Satisfaction, sexual

1 Satisfaction, sexual HeatHer Hensman Kettrey and Laura m. Carpenter Vanderbilt university, nashville, tn, united states Sexual satisfaction generally refers to the level of gratification that individuals obtain from sexual activity. Although it is often construed as pertaining to physical pleasure, sexual satisfaction also includes emotional and relational dimensions. These three aspects of satisfaction are typically correlated with one another. For example, individuals who report high levels of physical sexual satisfaction also tend to report high levels of emotional and relational satisfaction. Historically, sexual satisfaction has often been conflated with physical pleasure, which may be a reason for its relative absence from public discourse. Dominant mores in nineteenth-century Euro-American societies included what French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault (1926–1984) called a “logic of censorship,” which deemed sexual pleasure unspeakable, especially with regard to women. The tacit values of this era assumed that men pursued and achieved sexual pleasure, whereas women were not interested in, and could in fact be corrupted by, the physical pleasures of sex. Proscriptions limiting the public acknowledgment of adult women’s pleasure began to abate in the twentieth century, but they are still evident in contemporary norms that treat sexual desire and satisfaction as “unspeakable” with reference to adolescent girls while taking them for granted (perhaps incorrectly) with reference to teenage boys (Fine 1988). The Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) brought explicit attention to women’s sexual pleasure in the early to mid-twentieth century. Freud and his followers understood women’s pleasure to be secondary to men’s and best achieved through sexual acts conducive to men’s physical pleasure—that is, through vaginal sex. The popularization of Freudian thought helped lay the groundwork for the new expectation that mutual sexual satisfaction was a key to marital bliss. However, such ideology lost much of its cultural sway in the 1960s and 1970s under the scrutiny of second-wave feminists such as Betty Friedan (1921–2006), Anne Koedt (1939–), and Kate Millett (1934–). These feminists argued that it was sexist to treat clitoral orgasms, the most common form of orgasm for most women, as “immature,” and they condemned popular guidance on achieving marital bliss for its role in maintaining a patriarchal power structure. From the late 1940s through the 1970s, mass media coverage of research conducted by Alfred Kinsey (1894–1956) and the team of William Masters (1915–2001) and Virginia Johnson (1925–2013) brought increasing public attention to sexual satisfaction. Kinsey’s interviews revealed the wide range of sexual pleasures that men and women pursue, while Masters and Johnson’s laboratory studies illuminated men’s and women’s physiological responses to sexual stimuli. Although these scholars have since been criticized for lacking methodological rigor, employing patriarchal assumptions, and/or ignoring cultural influences on sexuality, they made a huge cultural impact by legitimizing sexual satisfaction as a topic worthy of public discussion and academic investigation. At the turn of the twenty-first century, most research on sexual satisfaction still focuses on physical pleasure, which is typically operationalized as the frequency of sex and/or orgasms, and pays less attention to satisfaction with the emotional and relational aspects of sex. Much research on physical satisfaction is clinical in nature, exploring factors that may limit women’s and men’s ability to receive physical pleasure from sexual activity, such as drug and alcohol use, sexual abuse/trauma, psychological disorders, physical injury, and medical conditions. Findings from these studies have implications for the diagnosis and treatment of “sexual dysfunction” (erectile difficulties, female orgasmic disorder, and so on). However, social scientists have critiqued this The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality, First Edition. Edited by Patricia Whelehan and Anne Bolin. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2 research for conceptualizing sexual satisfaction so narrowly as to ignore subjective experiences, for limiting satisfaction to the physical realm, and for treating the attainment of physical pleasure as relatively uncomplicated. Recent psychological and sociological research has extended investigations of sexual satisfaction so as to (1) use subjective measures of sexual satisfaction; (2) include outcomes beyond physical pleasure; and (3) explore factors that contribute to attaining, rather than inhibiting, sexual satisfaction. Although some contemporary studies use frequency of sexual intercourse or orgasm as a proxy for sexual satisfaction, an emerging trend is to examine more subjective measures of physical, emotional, and relational satisfaction. Researchers who employ such methods believe they are capturing a more valid measure of sexual satisfaction, one that reflects multiple sources of sexual satisfaction and acknowledges the possibility of individuals enjoying satisfactory sex lives without frequent sexual activity and/or physical climax. However, a study by psychologist Sara McClelland suggests that self-reports may not always capture respondents’ levels of satisfaction adequately. McClelland (2011) found that some individuals, especially women and gay and bisexual men, respond to questions about their own sexual satisfaction by referencing their partner’s satisfaction rather than by describing their own pleasure or gratification. Psychological and sociological scholarship on sexual satisfaction tends to be framed in terms of either an evolutionary theoretical perspective or a rational choice/exchange model. The evolutionary psychology perspective posits that the pursuit of sexual satisfaction ultimately serves the purpose of proliferating the human species. It suggests that men and women seek and obtain different outcomes from sex. Specifically, since men have the potential to impregnate several women at any given time, they have evolved to seek physical pleasure from several partners. Alternatively, since women can only become impregnated by one man at any given time, they have evolved to be more selective and to choose a partner who demonstrates commitment to protecting his offspring. Consequently, women seek emotional commitment and satisfaction from one sexual partner. The rational choice and social exchange perspectives on sexual satisfaction, although distinct from one another, both view individuals as pragmatic actors who logically assess the quality of their sex lives. These models propose, respectively, that individuals evaluate their sexual satisfaction in terms of striking an equitable balance between the investments and resources, or costs and rewards, of sexual activity. Some scholars have gone beyond these frameworks to apply a life course perspective to the study of sexual satisfaction. Whereas evolutionary and rational choice studies tend to focus on sexual satisfaction in the reproductive years, life course analyses often extend from childhood and adolescence to old age. The life course perspective views satisfaction as a normal dimension of sexual life that may change or remain fairly stable across various stages of the lifespan. For example, people who report comparatively high levels of satisfaction at young ages tend to report comparatively high levels in later life, although some studies find that sexual satisfaction declines with age on average. Researchers have identified a range of variables that are related to sexual satisfaction. For example, both men and women report higher levels of physical and emotional satisfaction with sex when they are in relationships than when they are not in relationships. Furthermore, sexual exclusivity and the expectation that a relationship will last are associated with higher levels of emotional satisfaction, for women and men alike. Sexual satisfaction does not appear to be related to sexual orientation, but it is patterned in part by gender. For example, although physical satisfaction with sex tends to be correlated with relational satisfaction for both sexes, this relationship is stronger for men than for women (Sprecher 2002). Some research indicates that, contrary to popular stereotypes, relationship status is an important influence on men’s subjective sexual satisfaction, while physical pleasure is a key predictor of women’s subjective sexual satisfaction (Carpenter et al. 2009). Notably, women in more gender equitable cultures report higher levels of sexual satisfaction than women in patriarchal cultures. Although sexual satisfaction is a fairly new topic of investigation, scholars have already begun to question assumptions about and definitions of this concept, as described above. One promising direction for future research is assessing whether sexual satisfaction is patterned by race, ethnicity, 3 Sigmund (1856–1939); Intercourse, Frequency; Intimacy; Kinsey, Alfred Charles (1894–1956); Kissing; Love; Masters, William H. (1915–2001), and Virginia E. Johnson (1925–2013) Higgins, Jenny A., and Jennifer S. Hirsch. 2007. “The Pleasure Deficit: Revisiting the ‘Sexuality Connection’ in Reproductive Health.” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 39: 240–247. McClelland, Sara I. 2011. “Who Is the ‘Self ’ in Self Reports of Sexual Satisfaction? Research and Policy Implications.” Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 8: 304–320. Sprecher, Susan. 2002. “Sexual Satisfaction in Premarital Relationships: Associations with Satisfaction, Love, Commitment, and Stability.” The Journal of Sex Research, 39: 190–196. REFERENCES FURTHER READINGS Carpenter, Laura, Constance A. Nathanson, and Young J. Kim. 2009. “Physical Women, Emotional Men: Gender and Sexual Satisfaction in Midlife.” Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38: 87–107. Fine, Michelle. 1988. “Sexuality, Schooling and Adolescent Females: The Missing Discourse of Desire.” Harvard Educational Review, 58: 29–54. D’Emilio, John, and Estelle Freedman. 1997. Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Foucault, Michel. 1978. The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books. socioeconomic status, or disability. Additionally, some scholars have recommended that research on sexual satisfaction be designed and executed in a manner that can inform public health policy (Higgins and Hirsch 2007). see aLsO: Desire, Sexual; Feminism; Freud,