Abstract
Many scholars have called for an increased focus on positive aspects of sexual health and sexuality. Using a longitudinal design with two assessments, we investigated patterns of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure and self-efficacy to achieve sexual pleasure among 295 young men and women aged 17–25 years attending one Australian university. We also tested whether entitlement and efficacy differed by gender, and hypothesized that entitlement and efficacy would be higher in older participants and those with more sexual experience. A sense of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure increased significantly over the year of the study, whereas, on average, there was no change in self-efficacy over time. At Time 1 (T1), young women reported more entitlement than young men. Age was positively associated with T1 entitlement, and experience with a wider range of partnered sexual behaviors was concurrently associated with more entitlement and efficacy and was also associated with increased entitlement to partner pleasure and increased self-efficacy in achieving sexual pleasure at T2 relative to T1. A group with the least amount of sexual experience was particularly low in entitlement and efficacy when compared to groups with a history of coital experience. There was no evidence that any association differed between young men and young women. Limitations of the study include a sample of predominantly middle class, Caucasian students at one university and the possibility that students more interested in sex and relationships, and with more sexual experience, chose to participate.
Highlights
Sexuality is a “central aspect of being human” [1] (p. 15) and it is often defined to include sexual behavior, the development of sexual preferences, the understanding of the self as a sexual being, sexual decision-making, and agency [2]
There was no difference in sexual subjectivity or sexual behavior repertoire between groups, but a higher proportion of participants who reported they were only attracted to the other sex reported a history of vaginal intercourse (79%) when compared to other participants (64%), χ2 = 6.21, p < 0.05
Young women reported a higher level of Time 1 (T1) sense of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure than young men
Summary
Sexuality is a “central aspect of being human” [1] (p. 15) and it is often defined to include sexual behavior, the development of sexual preferences, the understanding of the self as a sexual being, sexual decision-making, and agency [2]. 15) and it is often defined to include sexual behavior, the development of sexual preferences, the understanding of the self as a sexual being, sexual decision-making, and agency [2]. It includes the understanding of others’ sexual desires and how to approach and handle intimacy with another person. Described sexuality as “an integral part of the personality of everyone: man, woman and child. It is a basic need and aspect of being human that cannot be separated from other aspects of life.
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