INTRODUCTION:
The
present study measured the daily correlates of sexual behavior in an
ecologically valid context by relying on a daily diary approach.
AIM:
Examining
the dyadic and multicomponent nature of sexual behavior is essential to create
valid models of sexual responding that are better aligned with the day-to-day
context of having sex in a relationship.
METHODS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
During
3 weeks, heterosexual couples completed, two times a day, an electronic diary
to report on mood, own and perceived partner behavior, relational feelings (in
the evening), sexual activity, physical intimacy, and masturbation (in the
morning). This design allowed testing bidirectional temporal associations
between daily context and different types of sexual behavior.
RESULTS:
Positive
mood, displays of positive partner behavior, perceived positive partner
behavior, and positive relational feelings predicted more sexual activity and
intimacy in men, which then further increased their positive mood, perceived
positive partner behavior, and positive feelings about the relationship on the
following day. Women showed a similar pattern of predictors regarding sexual
activity as men, though the effect of sexual behavior on next-day feelings and
behavior was more relationship-oriented rather than affecting personal mood.
Intimacy was related to almost all daily variables in women, but related only
to own and perceived positive partner behavior and positive relational feelings
the next day. Several partner effects also reached significance, and these were
more influential in predicting male than female intimacy. Solitary sexual
activity showed a different pattern of results than dyadic sexual activity,
with men experiencing masturbation as negatively in the context of their
relationship.
CONCLUSION:
These
results confirm the regulatory function of sex and intimacy in maintaining a
positive relational climate and indicate that the quality of the everyday
relational context is important to get partners in the mood to act in a sexual
way.
- 1Department of Experimental, Clinical, and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
- 2Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
- 3Department of Clinical Psychology, Open University Heerlen, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
- 4Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
- 5Department of Data Analysis, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
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