A five question quick and simple assessment may help determine if a woman has low sexual desire, otherwise known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

In a study, released this month in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 263 women were recruited at 27 centres throughout the United States. These women took the simple decreased sexual desire screening test, and their answers were then reviewed with a clinician who was not an expert in female sexual desire.

Independently, and while being unaware of the non-expert clinician’s opinion, an expert in female sexual dysfunction conducted a standard diagnostic interview with the study participant.

The results found that the decreased sexual desire screening tool and standard diagnostic interview were in agreement in 85.2 percent of all the cases.

Irwin Goldstein, M.D., Co-author of the study and Director of Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, California, said:

This simple screening tool can be a great first line test to see if a woman has low sexual desire. I am encouraged that this study may help improve the dialogue about a woman’s sexual health in the doctor’s office.

Dr. Goldstein, who is also Editor-in-chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, says that many health care professionals are often reluctant to talk to their patients about sexual health for several reasons, including limited time with a patient, lack of training, embarrassment, and the absence of effective treatment options for women.

The entire test consists of the following questions that women answer with either a Yes or No:

1. In the past was your level of sexual desire or interest good or satisfying to you?
2. Has there been a decrease in your level of sexual desire or interest?
3. Are you bothered by your decreased level of sexual desire or interest?
4. Would you like your level of sexual desire or interest to increase?
5. Please check all the factors that you may feel may be contributing to your current decrease in sexual desire or interest:

• An operation, depression, injuries or other medical condition
• Medication, drugs or alcohol you are currently taking
• Pregnancy, recent childbirth, menopausal symptoms
• Other sexual issues you may be having such as pain, decreased arousal or orgasm
• Your partner’s sexual problems
• Dissatisfaction with your relationship or partner
• Stress or fatigue

If a woman says “No” to any of the questions in 1-4, then she does not qualify for the diagnosis of generalized acquired low sexual function. If the women answers “Yes” to questions 1-4 and “No” to the factors in question 5, then she may have generalized acquired low sexual desire.

Dr. Goldstein said the screening tool should be made a key part of any women’s health check up.

Posted by Jonathan as Psychology, Sociology at 10:00 PM BST

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Partly because we wondered how accurate the recent article about people’s sexual fantasies was, partly simply for fun, and partly just because we’re a bunch of nosy buggers…

We’re rather curious as to what people’s favourite sexual fantasies are - although we’re going to maintain that this latest survey is being carried out in the name of science.

However, you never know, perhaps the following list might give you some interesting new ideas to experiment with.

So, this time, were asking:

Posted by Jonathan as Polls & Surveys at 3:50 AM BST

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As we’ve often noted, seduction and speculation frequently go hand-in-hand; and after recalling our sucess at predicting the 2008 Grand National, last year. Here is our attempt to predict the winners of the UK’s biggest and most well known horse race – which takes place this Saturday (4.15pm @ Aintree Racecourse).

Just for fun, these are the horses backed by Seduction Labs for the 2009 Grand National.

To win
Kilbeggan Blade – Currently showing 22/1

Each way
L’Ami – Currently showing 25/1
Cornish Sett – Currently showing 33/1
Brooklyn Brownie – Currently showing 33/1

Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 10:50 PM BST

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Fantasy has long been a rich part of mankind’s sex life; but it wasn’t until recently that Sexologists began undertaking “scientific” research into what part, and to what extent, fantasy plays a part in our sexuality.

Researchers such as like Alfred Kinsey, Masters and Johnson, Shere Hite and Nancy Friday have all made groundbreaking discoveries – but there have also been other findings – such as, women’s fantasies are more likely to involve their partners, whereas men’s often have to do with Jenna Jameson’s car breaking down at the side of the road.

Investigators at lavalife.com recently presented the following list (described as some semi-scientific research into what the top fantasies of both sexes are, whether and how they differ, and what if anything, all this means):

Top Male Sex Fantasies

It’s safe to say, since guys spend most of their time trying to figure out how to get sex, and then avoiding the phone afterwards, that a lot of their fantasies are about power. In other words, some of their favourite reveries reflect the desire to skip the perennial smile-and-wink, followed by dinner-and-a-movie, and get straight to the action.

10. Domination / Submission. Bondage and sex slave fantasies are popular scenarios. However, since most guys are too lazy to learn how to tie a proper knot, there’s little need to worry about coming home to find ropes tied to the bedposts.

9. Harem. This is the one where he’s the only male in a room full of willing women. And no, we’re not talking about The View.

8. Younger woman / older woman. This one’s fairly obvious. For some reason guys seem predisposed to feeling an attraction for women out of their age range, whether younger (for breeding) or older (for learning). Blame it on evolution.

7. Orgy. This is one of those fantasies that are probably better left un-acted-upon. Sure, it seems like a good idea at the time but the planning, the etiquette and the ensuing awkwardness cancel out the initial thrill. Errr, not that we’d know for sure.

6. Watching your girlfriend / spouse with another man. Again, probably best un-acted upon. Just rent ‘Indecent Proposal’ instead.

5. Forbidden fruit. Having sex with the boss’s wife while on the phone with the boss; his girlfriend’s sister coming over and catching him in a pair of your high heels – if it’s wrong and morally base, he’s probably imagined it at some point.

4. Sex with a stranger. This one always livens up the commute to work.

3. Role-playing / Costumes. As clichéd as it sounds, guys do want you to dress up as a Nurse / French maid / Princess Leia and not just at Halloween.

2. Sex on location. Probably the office would make a lot of guys’ number one place, outside of home, to have sex; the aisles of Office Depot, though, would probably be a distant 9th or 10th.

1. Threesome. If you guessed this as the number one male fantasy, give yourself (and your girlfriend) a pat on the back (preferably in front of your boyfriend).

Top Female Sex Fantasies

Women’s sex fantasies differ from men’s in that their scenarios are more likely to transgress societal conventions. Since women’s behaviour is viewed more judgmentally, their fantasies are more likely to involve doing what they’re not supposed to – i.e., “being bad.” At least, that’s what our research (Girls Gone Wild in Cancun) indicates.

10. Voyeurism. Yes, she wants to watch as much as you do. Almost.

9. Exhibitionism. This is a big one, particularly in today’s over-sexed climate. But women have been exhibiting themselves since as early as 1950, maybe even earlier.

8. Domination / Forced sex. As politically incorrect as it is to say, research puts this hot potato fantasy pretty high up on the list. According to Masters and Johnson, the “forced-sex scenario” is second only to taking a different partner than her current beau; according to Nancy Friday (My Secret Garden), it’s second to none. We have to stress, though, this is fantasy we’re talking about, people.

7. Sex in a public place. Here’s some overlap with the guys’; however, we wouldn’t be surprised if women showed a little more imagination when it came to sex out in the world. Such as, at a pro-sports game, with all the action caught on the JumboTron.

6. Two or more guys. Maybe it’s because porn seems to have taken over a large portion of society, but we’re guessing that this fantasy rates more highly in current studies than it did when Masters and Johnson first began conducting their investigations.

5. Older woman / younger man. Call this the “Mrs. Robinson” (after The Graduate) scenario. The fantasy of seducing a much younger man – her son’s friend, perhaps? – is probably one of the oldest in the book.

4. Having a man as a sex slave. More than the sexual favours, what really turns women on about this one is the housekeeping possibilities.

3. Sapphic romp. Wishful thinking on men’s part or as real as Mardi Gras…? Since most women admit to having sexual feelings at one time or another for another woman, and since the success of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” we’re guessing the latter.

2. High-priced call girl. What woman hasn’t considered, at least fleetingly, the possibilities of somehow making cash money in a way frowned upon by society? The illicitness, not to mention illegality, of prostitution makes for some sizzling fantasy fodder.

1. Being carried off by a sexy stranger. One need only look at the sheer volume of romance novels sold to know this one never goes out of style.

Posted by Jonathan as Anthropology, Sociology at 9:27 PM BST

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The implication of two studies into hormonal changes associated with Sadomasochistic (S&M) activities including spanking, bondage and flogging suggest that it could bring consenting couples closer together.

Scientists from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb measured levels of the stress hormone Cortisol in thirteen men and women at an S&M party in Arizona, before, during and after participating in Sadomasochistic activities.

Lead researcher Brad Sagarin found that during S&M scenes, Cortisol levels rose significantly in those receiving stimulation, but dropped back to normal within 40 minutes if the scene went well. However, there was no change in those inflicting the activity.

In a further experiment, the Researchers measured testosterone levels in 45 men and women, at an S&M event in Colorado. The results of that experiment showed that there was a significant increase in receiving women only.

Donatella Marazziti of the University of Pisa, Italy, said that the boost might help women cope with the aggressive nature of S&M activities, or that it could be another sign of stress. However, in both studies, couples who said the party went well also reported increases in relationship closeness.

Richard Wiseman, a Psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, added that almost any shared activity would be likely to promote interpersonal closeness, saying:

It doesn’t have to be tying up your partner or placing clamps on their nipples, it could be something as simple as cooking a meal together or even doing the housework as a duo.

Nick Neave, a Psychologist at the University of Northumbria, said the results were interesting, but future studies should control for whether participants experienced orgasm – which is associated with reduced stress and an increase in hormones associated with partner-bonding and affection.

The study appears in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Posted by Jonathan as Psychology, Sociology at 2:54 PM BST

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Currently, the most practical ways to stop HIV transmission are protected sex, monogamy (with an uninfected partner) or abstaining from sex altogether. However, researchers have spent many years without success trying to develop another option – a gel that women (and possibly men) could use to kill the virus before it enters the body.

Whilst condoms can block the virus, many women who want to get pregnant won’t use them, and so they risk infection from their partners. However, now it seems that a new sexual gel might curb the spread of AIDS by stopping cells vulnerable to the virus from rushing to the site of infection.

Previously, researchers have had difficulties destroying the virus without harming the person in the process; and some gels have actually made virus transmission easier by causing tears in the lining of the vagina.

Now, according to a study appearing in the journal Nature, Scientists have reported that a common germ-killing compound has prevented transmission of SIV (an HIV-like virus found in monkeys) – which is an encouraging sign that it could also work in humans.

Dr. Ashley Haase and colleagues at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, USA, discovered that a few epithelial cells on the cervix of female macaques are the first point of entry for SIV. After which, nearby immune cells respond by releasing molecules that trigger inflammation and summon T-cells to the cervix.

Under normal circumstances, those T-cells would destroy invaders. However, T-cells are the very same cells that SIV (and also HIV) use to infect their new host.

Using information from studies of Toxic shock syndrome (a life-threatening bacterial infection that can affect women using tampons), chemicals have already been identified that can suppress vaginal inflammation. Therefore, Haase’s team examined a compound called Glycerol Monolaurate (GML), which is already recognized as safe for humans, since it’s a commonly found constituent of vegetable oils, various foods and deodorants – where it kills a variety of germs in addition to helping substances mix properly.

Haase and colleagues tested GML added to a sexual lubricant on five female rhesus macaques that were vaginally exposed to SIV. As a result, they found that four out of five monkeys treated with the gel avoided infection after repeated exposure to the virus, whilst five different monkeys in a control group that only received the lubricant without GML all became infected with SIV, after being exposed to it.

The research seems promising, but there are other important questions to be answered, including whether this treatment would protect men from infection when they have sex with other women (or men), and in any case more experiments in animals will be needed before GML can be tested on humans.

However, the next steps would be to move on to studies that would confirm the compound actually works, and to solve issues such as whether GML would block HIV in a woman’s cervix already inflamed by other infections, or whether blocking cervical immune responses could leave her less protected from other infections.

The surprising good news is that GML could eventually make its way into sexual lubricants that women could use, and would cost less than a cent per dose for each woman.

Thus, the researchers argue, even if the compound were only 60 percent effective, it would prevent nearly a million HIV infections a year, and might slow the spread of AIDS.

Posted by Jonathan as Biochemistry, Biology at 2:23 AM BST

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You’re probably aware of many different methods of fortunetelling often using a diverse range of equipment including Tarot cards, runes, tea leaves, crystals etc.

Now, it seems that throughout history, people have always wanted to look into the future and unravel the mysteries of the human character, so they turned to Palm reading, Phrenology, Physiognomy and other forms of personality reading.

One method that has recently come to light, from an article in the Russian newspaper Pravda, is Sternomancy.

According to the translation, Sternomancy is a divination practice that involves reading markings on the area of the human body from the breasts to the stomach, and was popular in Spain, during the 18th century.

If the article is accurate, Russian Sexologists say that the breasts of women identify her character better than her Zodiac sign does. Therefore, this method of fortunetelling can be used to unveil the character of a woman simply by reading the shape of her breasts.

Since this is quite clearly a topic that requires further urgent research, here’s a translation of the key points of Sternomancy.

Size

Women with small breasts are mostly concerned about the faithfulness of their partners.

Women with large breasts are optimistic, cheerful and sensual. They can be very inventive in bed and expect the same from their partners.

Nipples

A well-shaped protruding nipple confirms the powerful and dominating character of a woman – a woman with such nipples prefers to be on top of her men in bed.

A small or inverted nipple tells of a private and reserved character – Most women with such nipples do not see sex as anything special, but they are ready to satisfy the fantasies of their men.

Shape

A fox’s nose (a springboard-shaped breast): Those who have fox’s noses are usually smart and reserved women. These women do not usually reach anything professionally, because they are too lazy to show any initiative. A ‘fox’ can become a very good wife for practically any man, and such women usually build successful families.

Cherry: Women with very small breasts that look like cherries are distinctive for their sociable character – They are reasonable and easy-going. Such women can be very good and reliable partners in everyday life, although they do not give special emphasis to physical intimacy.

Apples: Hard-working housewives usually have round-shaped breasts. Many apple-bosomed women are frigid, and it can be extremely hard to give them an orgasm. However, they can be ready for everything to please their man. ‘Apples’ do not like changing their sex partners.

Pears: Women with pear-shaped breasts are lovable and will indulge in liaisons as often as they can. Even if a ‘pear’ is religious, she is not likely to decline romance. However, it is impossible to tame such a woman. She is independent, wilful but unintelligent, which makes her attractive to men. A marriage with a ‘pear’ guarantees ecstatic sex and many scandals.

Lemons: If a man desires more diversity in bed, he needs to date a woman whose breasts look like lemons. These women are full of life and are capable of criticizing themselves, although they prefer to lead a quieter lifestyle.

Melons: Women with melon-shaped breasts like being admired. They value delicious food and constantly develop their cooking skills.

Water-melons: Women with such breasts also like to eat; they like being pampered. They like to flirt, but are not especially interested in sex.

Surgery

Augmentation to the shape of a women’s bosom may lead to significant Psychological changes. A woman with silicone breasts can be a very good partner on holidays for a week or so, but one should not devote a lifetime to those sorts of women. Many surgically enhanced women have Psychological issues – they are not certain of themselves and have many complexes. Sex with a woman with a pair of silicone breasts is superficial.

Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 2:18 AM BST

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Here is what is purportedly a treatise from 1894, against the evils of marital sex. Be glad that you live in the 21^st century.

INSTRUCTION AND ADVICE FOR THE YOUNG BRIDE: on the Conduct and Procedure of the Intimate and Personal Relationships of the Marriage State for the Greater Spiritual Sanctity of this Blessed Sacrament and the Glory of God.

by Ruth Smythers beloved wife of The Reverend L.D. Smythers Pastor of the Arcadian Methodist Church of the Eastern Regional Conference Published in the year of our Lord 1894 Spiritual Guidance Press New York City.

To the sensitive young woman who has had the benefits of proper upbringing, the wedding day is, ironically, both the happiest and most terrifying day of her life. On the positive side, there is the wedding itself, in which the bride is the central attraction in a beautiful and inspiring ceremony, symbolizing her triumph in securing a male to provide for all her needs for the rest of her life. On the negative side, there is the wedding night, during which the bride must pay the piper, so to speak, by facing for the first time the terrible experience of sex.

At this point, dear reader, let me concede one shocking truth. Some young women actually anticipate the wedding night ordeal with curiosity and pleasure! Beware such an attitude! A selfish and sensual husband can easily take advantage of such a bride. One cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: GIVE LITTLE, GIVE SELDOM, AND ABOVE ALL, GIVE GRUDGINGLY. Otherwise what could have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.

On the other hand, the bride’s terror need not be extreme. While sex is at best revolting and at worse rather painful, it has to be endured, and has been by women since the beginning of time, and is compensated for by the monogamous home and by the children produced through it.

It is useless, in most cases, for the bride to prevail upon the groom to forego the sexual initiation. While the ideal husband would be one who would approach his bride only at her request and only for the purpose of begetting offspring, such nobility and unselfishness cannot be expected from the average man.

Most men, if not denied, would demand sex almost every day. The wise bride will permit a maximum of two brief sexual experiences weekly during the first months of marriage. As time goes by she should make every effort to reduce this frequency.

Feigned illness, sleepiness, and headaches are among the wife’s best friends in this matter. Arguments, nagging, scolding, and bickering also prove very effective, if used in the late evening about an hour before the husband would normally commence his seduction.

Clever wives are ever on the alert for new and better methods of denying and discouraging the amorous overtures of the husband. A good wife should expect to have reduced sexual contacts to once a week by the end of the first year of marriage and to once a month by the end of the fifth year of marriage.

By their tenth anniversary many wives have managed to complete their child bearing and have achieved the ultimate goal of terminating all sexual contacts with the husband. By this time she can depend upon his love for the children and social pressures to hold the husband in the home.

Just as she should be ever alert to keep the quantity of sex as low as possible, the wise bride will pay equal attention to limiting the kind and degree of sexual contacts. Most men are by nature rather perverted, and if given half a chance, would engage in quite a variety of the most revolting practices. These practices include among others performing the normal act in abnormal positions; mouthing the female body; and offering their own vile bodies to be mouthed in turn.

Nudity, talking about sex, reading stories about sex, viewing photographs and drawings depicting or suggesting sex are the obnoxious habits the male is likely to acquire if permitted.

A wise bride will make it the goal never to allow her husband to see her unclothed body, and never allow him to display his unclothed body to her. Sex, when it cannot be prevented, should be practiced only in total darkness. Many women have found it useful to have thick cotton nightgowns for themselves and pyjamas for their husbands. These should be donned in separate rooms. They need not be removed during the sex act. Thus, a minimum of flesh is exposed.

Once the bride has donned her gown and turned off all the lights, she should lie quietly upon the bed and await her groom. When he comes groping into the room she should make no sound to guide him in her direction, lest he take this as a sign of encouragement. She should let him grope in the dark. There is always the hope that he will stumble and incur some slight injury which she can use as an excuse to deny him sexual access.

When he finds her, the wife should lie as still as possible. Bodily motion on her part could be interpreted as sexual excitement by the optimistic husband.

If he attempts to kiss her on the lips she should turn her head slightly so that the kiss falls harmlessly on her cheek instead. If he attempts to kiss her hand, she should make a fist. If he lifts her gown and attempts to kiss her anyplace else she should quickly pull the gown back in place, spring from the bed, and announce that nature calls her to the toilet. This will generally dampen his desire to kiss in the forbidden territory.

If the husband attempts to seduce her with lascivious talk, the wise wife will suddenly remember some trivial non-sexual question to ask him. Once he answers she should keep the conversation going, no matter how frivolous it may seem at the time.

Eventually, the husband will learn that if he insists on having sexual contact, he must get on with it without amorous embellishment. The wise wife will allow him to pull the gown up no farther than the waist, and only permit him to open the front of his pyjamas to thus make connection.

She will be absolutely silent or babble about her housework while he is huffing and puffing away. Above all, she will lie perfectly still and never under any circumstances grunt or groan while the act is in progress. As soon as the husband has completed the act, the wise wife will start nagging him about various minor tasks she wishes him to perform on the morrow. Many men obtain a major portion of their sexual satisfaction from the peaceful exhaustion immediately after the act is over. Thus the wife must insure that there is no peace in this period for him to enjoy. Otherwise, he might be encouraged to soon try for more.

One heartening factor for which the wife can be grateful is the fact that the husband’s home, school, church, and social environment have been working together all through his life to instil in him a deep sense of guilt in regards to his sexual feelings, so that he comes to the marriage couch apologetically and filled with shame, already half cowed and subdued. The wise wife seizes upon this advantage and relentlessly pursues her goal first to limit, later to annihilate completely her husband’s desire for sexual expression.

© 1894 The Madison Institute.

Is this real? Decide for yourself.

Posted by Jonathan as Miscellaneous at 1:28 AM BST

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A new study highlights a link between sexual quality of life and hormonal measures, independent from weight.

According to findings, due to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the more obese a man, the greater his hormonal changes and the worse his sex life. However, the study’s authors also found that gastric bypass surgery can help reverse those problems.

The researchers investigated the weight, body mass index (BMI) and reproductive hormone levels of 64 obese men at the start of the study and again two years later, after some of them had what’s known as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. The participants also asked to fill out questionnaires about the quality of their lives.

Lead Author, Dr. Ahmad Hammoud, of the University of Utah, said:

Previous studies have found that obesity is correlated to lower sperm count and can be associated with infertility, but we wanted to know if obesity was biologically associated with an unsatisfying sex life, and if so, could it be reversible. Our results show that the answer to both questions may be yes.

In our study population, we found that lower Testosterone levels and diminished ratings for sexual quality of life were correlated with increased BMI. Subjects who lost weight through bariatric surgery experienced a reduction in Estradiol levels, an increase in Testosterone levels and an increase in ratings of sexual quality of life.

The study authors note that further studies are needed to determine the cause-effect relationship.

Posted by Jonathan as Biology, Sociology at 12:53 AM BST

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Does the internet change adolescents into aggressive assholes? Or do socially incompetent teens naturally gravitate towards spending time on the internet?

In a research paper published by the Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers at Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan said that they had found evidence that teenagers addicted to the Internet exhibited more aggressive behaviour than their non-addicted counterparts.

In a study polling 9,405 Taiwanese teenagers about their Internet activities and behaviour, the researchers found that those with signs of “internet addiction” were more likely to say they had hit, shoved or threatened someone in the past year.

This link remained, even when the investigators accounted for other factors — including the teenagers’ scores on measures of self-esteem and depression, as well as their exposure to TV violence.

Based on their responses, twenty-five percent of male respondents and thirteen percent of females were diagnosed as being addicted to the Internet – which according to the research team was described as being a preoccupation with online activities, “withdrawal” symptoms like irritability or moodiness if unable to access the internet for a while and skipping real life activities in order to devote more time to online ones.

Among those people considered to fit the “addicted to the Internet” profile, thirty-seven percent had reported aggressive behaviour the previous year. Although, the type of Internet activity also appeared to be a factor.

Online chatting, gambling, gaming, and spending time at online forums or pornography sites were all linked to aggressive behaviour. In contrast, teens that devoted their time to online research and studying were less likely than their peers to be violence-prone.

According to the researchers, certain online activities may encourage adolescents to “release their anger” or otherwise be aggressive in ways they normally would not try in the real world. Although, whether this eventually pushes them to be more aggressive in real life is not yet clear, the researchers said.

So, the findings do not prove conclusively that Internet addiction breeds violent behaviour in teens. Since, “it is possible that violence-prone teenagers are more likely to obsessively use the Internet”, explained lead researcher Dr. Chih-Hung Ko.

However, Dr. Ko recommends that parents and teachers talk to children about their Internet use and their general attitudes toward violence, and then intervene as early as possible to prevent teenagers from becoming addicted to the Internet.

Posted by Jonathan as Psychology, Sociology at 12:46 AM BST

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