A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
in partial fulfillment of the requirement of
the Degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology)
Johannesburg 1993 / This dissertation explores the relationships between fusion
(operationalised as a very high level of intimacy), levels
of sexual desire and the frequency of sexual activity in
lesbian relationships of duration longer than one year. The
viability and appropriateness of the research method is also
assessed, as this is an under-researched area. Fusion is
theoretically and clinically posited to be associated to be
associated with low levels of desire and sexual activity for
lesbian couples.The questionnaire used consists of the
Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships Inventory,
demographic questions and measures of the frequency of sexual
activity and levels of sexual desire. This last had to be
discarded as invalid. Participants were found via friendship
networks and the media, and questionnaires were distributed
and returned postally. The sample of thirty-six women covers
a broad range of ages'but is predominantly English-speaking
and skewed towards higher education and salary levels.
Spearman correlation coefficients were. calculated for the
variables. The frequency of sexual activity does not' correlate
significantly with any form of intimacy, including
sexual intimacy. Sexual activity does decline in frequency
with an increase in the age of the participants and their
partners and with an increase in the duration of the relationship,
a finding in accordance with overseas research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/20864 |
| Date | 15 August 2016 |
| Creators | Blyth, Susan |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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