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. 2022 May;51(4):2117-2133.
doi: 10.1007/s10508-021-02281-5. Epub 2022 May 10.

Loving Objects: Can Autism Explain Objectophilia?

Dimitria Electra Gatzia  1   2 , Sarah Arnaud  3
Affiliations

Loving Objects: Can Autism Explain Objectophilia?

Dimitria Electra Gatzia et al. Arch Sex Behav. 2022 May.

Abstract

Objectophilia (also known as objectum-sexuality) involves romantic and sexual attraction to specific objects. Objectophiles often develop deep and enduring emotional, romantic, and sexual relations with specific inanimate (concrete or abstract) objects such as trains, bridges, cars, or words. The determinants of objectophilia are poorly understood. The aim of this paper is to examine the determining factors of objectophilia. We examine four hypotheses about the determinants of objectophilia (pertaining to fetishism, synesthesia, cross-modal mental imagery, and autism) and argue that the most likely determining factors of objectophilia are the social and non-social features of autism. Future studies on the determinants of objectophilia could enhance our understanding and potentially lessen the marginalization experienced by objectophiles.

Keywords: ASD; Autism; Cross-modal mental imagery; DSM-5; Objectophilia; Sexual paraphilia; Synesthesia.

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