Intimate justice: sexual satisfaction in young adults

Abstract

Sexual satisfaction is an important indicator of individual and relational well being. Questions remain whether this construct is adequately measured, particularly for women and men who experience limited sexual rights in the socio-political domain due to their gender and/or sexual minority status. The aims of the research were to: 1) develop a theoretical framework that acknowledges social, psychological, and relational antecedents of sexual satisfaction appraisals; 2) examine differences in sexual satisfaction among heterosexual and LGBT women and men; and 3) identify scale anchors and respondents’ expectations for satisfaction when making appraisals in order to develop systematic methods for linking construct definitions with subsequent scores. Study 1 analyzed self-report data from 8,595 young adults (ages 18-28) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Multivariate analyses indicated a crossover interaction between gender and sexual minority status: Heterosexual women and sexual minority men reported lower sexual satisfaction than heterosexual men and sexual minority women. Self-esteem and relational reciprocity moderated sexual satisfaction for women, but not for men;moderation effects were not found for sexual minority status. The data demonstrate that person- and relational-level factors affect individuals’ sexual appraisals and that the gender of the partner plays an important role in sexual satisfaction. Study 2 investigated how heterosexual and sexual minority young adults defined sexual satisfaction. Students ages 18-28 (n=34) at an urban university completed a card sorting task, paper-and-pencil measures, including self-anchored ladder items (Cantril, 1965), and a semi-structured interview concerning sexual satisfaction. Gender differences were found in the scaling of sexual satisfaction: Women associated the low end of the scale with pain, whereas men associated low satisfaction with the absence of sex or masturbation. Interview data revealed that whereas heterosexual men most frequently defined satisfaction according to their own orgasm, women and LGBT men relied on other benchmarks, including feelings of safety and closeness, and a partner’s satisfaction level. The findings from both studies suggest that when researchers study sexual satisfaction, it is critical to build sexual expectations into measures. Expectations for satisfaction are shaped by gender inequity and sexual stigma and these ultimately influence the validity of sexual satisfaction appraisals.