Editing Paraphilia (section)

== Characteristics ==
[[File:Paul Rader - Over Exposed - 1962.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration of a voyeuristic fantasy, 1962]]
Paraphilias typically arise in late adolescence or early adulthood. Persons with paraphilias are generally [[egosyntonic]] and view their paraphilias as something inherent in their being, although they recognize that their sexual fantasies lie outside the norm and may attempt to conceal them.<ref name="wiederman2003" /> Paraphilic interests are rarely exclusive<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last1=Joyal |first1=Christian |title=Paraphilia |date=2021 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science |pages=5692–5696 |editor-last=Shackelford |editor-first=Todd K |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_3387 |access-date=2024-01-24 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_3387 |isbn=978-3-319-19649-7 |last2=Antfolk |first2=Jan |editor2-last=Weekes-Shackelford |editor2-first=Viviana A|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and some people have more than one paraphilia.<ref name=":0" /> Some people with paraphilias may seek occupations and avocations that increase their access to objects of their sexual fantasies (e.g., voyeurs working in rental properties to "peep" on others or pedophiles working with Boy Scouts).<ref name="wiederman2003" />

Research has found that some paraphilias, such as [[voyeurism]] and [[sadomasochism]], are associated with more lifetime sexual partners, contradicting theories that paraphilias are associated with [[courtship disorder]]s and arrested social development.<ref name=":1" /> Scientific literature includes some single-case studies of very rare and idiosyncratic paraphilias. These include an adolescent male who had a strong fetishistic interest in the exhaust pipes of cars, a young man with a similar interest in a specific type of car, and a man who had a paraphilic interest in sneezing (both his own and the sneezing of others).<ref>{{cite journal |author=Padmal de Silva |date=March 2007 |title=Sexual disorder and psychosexual therapy |journal=Psychiatry |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=130&ndash;134 |doi=10.1016/j.mppsy.2006.12.009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=King |first=Michael B. |year=1990 |title=Sneezing as a fetish object |journal=[[Sexual and Marital Therapy]] |location=London, England |publisher=[[Routledge]] |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=69&ndash;72 |doi=10.1080/02674659008407999}}</ref>

=== Causes and correlations ===
The causes of paraphilias in people are unclear, but some research points to a possible prenatal [[neurodevelopmental]] correlation. A 2008 study analyzing the sexual fantasies of 200 heterosexual men by using the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire exam determined that males with a pronounced degree of fetish interest had a greater number of older brothers, a high 2D:4D [[digit ratio]] (which would indicate excessive prenatal estrogen exposure), and an elevated probability of being [[left-handed]], suggesting that disturbed hemispheric [[brain lateralization]] may play a role in paraphilic attractions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Quazi |first1=Rahman |last2=Symeonides |first2=Deano J. |date=February 2007 |title=Neurodevelopmental Correlates of Paraphilic Sexual Interests in Men |journal=[[Archives of Sexual Behavior]] |location=New York City |publisher=[[Springer Science + Business Media]] |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=166–172 |doi=10.1007/s10508-007-9255-3 |pmid=18074220 |s2cid=22274418}}</ref> [[Behaviorism|Behavioral]] explanations propose that paraphilias are [[Classical conditioning|conditioned]] early in life, during an experience that pairs the paraphilic stimulus with intense sexual arousal.<ref name="Nolen-Hoeksema2013">{{cite book |last=Nolen-Hoeksema |first=Susan |url=http://connect.customer.mheducation.com/products/connect-for-nolen-hoeksema-abnormal-psychology-6e/ |title=Abnormal Psychology |date=2013 |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |isbn=978-0-07-803538-8 |edition=6th |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=385 |author-link=Susan Nolen-Hoeksema |access-date=15 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104143831/http://connect.customer.mheducation.com/products/connect-for-nolen-hoeksema-abnormal-psychology-6e/ |archive-date=4 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Susan Nolen-Hoeksema]] suggests that, once established, [[masturbatory]] fantasies about the stimulus reinforce and broaden the paraphilic arousal.<ref name="Nolen-Hoeksema2013" />