Key variables to understanding female sexual satisfaction: An examination of women in nondistressed marriages

Abstract

Using a step-wise multiple regression analysis, this study examined the role, in nondistressed marriages, of such sexual variables as frequency of sexual activity, number of orgasms, sexual desire, and sexual excitability in the prediction of female sexual satisfaction as compared to the role of such personality and relationship variables as sexual assertiveness, sexual attitudes (erotophobia-erotophilia), and relationship closeness. The findings suggest that individual and relationship variables (sexual assertiveness, erotophilia, and relationship closeness) aid in the prediction of female sexual satisfaction over and above what can be learned from knowing about the frequency of sexual activity, the number of orgasms a woman has, her level of sexual excitability, and how much she desired the sexual activity. Findings, methodological advances in the use of sex diaries, and limitations of the study are explored.