Women's Endorsement of Models of Female Sexual Response: The Nurses' Sexuality Study

Abstract

These are the first data to assess the proportion of a community sample of women who endorse widely accepted models of female sexual response as representing their own sexual experience. Women in this sample were equally likely to endorse each of these different models, emphasizing the heterogeneity of women's sexual response, and highlighting the need for additional research to guide the field's acceptance and application of particular models of female sexuality in particular situations. Women's endorsement of models of female sexual response was correlated with their FSFI scores, and findings suggest that the Basson model, currently advanced by the Second International Consultation on Sexual Medicine, may best reflect women with sexual concerns (e.g., FSFI < 26.55), rather than a single normative sexual response pattern.