Role of Sexual Self-Disclosure in the Sexual Satisfaction of Long-Term Heterosexual Couples

Abstract

This study examined two proposed pathways between sexual self-disclosure (SSD) and sexual satisfaction in a sample of 104 heterosexual couples in long-term relationships. According to the proposed instrumental pathway, disclosure of sexual preferences increases a partner's understanding of those preferences resulting in a sexual script that is more rewarding and less costly. A more favorable balance of sexual rewards to sexual costs, in turn, results in greater sexual satisfaction for the disclosing individual. According to the proposed expressive pathway, mutual self-disclosure contributes to relationship satisfaction, which in turn leads to greater sexual satisfaction. Support was found for the instrumental pathway for both men and women. Support also was found for an expressive pathway between own SSD and partner nonsexual self-disclosure (NSD) and men's sexual satisfaction, and between own NSD and women's sexual satisfaction. These results are interpreted in terms of mechanisms for establishing and maintaining sexual satisfaction in long-term relationships in men and women.

This study was conducted by the first author in partial fulfillment of the doctoral degree in clinical psychology under the supervision of the second author. This research was supported by a graduate fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The authors would like to thank Barry Spinner, Enrico DiTommaso, Carmen Poulin, and the members of the Human Sexuality Research Group at the University of New Brunswick who provided invaluable feedback in the development of this study.

Notes

Note. N = 104. Correlations for the pathways for men are above the diagonal; correlations for the pathways for women are below the diagonal. Numbers on the diagonal represent similarity between partners. SSD = Sexual Self-Disclosure; NSD = Nonsexual Self-Disclosure; Partner UND_REW = Partner Understanding of Sexual Rewards; Partner UND_CST = Partner Understanding of Sexual Costs; REW–CST = Balance of Sexual Rewards to Sexual Costs; GMREL = Relationship Satisfaction; GMSEX = Sexual Satisfaction.

∗p <.05; ∗∗p <.01; ∗∗∗p <.001

¹After controlling for men's UND_REW, women's sexual satisfaction remained negatively correlated with men's UND_CST.

²After controlling for women's UND_REW, men's sexual satisfaction remained negatively correlated with women's UND_CST.