The discussion here comes from the journal Psychological Science. It is a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, published by Blackwell Publishers. the Association and the Publisher graciously permit use of their materials for educational purposes without charge.
Classical learning theory, based on behaviorism, suggests that higher levels of a drive increase the likelihood that a person or animal will engage in a dominant behavior but will decrease the chance that the organism would engage in a non-dominant response. That is, familiar and preferred behaviors will appear when the person or animal is in a state characterized by a high drive level (e.g., very hungry), but less preferred behaviors are less likely.
Researchers have shown that this behavioral pattern holds true for drives like hunger and thirst and for the increased arousal levels people feel in the presence of others. But Lippa (2006) wanted to know if the pattern would hold true for the sex drive.
The researcher used a self-report rating scale that included questions like those below, which inquired about the participant's sex drive, attraction to men, and attraction to women. (There were more questions than this; these are merely examples.) Lippa (the researcher) surveyed a total of 3,645 college men and women.
Sex Drive
Attraction to Men (Women)
For most women, high sex drive was associated with general arousal, that is, generally high levels of attraction to both men and to women. In contrast, for men, high sex drive was associated with attraction only to people of the preferred sex. Low sex drive was associated with less attraction in general.
Lippa concluded that the effects of sex drive are different for men and for women. Men are more polarized in their behaviors. That is, men who with a high sex drive prefer only women if they are heterosexual or only men if they are homosexual. Women with a high sex drive are more likely to find both women and men more attractive.
The scatter diagram for the correlation showing the relation between a person's attraction to men and women appears below. It reinforces the conclusion in the paragraph above.
It appears that classic learning theory accurately predicts the responses of men depending on the level of their sex drive, but that the pattern is different for women. Classic learning theory is less valid in predicting female responses. The data reported here are accurate, but in the journal article the researcher presents the more complex and complete pattern of data.
Reference
Lippa, R. A. (2006). Is high sex drive associated with increased sexual attraction to both sexes?: It depends on whether you are male or female. Psychological Science, 17, 46-52.