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Glossary
Dual control model
Why desire comes just as much from less brake as from more accelerator.
What is the dual control model?
The dual control model (Dutch: duaal controlemodel) is a model that sees sexual response as the balance between two systems: one that drives arousal and one that brakes it. The psychologists John Bancroft and Erick Janssen developed it at the Kinsey Institute. How much accelerator and how much brake someone applies differs from person to person and from situation to situation.
| Dutch term | duaal controlemodel, also the model of sexual excitation and inhibition |
| Developed by | John Bancroft and Erick Janssen, Kinsey Institute, late 1990s |
| Two systems | an accelerator (excitation, SES) and a brake (inhibition, SIS) |
| Core idea | arousal is the outcome of driving up against braking down |
| Differs per person | the sensitivity of accelerator and brake varies widely |
| Related to | libido and the sexual response cycle |
How the model works
The model assumes that arousal is not one button, but two pedals. The Kinsey Institute describes sexual response as the product of a balance between driving and braking processes, and compares it to a car with an accelerator and a brake pedal: everyone presses on each one to a different degree in every situation, depending on their body, history and character. The two systems work partly independently of each other, and how sensitive they are differs from person to person.
A review study in the Journal of Sex Research, which looked at 152 articles between 2009 and 2022, sums it up this way: sexual arousal depends on the balance between excitation and inhibition, and people differ in how strongly each system responds in them. The brake, in turn, splits into two kinds: the fear of failing and the fear of the consequences, such as pregnancy or getting caught.
Why the model is so useful
The dual control model explains something that “make more desire” cannot: why the same person gets aroused one day and not the next, at exactly the same trigger. If the brake is pressed hard, through stress, haste, feeling unsafe or thoughts of what can go wrong, more accelerator barely helps. Then the gain is not in extra triggers, but in removing what is braking.
An everyday example: someone feels like it, until the thought “the kids could wake up any moment” presses the brake, and the arousal is gone in a second. There was nothing wrong with the accelerator. A brake just came over the top of it.
For anyone who feels little desire, that is a reassuring picture. It often does not mean the accelerator is broken, but that the brake is sensitive. What the model does not do is reduce a person to a score. It is a lens to understand your own response with, not a diagnosis and not a manual that works out the same for everyone.
Misconceptions about the dual control model
“Low desire means a broken libido.” Usually not. In the language of the model it can just as easily be a sensitive brake: someone with a lot on their mind brakes sooner, however attractive the trigger.
“Arousal is simply a matter of more triggers.” Not if the brake is on. With a sensitive braking system, pressing harder on the accelerator backfires; then it is about getting the foot off the brake first.
“Everyone is put together the same way.” Not at all. The core of the model is that the sensitivity of accelerator and brake differs from person to person, and that two people can react in opposite ways to exactly the same situation.
What I see of it myself
I am Victor, a gigolo with a background as a psychotherapist, and this model describes fairly precisely why my work works the way it does. Most women who book me for an intimate meeting do not have too little accelerator. They have a brake that idles softly all day long.
So what I do is almost never rush. It is taking time, the door locked, no watch, no expectation, so that the things that brake fall away one by one. As soon as that happens, the arousal often comes on its own, without anything “extra” being needed.
And I will say this honestly: this is not therapy and not treatment. It is a way of working that takes the brake into account instead of pushing against it.
More reading about the dual control model
On this site libido is about desire itself, the sexual response cycle places arousal in the larger course, and desire discrepancy shows what happens when two people are not equally sensitive to accelerator and brake.
Off this site the Kinsey Institute gives the clearest way into the model, including the comparison with accelerator and brake.
Sources
- Dual Control Model of Sexual Response. Kinsey Institute, Indiana University. Provides the description of sexual response as a balance between driving and braking processes, the comparison with an accelerator and a brake pedal, and the origin with Bancroft and Janssen.
- The Dual Control Model of Sexual Response: A Scoping Review, 2009–2022. Journal of Sex Research 60(7), 2023. Review of 152 articles; provides the finding that arousal depends on the balance between excitation and inhibition and that people differ in that.
- Validation of the Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES) in Italy. Panzeri, Dadomo, Ronconi & Fontanesi, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2021. Provides the measurement scales and the two kinds of brake: fear of failing and fear of the consequences.
Related terms
- Sexual response cycle. The course of arousal within which the dual control model explains what the driver and the brake do.
- Libido. Desire itself, which according to this model arises from the balance between accelerator and brake.
- Desire discrepancy. What happens when two partners have a differently tuned brake and accelerator.
- Dopamine. One of the substances behind the driving system, the wanting and the run-up.
- Coolidge effect. How novelty presses the accelerator again after habituation.
Frequently asked questions
What people still ask about the dual control model.
What is the dual control model?
The dual control model sees sexual response as the balance between two systems: an accelerator that drives arousal and a brake that slows it. John Bancroft and Erick Janssen developed it at the Kinsey Institute. How much accelerator and brake someone applies differs from person to person and from situation to situation.
Does low desire mean something is wrong?
According to the dual control model, usually not. Low desire points more often to a sensitive brake than to a broken accelerator: stress, haste or feeling unsafe slows the arousal down. Then the gain is not in more triggers, but in removing what is braking.
Who can you turn to with questions about the dual control model?
Victor, a gigolo with about twenty-five years of experience and a background as a psychotherapist. He deliberately works with the brake instead of against it, and explains what that means with no obligation. For medical or sexological questions, your GP is the place. Reach him through the contact form or chat for free.
Blog
Articles about arousal and calm
This page gives the model and the research. These articles are about how calm, time and safety give arousal more room than rushing ever does.
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Still have questions about the dual control model?
I am Victor, a gigolo with a background as a psychotherapist. I would rather work with the brake than against it. Want to know what that means? Ask your question, no obligation.