The Relationship Between Attachment Styles and Sexual Desire Among Iranian Women

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the association of attachment styles with sexual desire. The data presented here were obtained from a total of 192 married Iranian women who were selected via a multi-cluster sampling method from three Universities in Tehran. The subjects’ socio-demographic data, attachment styles (Adult Attachment Styles Index), and sexual desire (Hurlbert Index of Sexual Desire) was gathered. Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Stepwise Regression Analysis method were used to analyze the data. Findings showed significant relationships between sexual desire and secure attachment style (r=0.283, p<0.01), insecure-avoidant attachment style (r=−0.321, p<0.01), and insecure-ambivalent attachment style (r=0.144, p<0.05) . There were also significant negative relationships between sexual desire and age (r=−0.553, p<0.01) and marital duration (r=−0.349, p<0.01). Age, insecure-avoidant, and ambivalent attachment styles were able to predict 36.3 percent of the variance of sexual desire. In conclusion, higher scores in Secure and ambivalent attachment styles were associated with higher scores of sexual desire. On the other hand, when scores of insecure avoidant attachment style increased, there was a declination in the scores of sexual desire. Also, age and marital duration were inversely related to sexual desire.