Julia Heiman, Ph.D., director
Director, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction
Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Psychiatry, Indiana University
- treatments for sexual difficulty
- the impact of treatments for sexual difficulty on relationships
- cross-cultural definitions of sexual satisfaction
- sexual abuse and aggression
- depression and sex
- quality of sex experience in the wake of cancer
- impact of childhood sexual abuse on adult relationships
- sexual risk-taking
- physiological and emotional dimensions of sexuality
Yvette Hill
Ph.D. Student
Research Statement
My current project investigates attention and arousal to sexually explicit photos in sexually aggressive and non-aggressive college males. I am also interested in the sexual scripts of sexually aggressive men and the nature of their written language.
Research Interests
- Language patterns and sexual scripts of sexually aggressive males
- Sexual arousal and attention patterns to sexual stimuli using eye-tracking in men and women
- Factors affecting sexual arousal in women
- Measuring arousal using photoplethysmography
Kathryn Macapagal
Ph.D. Student
Research Statement
Although the correlates and consequences of sexual risk behavior have been well researched, the causal mechanisms underlying an individual’s decision to engage in risky sexual behavior instead of a safer alternative in the heat of the moment are not well understood. I am interested in how psychological and physiological factors interact and contribute to risky sexual decision making during a sexual encounter. My research will explore how sexual decision making is influenced by subjective and physiological sexual arousal, as well as cognitive factors such as working memory and inhibitory control. In the future, I hope to incorporate sexual psychophysiological methods to examine the relationship between subjective and physiological sexual arousal and risky sexual decision making.
Research interests
- Effect of sexual arousal, behavioral disinhibition, and cognition on sexual decision making
- Influence of alcohol intoxication on sexual risk behavior
- Sexual health in young adults and college students