Discrepancy in Dyadic Sexual Desire Predicts Sexual Distress over Time in a Community Sample of Committed Couples: A Daily Diary and Longitudinal Study

Rights or Obligations: The Extent to Which Sexual Desire and Gender Roles Determine Sexual Intimacy in Romantic Relationships

The present study aims to investigate the relationship between traditional gender roles and the frequency of sexual intimacy within romantic relationships, considering sexual desire and societal norms and expectations. The study was conducted among a convenience sample of men and women in Israel. The survey included measures of sociodemographic information, traditional gender roles, sexual desire, perceived partner's sexual desire, and frequency of engaging in sex. Findings suggest that men who embraced less traditional gender roles exhibit a greater synchronization between their own sexual desire and their perceived partner's sexual desire, whereas women who embraced more traditional gender roles tend to rely more on their partners' sexual desire in their frequency of sex. These results imply that men's sexual desire plays a significant role in determining the frequency of sexual activity in romantic relationships, especially in relationships where traditional gender roles are more strongly embraced. Findings from the current study underscore the idea that the decision to engage in intimate acts may not solely hinge on individual sexual desire; rather, it operates within a broader context influenced by societal and cultural expectations. It is important to challenge societal norms to promote more balanced and equitable sexual dynamics in committed relationships.

Responsiveness in the Face of Sexual Challenges: The Role of Sexual Growth and Destiny Beliefs

Implicit--or lay--sexual beliefs have been associated with how people respond to sexual challenges in romantic relationships. People who endorse sexual destiny beliefs view a satisfying sex life as the result of finding the right partner and report poorer sexual, relationship, and personal well-being when there are sexual challenges. In comparison, people who endorse sexual growth beliefs view satisfying sexual relationships as requiring hard work and effort to maintain and tend to report high sexual, relationship, and personal well-being even when facing sexual challenges. High sexual responsiveness - being motivated to meet a partner's sexual needs - is associated with maintaining high sexual satisfaction, even when couples face sexual challenges in a relationship. In the current research, we tested whether sexual growth and destiny beliefs are associated with general and sexual responsiveness and whether the associations are moderated by the presence of sexual challenges. Across three (clinical and non-clinical) samples (N = 820) facing different types of sexual challenges (Study 1 (Mage = 31.64, SD = 8.53), clinically low sexual desire; Studies 2 (Mage = 32.63, SD = 10.19) and 3 (Mage = 32.40, SD = 9.31), unmet sexual ideals; Study 3, changes in sex since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic), we found that sexual growth beliefs were associated with higher sexual responsiveness and perceived partner sexual and general responsiveness, even when couples were coping with sexual challenges, whereas sexual destiny beliefs were not associated with responsiveness, and at times were associated with lower sexual responsiveness and perceived partner sexual and general responsiveness. This research provides initial evidence about how implicit sexual beliefs are associated with sexual and general responsiveness when couples are coping with sexual challenges in a romantic relationship.

The Role of Dyadic Sexual Desire Similarity in Predicting Sexual Behaviors in Cohabitating Couples: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Although researchers are increasingly paying attention to the dyadic nature of sexual desire and its relevance to sexual and relational outcomes, our understanding of how sexual desire operates on a couple level and how it may influence the occurrence of sexual activity in relationships remains limited. This study used ecological momentary assessments to explore to what extent similarity in levels of desire for sex with one's sexual partner, or dyadic sexual desire, was associated with sexual initiations, receptivity to one's partner's initiations, and partnered sexual activity, and how these associations were moderated by perceived partner support. Ninety-four cohabitating couples (M age = 26.30, SD = 7.60) provided six reports a day for 10 consecutive days. We used response surface analysis to examine the associations among both the degree and direction of (dis)similarity in partners' dyadic desire and each of the three outcome variables. Our results revealed that although partners tended to experience similar levels of desire on a moment-to-moment basis, similarity in desire levels was not associated with the three outcome variables. Rather, higher desire within couples predicted each partner's behavioral outcomes. At lower levels of perceived partner support, dyadic sexual desire was negatively associated with women's receptivity to sexual initiations by their partners, indicating high context-sensitivity of women's sexual responding. These findings offer new insights into the links between the similarity in partners' levels of dyadic desire and sexual behaviors in couples, suggesting the need for increased focus on maintaining desire and promoting perceived partner support in clinical practice.

Effects of Subjective Orgasm Experience in Sexual Satisfaction: A Dyadic Analysis in Same-Sex Hispanic Couples

Subjective orgasm experience (SOE) is a component of sexual health that refers to the perception, sensation and/or appraisal of orgasm at a psychological level. This construct has scarcely been studied in non-heterosexual individuals and couples, and never before from a dyadic perspective. In this study, in which 104 same-sex Hispanic couples participated (48 male-male and 56 female-female), we explored the dyadic influence of SOE dimensions on sexual satisfaction, the mediating role of relationship satisfaction on the association of both phases of sexual response, as well as the explanatory capacity that discrepancies in these dimensions had on sexual satisfaction. The results indicated that the orgasmic dimensions that gained more prominence were Affective and Sensory. A dyadic influence of both on sexual satisfaction was observed only in male couples, as well as a detriment of sexual satisfaction when there were discrepancies in them, especially in women. Moreover, relationship satisfaction was a significant mediator between all dimensions of SOE and sexual satisfaction in both types of couples. This work highlights the need to take into account the SOE of both partners and how this individual experience can affect other dimensions of a more interpersonal nature, such as sexual or relationship satisfaction.

Comparing Responses to Sexual Rejection and Sexual and Relationship Well-Being in Couples Coping with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder and Community Couples

Four distinct partner responses to sexual rejection - sexual advances that are declined by a partner - have been identified. This study assessed the frequency of these responses between and within North American couples coping with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (SIAD) and community couples and - in line with the Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Model - compared the associations between responses to sexual rejection and sexual and relationship well-being across the two samples. Individuals with SIAD and their partners (n = 241) and community couples (n = 105) completed online measures of sexual rejection responses, sexual satisfaction, sexual desire, sexual distress, sexual frequency, and relationship satisfaction. Results showed that after accounting for sexual rejection frequency, individuals with SIAD and their partners reported greater resentful and insecure partner responses to sexual rejection than individuals in the community sample, and individuals with SIAD perceived less understanding responses than their own partners reported. For both groups, more understanding and less resentful and insecure responses were associated with greater sexual and relationship well-being. Clinicians might encourage couples to reflect on their rejection responses and to shift to more helpful ways of responding to sexual rejection.

Does Sexual Desire Fluctuate More Among Women than Men?

There is a lay assumption that women's sexual desire varies substantially over time, whereas men's is stable. This assumption is mirrored in prominent theories of desire, which posit that women are more variable than men in the extent to which they desire sex, and that women's sexual desire is more contextually sensitive than men's. We tested this assumption across three longitudinal studies. Study 1 assessed desire at 3 time points spanning 13 years (N_observations = 5562), and Studies 2 and 3 (N_observations = 11,282) assessed desire moment-to-moment over 7 days. When desire was measured over years, women were more variable in their sexual desire than men (Study 1). However, we found a different pattern of results when desire was measured over the short term. In Studies 2 and 3, we found no significant differences in women's and men's desire variability. The extent to which desire varied as a function of affective states (e.g., happiness) and relationship-oriented states (e.g., partner closeness) was similar for women and men, with some exceptions; women's desire was more negatively associated with tiredness and anger in Study 2. These data qualify existing assumptions about sex differences in sexual desire variability.

Daily Sexual Behavior, Sexual Esteem, and Body Image in Transgender and Cisgender Individuals

Multiple surveys have suggested that transgender individuals show lower sexual well-being than cisgender individuals. Most studies, however, are limited in terms of ecological validity and memory bias and cross-sectional in nature. These issues are less prevalent in diary studies monitoring responses over time at home. For three weeks, 47 transgender (M age = 29.00, SD = 11.62) and 52 cisgender individuals (M age = 32.90, SD = 11.44) reported daily on their sexual behavior, sexual esteem and body image. Using multilevel model analyses, we investigated the daily associations between these variables, and addressed differences between transgender and cisgender individuals. We found that in transgender individuals, intimacy predicted sexual esteem; sexual openness predicted sexual esteem and body image; and sexual esteem predicts intimacy, masturbation, and sexual openness on the daily level. While transgender individuals scored lower on daily sexual esteem and body image than cisgender individuals, groups did not differ in daily sexual behavior. They also did not differ in any of the predictive relations described above, but we did find that the association between masturbation and body image was moderated by a cisgender identity, and sexual esteem predicted sexual activity more positively in cisgender compared to transgender individuals. These results complement findings from cross-sectional studies and indicate how transgender individuals struggling with sexuality can increase sexual openness. Implications for clinical practice are that clinicians discussing sexuality with their transgender patients should not define sexual activity too narrowly, and that sexual esteem might be a relevant factor in determining sexual behavior.

Few Differences in Sexual Talk by Gender/Sex and Dyad Type: A Retrospective and Daily Diary Study with Couples

Sexual talk is a type of verbal communication that occurs exclusively during sexual activity and that is specific to the sexual activity itself. Previous research has identified two types of sexual talk: individualistic (i.e., self-focused) and mutualistic (i.e., sharing/partner-focused), which have generally been linked to greater sexual and relationship well-being. Whether sexual talk use varies by gender/sex (i.e., men, women, gender/sex diverse individuals; GSD) or dyad type (i.e., same- vs. mixed-gender/sex) has not been examined. Given initial evidence that the types of sexual talk may contribute differently to sexual and relationship well-being, it is important to identify factors (e.g., gender/sex) that may be associated with the amount of sexual talk used. We examined differences by gender/sex and dyad type in the average sexual talk use among long-term couples (N = 229; 69 same-gender/sex) using retrospective cross-sectional dyadic data. We also examined these differences in the same sample (N = 217) using a 35-day dyadic daily diary study. Retrospectively, but not daily, women reported using more mutualistic talk than men, especially when partnered with a woman. There were no significant gender/sex or dyad type differences in use of individualistic talk retrospectively or daily. Exploratory analyses with the GSD couples suggested that there may be gender/sex and dyad type differences retrospectively and daily, for individualistic and not mutualistic talk; however, these analyses must be interpreted with caution due to the small subsample size of GSD couples.