology of human sexuality. Instead of just asking people about their sex lives, Masters and Johnson actually observed volunteers engaging in self-stimulation and sexual intercourse. Changes throughout their bodies during arousal were measured with medical equipment”.

The two wanted to understand exactly how the body worked with sexual responses, they were primarily interested in studying the biology of sexuality. With the research they conducted they discovered that there were 4 different phases that take place during these sexual activities. An online article done by OurBodiesOurSelves (2011) explains the model, “The Masters and Johnson model outlined four stages of physiological arousal: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution”. Both men and women experience these phases, although the timing will typically be different between the male and female.

 The first phase to take place is excitement, which can last from a few minutes to several hours. The general characteristics of excitement can include; increase muscle tension, the heartrate will rise, nipples become hardened and erect, and the penis becomes erected. The second phase to take place is called plateau, which extends the brink of orgasm. The general characteristics for plateau can range from muscle spasms, the women’s clitoris becomes highly sensitive, the man’s testicles are withdrawn up to the scrotum, and all the characteristics from excitement are intensified. After these two phases occur phase three will take over, also known as orgasm. The ClevelandClinc (2012) describes phase three as, “The climax of the sexual response cycle. It is the shortest of the phases and generally lasts only a few seconds”. The characteristics of an orgasm include; involuntary muscle contractions, a forceful release of sexual tension, in women the muscles of the vagina contract, and for men contractions at the base of the penis which results in ejaculation. When the climax in sexual activity is reached you go into phase four also known as resolution. This phase is where all body functions return back to a normal state, the heartrate returns to a steady pace and erected body parts go back to their previous size and color.

During Masters and Johnsons studies they discovered that women and men had the same similarities when going through the four phases, but differentiated when it came to recovery after reaching orgasm. While women were able to experience multiple orgasms, and were able to have a rapid return to the orgasm phase, men will typically need more time to recover after. According to Crooks and Baur (2014), “After orgasm the male typically enters a refractory period-a time when no amount of additional stimulation will result in orgasm”.

Kaplan’s Sexual Response Model

Helen Singer Kaplan a noted sex therapist and author, created the three-stage model which is distinguished by its identification of desire as a prelude to sexual response. This three-stage model includes three stages: desire, excitement, and orgasm. Although very similar to Masters and Johnsons four phase model, Kaplan’s model focuses on the aspect of desire. In this model it plays a big part in sexual response, Crooks and Baur (2014) wrote,

“One of the most distinctive features of Kaplan’s model is that it includes desire as a distinct stage of the sexual response cycle. Many other writers, including Masters and Johnson, do not discuss aspects of sexual response that are separate from genital changes”.  

Before reaching any physical and bodily changes in sexual response, desire will allow someone to become psychologically interested. Which describes the first stage in Kaplan’s model, which makes it different from Masters and Johnson’s model.  Once you reach the stage of desire your body will then processed into the excitement stage, where arousal begins from both physical and psychologic stimulation. The general characteristics of this phase include increased heartrate, erect penis, and the clitoris becoming highly sensitive. After reaching excitement, you enter the final stage in Kaplan’s model: the resolution stage which resembles Masters and Johnsons third and fourth stage. Your body will reach its climax resulting in an orgasm, proceeding to resolution where the body returns to its normal state.