Factors predicting the probability of initiating sexual intercourse by context and sex.

Abstract

Despite men initiating sex more than women there is considerable variance within the sexes. This study is the first to consider the impact of multiple predictors from the literature, and investigates how factors, such as relationship length, sociosexuality, and different aspects of self-perceived mate value among others, independently and interactively predict initiation of sexual intercourse in both short-term sexual and long-term romantic mating contexts, testing predictions from Sexual strategies theory. For long-term relationships, positive partner bond increased initiative to sexual intercourse for women. For men, self-perceived independence increased probability of taking the initiative, while relationship attachment decreased probability. For short-term relations, the desire component of the sociosexual orientation inventory increased probability of initiation for both sexes, while male initiative was increased by pleasure reasons for sex. The impact of individual predictors on initiating intercourse is influenced by being included in a multidimensional model, and relationship context affects the impact of the predictors.