The present exploration of perceptual accuracy and bias in romantic relationships bridges a gap in the literature on the ability of partners to estimate one another’s level of relational and sexual satisfaction, and its impact on their own and their partner’s level of satisfaction. A sample of 50 couples, recruited internationally, in continuously monogamous relationships of at least six-months in length completed online assessments of their relationship. The degree of accuracy and bias of their perception was established by comparing actor’s estimates of their partner’s satisfaction with the partner’s actual, self-reported satisfaction scores. The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM; Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006) revealed significant partner effects (but no actor effects): the underestimation of perceived partner’s sexual and relational satisfaction predicted an increase in partner’s actual sexual and relational satisfaction. Overestimation of partner’s satisfaction, on the other hand, predicted a decrease in partner’s actual satisfaction. Authors hypothesize that under-perception of partner’s satisfaction motivates corrective relationship behaviors, which, in turn, increases the experience of satisfaction of the relationship partner.

With the rising age of marriage and previous research failing to address a more detailed look at more descriptive measures of satisfaction, the current study examined the association between age of first marriage and marital stability, satisfaction, sexual satisfaction and frequency, effective communication, conflict, and problem areas. Results from a sample of 470 participants who completed the RELATE Questionnaire indicated that across the board, those who married from ages 20-24 had better marital outcomes than those who delayed marriage until their thirties and beyond. These results fit a possible theory of explanation that when it comes to age of marriage, a "balanced is better" approach may be more beneficial to couples when it comes to successful marriages.

Love and sex change over the course of a relationship. The current research investigates the factors that contribute to sexual desire and sexual satisfaction in long-term couples. In two studies, the association between motivational goals for sex, interdependence, and sexual outcomes were explored. Study 1 was a cross-sectional survey. The results of Study 1 revealed that participants who engaged in sex more often for approach goals reported higher levels of desire, whereas participants who engaged in sex more often for avoidance goals reported lower levels of desire. Study 2 was a 21-day daily experience study involving a subset of the participants from Study 1. The results of Study 2 indicated that on days when participants reported engaging in sex more for approach goals they reported greater sexual desire, whereas on days when participants reported engaging in sex more for avoidance goals they reported lower levels of sexual desire. Partner-focused, as opposed to self-focused sexual goals, were primarily responsible for these associations. In both studies, relationship satisfaction was also associated with higher desire, and this was mediated by the tendency of people who are more satisfied to engage in sex more often for approach goals. In Study 2, approach goals moderated the impact of avoidance goals on sexual desire, and this association differed by gender. Stronger approach goals buffered against declines in sexual desire associated with avoidance goals for women, but not for men. The findings support the utility of applying a motivational framework to the study of sexuality in established couples and the greater relevance of partner-focused sexual goals in long-term relationships.

Previous studies have shown that women choose partners resembling their fathers in various characteristics. However, none of the studies have focused on woman's father-partner body odour similarity, even though body odour plays an important role in mate choice. The main aim of our study was to test whether the woman's father and partner body odour is similar and whether the rating of this similarity was affected by the body odour's intensity and pleasantness. Further, we wanted to know whether the quality of woman's relationship with her father during her childhood influences the body odour similarity. We also tested the effect of woman's father-partner body odour similarity on sexual and relationship satisfaction. Twenty-five women with their fathers and partners participated in the study. Every respondent completed a set of questionnaires, in addition, fathers and partners provided samples of their body odours. Body odour similarity was rated by independent female raters (N=128). According to the results of our study, body odour of woman's father and partner is significantly similar. The body odour was also similar in intensity and pleasantness. The quality of woman's relationship with her father does not affect woman's father-partner body odour similarity. Nevertheless, this similarity...

<p>The present study predicted that gender, relationship status, sexual orientation, and sexual debut would have an impact on number of sexual partners, which would then affect self-esteem, sexual satisfaction, and sexual self-efficacy. Through an online survey, participants anonymously responded to statements related to these concepts in order to test relationships among demographics and the number of sexual partners as well as among the number of sexual partners and self-esteem, sexual satisfaction, and sexual self-efficacy. Overall, men were much more influenced by their relationship status and number of sexual partners than women, implying that the men are still affected by the sexual double standard through the praise they receive for having many sexual partners.</p>

The topic of this thesis is the effect of pornography consumption on the partner sexual activity. The content of the theoretical part is the definition of pornography, history of pornography and psychological view on pornography. Furthermore, the work deals with the current psychological research concerning the influence on individual areas of sexual activity. The empirical part aims to discover the connection between the pornography consumption and sexual activity in relationships, such as frequency of sexual activities, sexual satisfaction, sexual communication and openness or repertoire and frequency of using partner sexual practices. The research was carried out using an anonymous online questionnaire, in which respondents were selected by the method of self-selection. The outcomes of the thesis could be used in relationship and sexuology counseling as a tool for deeper understanding of sexuality in relationships and for more accurate targeting of help in this area of problems. Keywords pornography consumption, relationship, sexual activity, sexual satisfaction, sexual communication

As individuals develop, it is natural to reference social situations to learn about the self. Even as adults, some learning about the self comes from interactions with others. However, when adults consistently allow others to define their sense of self, their focus may shift away from connection and intimacy toward external factors. No studies have examined how allowing others to define the sense of self is associated with intimacy and satisfaction in relationships. Using structural equation modeling, this study examined whether allowing others to define the self is associated with a decrease in emotional intimacy, relational satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction and whether this relationship might be mediated by sense of self. I used a sample (n = 421) of U.S. adults in committed sexual relationships. Three common ways of allowing others to define the self—emotional fusion, externalized self-perception, and social comparison—were considered relative to the relational outcomes. Gender differences in the model were also considered. Results showed a negative association between all three ways of allowing others to define the self and all three relational outcomes for men, and negative associations between emotional fusion and externalized self-perception and all three relational outcomes for women. These associations were mediated by sense of self such that those who reported allowing others to define the self, also reported a weaker sense of self. Having a strong sense of self was positively associated with emotional intimacy, relationship satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction. This indicates that looking to outside sources to define the self may hinder intimacy and satisfaction in relationships. Further implications are discussed.

No description available.

Technology-mediated sexual interaction (TMSI) is a behavioural domain that captures the variety of ways that people engage in interpersonal exchanges of self-created, sexual material via communication technology. People report TMSI with romantic partners more than in other relationship contexts, yet there are few theoretically driven studies on people's motives for TMSI within romantic relationships. This lack of theoretical framing in the existing TMSI research makes it difficult to organize findings across studies in a coherent way, to explain particular phenomena, and to make connections between people's technology-mediated and in-person sexual experiences. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to improve knowledge about people's motives for engaging in TMSI with a committed romantic partner. To address this goal, I produced four articles which together allowed me to: (1) develop an evidence-based grounding for TMSI; (2) address limitations in current approaches to TMSI research; and (3) apply the approach-avoidance motivational framework to examine people's motives for and outcomes of engaging in TMSI with a committed romantic partner. In Article 1, I completed a systematic literature review on definitions, prevalence, and relationship context of sexting and cybersex (two of the most common TMSI activities). I found that researcher's conceptual definitions of sexting and cybersex are virtually indistinguishable and that the prevalence of sexting and cybersex was similar when researchers used comparable definitions. From these results, I conceptualized the TMSI behavioural domain. In Article 2, I described four common conceptual and measurement problems that arise when researchers focus on activities (i.e., sexting) rather than behaviours (i.e., TMSI). These problems include: (1) imprudent focus on the medium, (2) inconsistent conceptual definitions, (3) poor measurement practices, and (4) a lack of theoretical frameworks. I argue that the solutions to these problems require construct valid measures, theory-driven research, and a shift in focus away from sexting research and towards the TMSI behavioural domain. In Article 3, I used multi-grounded theory to guide qualitative analyses of 25 interviews focused on TMSI experiences and motives in current romantic partnerships. I found that participants described their TMSI motives in terms that aligned with the approach-avoidance motivational framework. In Article 4, I conducted two separate surveys to (1) develop a construct valid measure of people's approach and avoidance motives for TMSI with a current romantic partner (Article 4.1; N = 269) and (2) examine the extent to which people's approach and avoidance motives for TMSI with a romantic partner predicted well-being outcomes (Article 4.2; N = 459). I found that people's approach and avoidance motives predicted sexual, relationship, and life satisfaction through changes in dyadic sexual desire. Overall, this dissertation contributes to and extends knowledge about people's approach and avoidance TMSI motives by focusing on theoretically driven and construct valid research practices.

No description available.