Sexual Scripts: Social and therapeutic implications

Abstract

It is valuable for clinicians who treat sexual and relationship dysfunctions to be able to understand and explain the cognitive processes used by the typical individual to initiate and maintain an intimate sexual encounter. Script theory, which characterises social interactions as everyday dramas that play out peoples' beliefs about the expected sequence of events and the roles actors should assume within well-known situations, is useful for this purpose. After providing a general overview of script theory, principles which are especially relevant to sexual behavior are reviewed. Focusing on heterosexual adolescents and adults, the paper examines studies which explore how people relate when enacting sexual scripts. Expected and actual differences in men's and women's roles within these scripts are addressed. Using a predominantly cognitive-behavioral orientation, the paper addresses script-related issues faced by clients in individual, sexual, and marital therapy and provides some treatment and educational suggestions.