Gender attributions of orgasm non-occurrence in heterosexual relationships and their association with sexual and relationship outcomes

Figures & data

Table 3. Summary of participant attributions for their own non-occurrence of orgasm.

Theme	Subtheme	Men	Women	Total
Medical/health attributions	Tired/lack of energy	27	27	54
	Medical injury or illness (not sexually related)	11	37	48
	Sexually related medical condition	11	7	18
	Substance use	3	1	4
	Total	52	72	124
Psychogenic attributions	Distracted/mind elsewhere	6	37	43
	Stress/anxiety (not sexually related)	12	31	43
	Sexual anxiety (body image, guilt, witholding)	3	7	10
	Total	21	75	96
Relationship attributions	Not in the mood/low desire	10	34	44
	Focused on partner’s pleasure only	21	16	21
	Relationship problems	2	9	11
	Total	17	59	76
Technique/setting attributions	Not enough time/partner orgasms and encounter ends	10	61	71
	Technique problems/ lack of foreplay or stimulation	2	52	54
	Interruption	9	8	17
	Already orgasmed multiple times/ frequent masturbation	9	5	14
	Temperature of setting/time of day	3	3	6
	Total	33	129	162
Other responses	Never had a problem/ not applicable	32	18	50
	Unknown	10	18	28

Table 4. Summary of participant attributions for the non-occurrence of orgasm of their partner.

Theme	Subtheme	Men	Women	Total
Medical/health attributions	Tired/lack of energy	20	30	50
	Medical injury or illness (not sexually related)	15	23	38
	Sexually related medical condition	7	15	22
	Substance use	1	10	11
	Total	43	78	121
Psychogenic attributions	Distracted/mind elsewhere	21	15	36
	Stress/anxiety (not sexually related)	27	13	40
	Sexual anxiety (body image, guilt, witholding)	6	4	10
	Total	54	32	86
Relationship attributions	Not in the mood/low desire	24	11	35
	Focused on partner’s pleasure only	6	3	9
	Relationship problems	0	1	1
	Total	30	15	45
Technique/setting attributions	Not enough time/partner orgasms and encounter ends	30	16	46
	Technique problems/ lack of foreplay or stimulation	21	8	29
	Interruption	4	11	15
	Already orgasmed multiple times/ frequent masturbation	1	11	12
	Temperature of setting/time of day	1	1	2
	Total	57	47	104
Other responses	Never had a problem/ not applicable	15	88	103
	Unknown	22	7	29

Table 1. Point-biserial correlations of attributions made with sexual and relational outcomes.

	Sexual satisfaction		Relationship satisfaction		Orgasm frequency
	Male rpb	Female rpb	Male rpb	Male rpb	Female rpb	Male rpb
Medical/health attributions	.14	.03	.17	-.00	.00	-.03
Psychogenic attributions	-.04	.09	-.12	.09	.01	.10
Relational attributions	-.07	-.14*	-.15	-.19**	-.09	-.02
Technique/setting attributions	.01	-.04	-.02	-.02	-.01	-.01
Unknown	-.07	-.25***	.15	-.20**	-.38***	-.36***
Non-applicable	-.03	.24***	-.05	.20**	.15	.23**

* p ≤ .05;

**p ≤ .01;

***p ≤ .001.

Table 2. Multiple regression analyses of attributions made with sexual and relational outcomes (standardized beta coefficients).

Predictor	Sexual satisfaction		Relationship satisfaction		Orgasm frequency
	M	F	M	F	M	F
R^2	.03	.10	.08	.09	.17	.15
Medical/health attributions	.14	-.04	.21	-.06	-.07	-.11
Psychogenic attributions	-.04	.02	-.11	.03	.02	.04
Relational attributions	-.07	-.18**	-.11	-.22***	-.14	-.06
Technique/setting attributions	.03	-.09	.05	-.08	-.09	-.08
Unknown	-.06	-.28***	−17	-.24***	-.42***	-.38***

* p ≤ .05;

**p ≤ .01;

***p ≤ .001.