The Effects of Similarity in Sexual Excitation, Inhibition, and Mood on Sexual Arousal Problems and Sexual Satisfaction in Newlywed Couples

Title
The Effects of Similarity in Sexual Excitation, Inhibition, and Mood on Sexual Arousal Problems and Sexual Satisfaction in Newlywed Couples
Publication Date
2012
Author(s)
Lykins, Amy
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-3964
Email: alykins@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:alykins
Janssen, Erick
Newhouse, Sarah
Heiman, Julia
Rafaeli, Eshkol
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Elsevier Inc
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02698.x
UNE publication id
une:10247
Abstract
Introduction:  Despite the importance of sexuality for romantic relationships, there has been little research attention to individual differences and dyadic variables, including couple similarity, and their association with sexual problems and satisfaction. Aim:  The current study examined the effects of the propensity for sexual inhibition and sexual excitation scales (SIS/SES) and the effects of different mood states on sexuality (Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire [MSQ]), at both the individual and the dyad level, on sexual arousal problems and sexual satisfaction. Methods:  Similarity in SIS/SES and MSQ was measured in a nonclinical sample of 35 newlywed couples and operationally defined as the within-couple, z-transformed correlations between the two partners' item responses. Main Outcome Measures:  Sexual arousal problems were assessed using self-report measures (Demographic and Sexual History Questionnaire) and focused on the past 3 months. Sexual satisfaction was assessed using the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction. Results:  Regression analyses revealed that greater similarity in the effects of anxiety and stress on sexuality was associated with more reported sexual arousal problems of wives. In contrast, the husbands' sexual arousal problems were related only to their own higher SIS1 scores. Higher SES scores predicted lower sexual satisfaction for both husbands and wives. Wives who reported strong positive mood effects on their sexuality indicated greater sexual satisfaction, while husbands who were more similar to their wives in the effect of positive moods on sexuality indicated greater sexual satisfaction. Conclusions:  The findings show that, above and beyond one's own sexual propensities, similarity in various aspects of sexuality predicts sexual problems (more so in women) and sexual satisfaction (in both men and women).
Link
Citation
Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9(5), p. 1360-1366
ISSN
1743-6109
1743-6095
Start page
1360
End page
1366

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