173
Views
2
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Sexual interactions (un)scripted: an exploration of consequential unscripted sexual interactions

 

ABSTRACT

This manuscript describes a study investigating consequential unscripted sexual interactions, their outcomes, and how interaction involvement and sexual communication satisfaction combined to influence perceptions of these unscripted exchanges. This approach fills an academic and pragmatic void in how sexual interactions are understood as extant scholarship largely frames sexual interactions as highly scripted episodes. Adults (N = 145) in the U.S. participated in an anonymous online survey. Respondents described important and meaningful conversations with a sexual partner during which they did not know what to say, what to do, or how to respond, and these narratives were reliably coded into nine categories using an a priori classification scheme. Topics produced differential outcomes, and both interaction involvement and sexual communication satisfaction made unique positive contributions to the consequences of unscripted sexual interactions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Because the number of sexual partners variable was positively (right) skewed (skew = 16.50) and included a statistical outlier, these scores were transformed using a square root transformation, which successfully maintained the representativeness of this sample and allowed for statistical analysis (M = 2.55, Mo = 1, Mdn = 2.45, SD = 1.37, Min = 1, Max = 9, skew = 1.43).

2. The transformed sexual partner variable was also included as a covariate in the analyses investigating interaction involvement, sexual communication satisfaction, and their relationships with consequential unscripted sexual interactions. The number of sexual partners produced no substantial change in average means, effect sizes, significance tests, or interpretation of the results.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.