The Sexual Response - 4 Phases of Response

Why four phases?

When we divide the sexual response cycle into four phases - arbitrary as this may be - we follow a convenient scientific tradition.

Albert Moll
(1862-1939)

In modern times, the sexual response cycle was first analyzed and described by Albert Moll in his study "The Sexual Life of the Child" (1909). He also proposed its division into four major phases:

1. the onset of voluptuousness,
2. the equable voluptuous sensation,
3. the voluptuous acme, and
4. the sudden decline

Wilhelm Reich
(1897-1957)

Later, Wilhelm Reich offered a different description in his book "The Function of the Orgasm" ([1927] 1942):

1. mechanical tension,
2. bioelectric charge,
3. bioelectric discharge, and
4. mechanical relaxation

William H. Masters
(1915-2001)
Virginia Johnson
(1925-)

More recently, William H. Masters and Virginia Johnson, in their book “Human Sexual Response” (1966) relabeled these phases as

1. excitement,
2. plateau,
3. orgasm, and
4. resolution.

In addition, they have introduced the concept of a fifth phase, the

refractory period.

The following descriptions of the female and male sexual responses are based on the four-phases division proposed by Masters and Johnson. Although there may very well be room for finer distinctions and a more sophisticated terminology in the future, the Masters and Johnson model is quite adequate for our present purposes.