Abstract
The sexual double standard (SDS) refers to the acceptance of different criteria to assess the same sexual behavior in men and women. To date, the few studies that have addressed the relationship between SDS and sexual satisfaction have obtained inconclusive results. In addition, no study has analyzed sexual satisfaction in people who maintain different forms of adherence to the SDS. This study establishes three SDS typologies of adherence (man-favorable, woman-favorable, egalitarian) in two areas of sexual behavior (sexual freedom and sexual shyness) to examine the predictive capacity of personal variables (age, social dominance orientation, propensity for sexual excitation/inhibition), interpersonal variables (relationship satisfaction) and social variables (gender norms about sexual behaviors) in sexual satisfaction. A sample of 1194 heterosexual adults (51.1% men, 48.8% women) aged between 18 and 87 years (M = 40.63; SD = 15.67), who had been in a relationship for more than 6 months, was evaluated. In men, the highest sexual satisfaction levels were obtained in the egalitarian typology in the sexual freedom area. In women, no significant differences were found between the typologies of adherence to the SDS. Regression models showed that relationship satisfaction was the main predictor of sexual satisfaction in all the typologies in both men and women. In addition, the predictive relationship of personal variables with sexual satisfaction varied according to gender and the SDS adherence type. The results show the importance of studying sexual satisfaction by taking into account not only the differences between men and women. Furthermore, it is essential to consider other differences between people; for example, the difference that derives from the way of psychologically internalizing attitude toward the SDS.
Highlights
One of the most relevant manifestations of sexual health is sexual satisfaction (Henderson et al, 2009; World Health Organization., 2010), which suggests a subjective dimension of sexuality and is defined as “an affective response arising from one’s subjective evaluation of the positive and negative dimensions associated with one’s sexual relationship” (Lawrance and Byers, 1995, p. 268)
A personal factor that has been associated with sexual satisfaction, albeit with inconsistent results to date, is the sexual double standard (SDS); that is, the attitude which involves a distinct evaluation of given sexual behaviors depending on if they are performed by a man or a woman, where men have more freedom and/or permissibility than women (Álvarez-Muelas et al, 2020b)
As regards the sexual satisfaction measure, isolated questions are normally employed (e.g., HaavioMannila and Kontula, 2003), or scales that mix sexual satisfaction items with items about sexual satisfaction-related variables, such as sexual attitude, desire or sexual excitation (e.g., SantosIglesias et al, 2009; Marques et al, 2013). We believe that this limitation can be overcome by using the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction, which has been validated in a Spanish population (Sánchez-Fuentes and Santos-Iglesias, 2016), and is one of the measures included in the Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire (Sánchez-Fuentes et al, 2015; Calvillo et al, 2020b; Lawrance et al, 2020)
Summary
One of the most relevant manifestations of sexual health is sexual satisfaction (Henderson et al, 2009; World Health Organization., 2010), which suggests a subjective dimension of sexuality and is defined as “an affective response arising from one’s subjective evaluation of the positive and negative dimensions associated with one’s sexual relationship” (Lawrance and Byers, 1995, p. 268). We kept some variables with previous evidence with respect to sexual satisfaction (age, propensity for sexual excitation/inhibition, relationship satisfaction, and gender norms about sexual behaviors), and we included a variable would play a relevant role according to the different form of adherence to SDS (social dominance orientation). Based on the Ecological Theory of Human Development framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1994), this study considers the different forms of individual SDS adherence to examine the sexual satisfaction relationship with personal (age, social dominance orientation, propensity for sexual excitation/inhibition), interpersonal (relationship satisfaction) and social (gender social norms about sexual behavior) factors. When considering gender (i.e., men and women) and SDS adherence types in the SF and SS areas: RQ1: Would there be any differences in sexual satisfaction and related variables of personal (age, social dominance orientation, and propensity for sexual excitation/inhibition), interpersonal (relationship satisfaction) and social (gender norms about sexual behaviors)?. RQ2: What predictive capacity would personal (age, social dominance orientation, and propensity for sexual excitation/inhibition), interpersonal (relationship satisfaction), and social (gender norms on sexual behaviors) variables have on sexual satisfaction?
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