1. Brad Sagarin Northern Illinois University

2. Men Women “Pleasant thrills” from inflicting pain “Pleasant thrills” from receiving pain 51% 32% 28% 29%

5. Clinical CriminalConsensual

6.  Hormonal changes and couple bonding in consensual sadomasochistic activity  Co-authors:  Bert Cutler  Nadine Cutler  Kimberly Lawler-Sagarin  Leslie Matuszewich

7.  13 participants: Arizona Power Exchange (APEX)  45 participants: Thunder in the Mountains  Questionnaires and saliva samples before and after scenes

13.  SM activities show marked physiological and psychological effects on participants  Aftereffects confirm reports by SM practitioners: Reductions in stress and increases in relationship closeness  Opposite effects occurred in the scene that went poorly

15.  Sadomasochism without sex: Pain as a catalyst to transcend the self  Co-authors:  Kathryn Klement  Ellen Lee  James Ambler  Sarah Hanson  Evelyn Comber  David Wietting  Michael Wagner  Valerie Burns  Bert Cutler  Elwood Reid

16.  67 participants: Southwest Leather Conference (SWLC)  Questionnaires, saliva samples, cognitive tests, behavioral observation

19. p =.18 p =.01

20. p =.02 Extremely Not at all

21. p =.06

22. p =.85 p =.005

23.  “It is a wonderful way to exchange energy not just with my owner but with my tribe. It is transcendental & amazing. It is also a great way to release the negative.”  “I find peace, power, and well-being at these events.”  “To participate in high energetic levels and feel the transformation that can occur in myself and others.”  “I have had visions and deep spiritual experiences. Or not. But it's fun anyway.”

24.  “I am in an amazing happy place. Serene yet joyous.”  “Connection through the drums and the tribe and the shared energy that overrides any pain and -opens my heart and mind to a focus beyond the physical.”  “Just very high!!!”  “Pleasantly exhausted”  “I'm very happy and aroused. I feel strong and beautiful.”

25.  “Observed energetic releases of others, saw emotions stir in many; tears, anger, screaming, laughter, pure joy. Many had variety of different experiences. I got to share in all of them, and feel their release.”  “The experience was quite calming. The degree of pain I allowed myself to have physically allowed my hyper- analytic brain to focus/center on the present. With the exception of knitting and crochet, pain this intense is the only way I can truly fall into this state of peace/have a quiet mind.”

27. p <.001 Extremely Not at all

28. Physiological short term changes in the brain caused by SM related activities

29. The self is sometimes burdensome  "The greater the demands in my outside life, the likelier I am to feel submissive sexually." Baumeister (1988) Wiseman (1996)

31. Dietrich (2003)

34. Read the word

35. Green

36. Red

37. Blue

38. Yellow

39. Name the color

40. XXXXX

44. Read the word

45. Yellow

46. Green

47. Blue

48. Red

49. Name the color

50. Green

51. Red

52. Yellow

53. Blue

55. Flow Csikszentimihályi (1991) The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one.

57. 1. Engagement in activity chosen for its own sake 2. Perceived challenges are high while skill level is also high 3. Clear goals that are regarded important 4. Immediate feedback indicating success at task 5. Highly focused attention

58. 1. Intense concentration on task 2. Deep sense of involvement and merging of action and awareness 3. Sense of control over one’s actions 4. Enjoyment in activity 5. Distorted sense of time

59. Correlation does not imply causation!

60.  Recruited switches willing to be randomly assigned to the top or bottom role  Co-authors:  James Ambler  Ellen Lee  Kathryn Klement  Evelyn Comber  Sarah Hanson  Bert Cutler  Nadine Cutler  Tonio Loewald

61.  Recruited switches willing to be randomly assigned to the top or bottom role  With generous support from:

62.  14 participants, 10 women, 4 men  Mean age= 40.86, SD=12.46, Range: 23-64  Sexual Orientation  1 gay/lesbian  10 bisexual/pansexual  3 heterosexual  Race  All participants were Caucasian

63.  BDSM experience (years)  M=6.86, SD= 5.07, Range: 1-17  BDSM experience (# scenes)  M=386.65, SD= 510.67, Range: 18-1500  Experience with study partner (# scenes)  M= 39.64, SD= 79.73, Range: 0-250

64.  Informed consent  Practice Stroop  Baseline Stroop  Baseline saliva sample  Baseline survey  Pre-scene Stroop  Pre-scene saliva sample  Pre-scene survey  Scene  Post-scene Stroop  Post-scene saliva samples (x3)  Post-scene survey

65. Very Well Very Poorly

66.  “It went better than I expected since it was random I did not know how well it would go.”  “It was fun and since I had never played with (#6) before it was nice the variety and different style.”  “Incredibly sensual and sexually charged, less about pain than sensuality and sensation.”  “He got my masochist to come out then fed her pain. I liked it.”

67. Very strongly affected Not at all affected

70.  “the connection between us.”  “heavy flogging at end.”  “Being bitten on the tender sides of my stomach and ribs.”  “Biting the spot where her heart chakra is.”  “no one thing. It all added up to a very intense/gratifying scene.”

78.  36 items (1-5 plus “not applicable” option)  “I was challenged, but I believed my skills would allow me to meet the challenge”  “I did things correctly without thinking about trying to do so”  “Time seemed to alter (either slowed down or speeded up)”  “I really enjoyed the experience of what I was doing”

79. Yoga: 3.85 Sports: 3.68 Exercise: 3.88

80.  Incredible community support for research  Participants volunteered for more intrusion!  SM activities  Increase intimacy  Decrease stress and negative affect  Increase then decrease sexual arousal and positive affect  Facilitate flow

81.  Different perceptions of scenes  Tops: Sexual > Spiritual > SM  Bottoms: SM > Sexual > Spiritual  Different perceptions of scene intensity  Tops saw scenes as more intense than did bottoms  Altered states  Objective evidence of altered states of consciousness in bottoms

84. http://www.niu.edu/user/tj0bjs1/bdsm.html Brad Sagarin