When Sexual Practices Are Named: Implicit Evaluation of Masturbation-Related Language in Spanish

This study examines how language shapes the automatic evaluation of a normatively regulated sexual practice by focusing on the implicit processing of masturbation-related vocabulary in Spanish. From a language and social psychology perspective, masturbation is approached not as a behavioral object per se, but as a linguistically constructed attitude object whose evaluation depends on the lexical resources used to name it. Using a subliminal priming lexical classification task combined with explicit attitude measures, we investigated whether automatic evaluative responses are modulated by the semantic profile of masturbation-related terms, the valence of target stimuli, participants’ biological sex, and normative dispositions, specifically endorsement of the sexual double standard (SDS) and social dominance orientation (SDO). Participants categorized affectively valenced target words following brief subliminal exposure to masturbation-related primes that varied in lexical profile (explicit, technical–clinical, corporal, and pleasure-oriented terms) or to neutral primes. Reaction times served as indices of evaluative interference, and explicit attitudes toward masturbation were assessed via self-report measures. Results revealed no evidence of a generalized automatic aversive response to masturbation-related language. Instead, evaluative interference was selectively modulated by target valence and by lexical semantics: among men, corporal masturbation-related terms elicited greater interference than technical–clinical terms. Normative dispositions predicted automatic evaluative responses in a sex-specific manner. In men, stronger endorsement of the sexual double standard favoring male sexual permissiveness was associated with more positive automatic responses, whereas greater opposition to equality (SDO) predicted more negative implicit evaluations. No significant convergence was observed between implicit and explicit attitudes toward masturbation. These findings indicate that automatic evaluations of sexual practices are not uniformly activated by sexual content but are mediated by lexical choice and by socially shared normative beliefs. By demonstrating that semantic variation within a single linguistic domain produces differentiated automatic evaluative responses, this study highlights the central role of language in the psychological construction of normatively regulated attitude objects.