Association of Sexual Attitudes with Sexual Function: General vs. Specific Attitudes.

Juan Carlos Sierra,Ana Álvarez-Muelas,Oscar Cervilla,Jennifer Gómez-Carranza

doi:10.3390/ijerph181910390

Juan Carlos Sierra, Ana Álvarez-Muelas + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910390

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Abstract

Background: Sexual attitudes are related to the expression of sexuality and have been associated with indicators for sexual health. The main aim of this study was to determine the explanatory capacity of general (i.e., erotophilia) and specific (i.e., toward sexual fantasies and masturbation) sexual attitudes on different sexual functioning dimensions (sexual desire, sexual arousal, lubrication/erection, ability to have an orgasm and orgasm satisfaction). Methods: The sample consisted of 2000 heterosexual adults (1044 women, 956 men) aged 18–83 years. Results: The explanatory models for women mainly showed that positive attitudes toward sexual fantasies (β range = −0.35, −0.249) and age (β range = −0.111, 0.086) explained sexual function. The models proposed for men revealed a more diverse pattern, although the variable essential for explaining sexual function was a positive attitude toward sexual fantasies (β range = −0.266, −0.097). Conclusions: These results indicate that specific sexual attitudes, particularly in relation to sexual fantasies, are more sensitive variables than erotophilia in examining sexual health.

Highlights

Sexual attitudes are beliefs with a heavy emotional weight that cause subjects to favorably or unfavorably respond to sexual stimuli
The models proposed for men revealed a more diverse pattern, the variable essential for explaining sexual function was a positive attitude toward sexual fantasies (β range = −0.266, −0.097)
Erotophilia is related to sexual self-esteem [6], general sexual function [7,8,9,10], sexual desire [11,12,13,14], subjective and objective sexual arousal [15,16], propensity for sexual excitation [17,18], subjective orgasm experience [19], sexual satisfaction [20], sexual fantasies [21], sexual dreams [22], and sexual assertiveness [9,10,23,24], among other constructs

Summary

Introduction

Sexual attitudes are beliefs with a heavy emotional weight that cause subjects to favorably or unfavorably respond to sexual stimuli. Sexual attitudes can be displayed towards sexuality in general (e.g., erotophilia) or certain sexual conducts (e.g., attitude toward sexual fantasies or masturbation). If people move toward the erotophobic extreme, they feel dissatisfied emotions about sexual stimuli, negatively evaluate them, and so they avoid them [4]. This construct is a traditional research objective in human sexuality research [5]. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Another attitude toward certain sexual conduct, and one which is interesting for studying sexual health, is the attitude toward masturbation. A negative attitude toward masturbation is associated with sexual guilt [34,35,38], less frequent orgasms while practicing masturbation [39], less subjective sexual arousal [40], less frequent masturbation [32,41], less solitary sexual desire and a worse sexual function [32]

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