Partners’ Sexual Satisfaction in Partnership and Marriage: A Study Method

Abstract

The article presents a new Polish tool serving to measure the degree of sexual satisfaction achieved with a particular partner. It is a three-factor tool (measuring intimacy, petting, and sex) comprising 10 items that meet standardization requirements completely. The results of the performed factor validity analysis indicate that the three-factor model is the most valid for the purpose of description of sexual satisfaction measured with the SSQ (Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire)—the aspects of satisfaction singled out in the model are strongly correlated. The three dimensions of satisfaction that were distinguished describe intimacy in a romantic relationship, satisfaction with one’s sex life, and satisfaction with mutual physical contacts other than sex. The cross-validation tests revealed that such a factor structure of the SSQ is stable and characteristic for the representatives of both of the sexes as well as married people. The three-factor structure significantly merges into a single global indicator only in the case of people maintaining partnerships, which advocates verification of a hypothesis regarding differences in the way married and cohabiting partners experience sexual satisfaction.

Notes

1 Although homosexuality is not outlawed in Poland, same-sex marriages are not currently guaranteed by law.

2 The gender × status of relationship crosstabs can be interpreted as a test of differences because it is a special case of 2 × 2 crosstabulation, in this case a Chi-square test is an equivalent of a test for proportions (Howell, 2014).