Personality traits and sociosexual orientation are related to sexual inhibition and sexual excitation scales: Evidence from the Czech Republic

Numerous studies show that personality traits are linked to various aspects of sexuality and sexual health. A limited number of studies investigated associations between the Big Five personality traits and individual propensity to sexual excitation and inhibition, i.e. factors explaining individual variability in sexual responsiveness. We used Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES) and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) to test these associations in a large Czech sample (N = 951), while focusing on sex and sexual orientation of participants. We confirmed that the SIS/SES is connected to several personality traits, with several specific associations related to sex and sexual orientation. SES positively correlates with Openness in heterosexual men and women and with Extraversion in heterosexual and non-heterosexual women but not in men. SIS scales negatively correlated with Extraversion and positively with Neuroticism across all groups except non-heterosexual men. In heterosexual women, SIS 1 was associated with Conscientiousness. A surprising finding is lack of associations between personality factors and SIS/SES in the group of non-heterosexual men. •Sexual excitation is positively correlated with sociosexuality.•Sexual inhibition is negatively correlated with sociosexuality.•Sexual excitation is positively correlated with Extraversion.•Sexual inhibition is positively correlated with Neuroticism.