Fairer Sex: The Role of Relationship Equity in Female Sexual Desire

ABSTRACT

Previous investigations into Female Sexual Desire (FSD) have been focused on women’s biological, cognitive, and emotional processes, despite evidence that FSD is also responsive to relational contexts. Past research consistently demonstrates a general association between relationship satisfaction and FSD. There remains, however, a need to expound this connection. In response, this study explored the role of relationship equity in relationship satisfaction and FSD. For this cross-sectional study, 299 Australian women aged 18 to 39 years responded to an online questionnaire measuring relationship factors and dimensions of sexual desire. Two mediation models were tested to examine how relationship equity was associated with solitary and dyadic sexual desire, via a connection with relationship satisfaction. As expected, equality in relationships predicted relationship satisfaction, which, subsequently, was related to higher levels of dyadic sexual desire. No significant mediation was found for solitary desire, indicating that relationship factors may not play a critical role in this domain. This result also demonstrates a distinct divergence between the two domains of desire that requires further examination. These results solidify the notion of FSD as a multifaceted construct and present meaningful implications for theory, research, and clinical practice.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to all the participants who completed the questionnaire that supplied the data for this study. The authors also wish to acknowledge Swinburne University of Technology for institutional support and resources.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data Availability Statement

The ethical clearance obtained for this project does not allow for the data to be publicly published. However, the raw data is stored on Swinburne University servers and de-identified data can be obtained from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

The researchers received no specific financial support from any funding body.