Sexual Wellbeing and Gender (SWAG)Lab

By using research to discover truths about sexuality, Dr. Dickenson has challenged the veracity of intuitive claims about sexuality

(e.g., Sex during youth can be good! Sexual orientation exists! Sexual orientation can change, but you cannot control that change!)

and has demonstrated just how important present-moment attention actually is for sexual response and pleasure. 

Select Publications

Dickenson, J. A., Diamond, L., King, J. B., Jenson, K., & Anderson, J. S. (2020). Understanding heterosexual women’s erotic flexibility: the role of attention in sexual evaluations and neural responses to sexual stimuli. Social Cognitive And Affective Neuroscience, 15 (4), 447–465. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa058


Related Media: 

PSYPOST: New study suggests there are neurobiological constraints on women’s sexual fluidity

Edge Media Network: Sexual Fluidity: What We Know and What We Don't


Diamond, L. M., Alley, J., Dickenson, J., & Blair, K. (2019) Who Counts as Sexually Fluid? Comparing Four Different Types of Sexual Fluidity in Women. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 49, 2389–2403. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01565-1 


Dickenson, J. A., Alley, J., & Diamond, L. M. (2019). Subjective and oxytocinergic responses to mindfulness are associated with subjective and oxytocinergic responses to sexual arousal. Frontiers In Psychology, 10, 1101. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01101 


Dickenson, J. A., Gleason, N., Coleman, E., & Miner, M. H. (2018). Prevalence of Distress Associated With Difficulty Controlling Sexual Urges, Feelings, and Behaviors in the United States. JAMA Network Open, 17),         e184468. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.4468


Dickenson, J. A., & Huebner, D. M. (2016). The Relationship Between Sexual Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth: Effects of Gender and Family Support. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 45(3), 671–681. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0571-8  


Dickenson, J., Berkman, E. T., Arch, J., & Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Neural correlates of focused attention during a brief mindfulness induction. Social, Cognitive And Affective Neuroscience, 8(1), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nss030