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Role

Foreplay has important physical and psychological effects.

Physically, the sexual organs for both partners receive more blood flow and become aroused. For male partners this leads to an erection and for female partners this results in a clitoral erection. When partners experience sexual arousal from the acts of foreplay, their organs that are susceptible to pleasure become highly sensitive to external stimuli all while at the same time releasing bodily fluids that lubricate the organs to prepare for intercourse. These physical events aforementioned are more easily reached by the male partner as compared to the female partner which is possibly due to the potential consequences of pregnancy and motherhood. It is for this reason foreplay has been found to play a critical role for the female partner, as noted by sexologist Dr. William Robinson. Robinson suggests that male partners are able to perform sexual intercourse without the requirement of foreplay, whereas female partners require longer acts of foreplay to become sufficiently stimulated and pleasured.

Psychologically, foreplay lowers inhibitions and increases emotional intimacy between partners. Both partners, while performing foreplay, are able to have a mutual experience of understanding and emotions. This mutuality leads to an enhanced sexual experience for both partners.

From a biological perspective, foreplay may be seen as an act that is costly in regards to reproduction (male animal perspective). Nonetheless, the costliness of foreplay becomes insufficient when it has been noted through biological research that it is a worthwhile strategy to increase fertility rates in both the animal and human kingdom. The increased rates of fertility are due to physical and psychological effects aforementioned which also play a role in the effects of the neurohypophysial hormone. This hormone is capable of increasing the rate production of sperm count within the male during the acts of extensive foreplay and therefore results with the female partner having higher chances of becoming impregnated.