Foreplay, orgasm and after-play among Shanghai couples and its integrative relation with their marital satisfaction

Abstract

To investigate the epidemiology of sexual behaviour of Shanghai couples during six years of marriage and exploring its integrative relationship with marital satisfaction. A cohort of 7,697 couples was followed-up. About 4% of wives and 2% of husbands said they had no foreplay and 16% of wives and 11% of husbands admitted they had no after-play. About 5% of wives and 2% of husbands said they had no orgasm. The main methods of foreplay were kissing and caressing. The main actions of after-play were talking and kissing. The signs of orgasm (vaginal secretion/pleasant feeling at ejaculation) occurred for 60% of wives and 73% of husbands. Logistic regression models shows they affected the marital satisfaction of both spouses by having an integrative relationship with sexual satisfaction indirectly. Husbands who used breast stroking or talking seemed to have wives with less marital satisfaction.

Keywords:

• foreplay
• orgasm
• after-play
• marital satisfaction
• sexual satisfaction

Acknowledgements

This study is based on results from WHO projects 86084 & 92171 being mainly funded by HRP, WHO. It has also been supported by the Psychiatry Department of the University of Hong Kong and by a K.C. Wong Fellowship given by the British Academy during data analysis and the writing of this paper. Professor Delia Davin, Head of the Department of East Asian Studies, gave useful comments during the preparation of this paper.