Picking up good vibrations: Discrepant vibrator use, sexual functioning, and sexual well-being in women with male partners

ABSTRACT

Vibrator use is thought to be associated with positive sexual functioning for women with female or male partners. Vibrator use that is discrepant across contexts (i.e. the individual uses a vibrator in solitary but not partnered contexts), however, has only been examined in women with female partners. Results indicate that women who were discrepant reported lower sexual functioning than women who were non-discrepant (i.e. those who use a vibrator in both solitary and partnered contexts). The current study recruited 488 participants online to examine if discrepant vibrator use was related to sexual functioning, sexual satisfaction, and the perceived balance of sexual rewards to costs (i.e. ratio of preferred to non-preferred aspects of the sexual relationship). There were no observed differences across the groups of women who reported discrepant, non-discrepant, or no vibrator use on sexual functioning domains. Women with non-discrepant vibrator use reported greater sexual satisfaction than those with discrepant use, and they also reported a greater balance of sexual rewards to costs relative to women with discrepant or no vibrator use. The results of this study suggest that discrepant vibrator use is not related to sexual functioning but is related to sexual well-being in women with male partners.

KEYWORDS:

• Vibrator use
• discrepancy
• sexual scripts
• sexual functioning
• sexual well-being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S. E. M. Gauvin

S. Gauvin is a Clinical Psychology doctoral student under the supervision of Dr. Caroline Pukall in the Sexual Health Research Laboratory (SexLab) at Queen’s University. Stéphanie’s research focuses on how couples negotiate and navigate sexual challenges, with a focus on how sexual script flexibility is related to sexual well-being.

L. Yessick

L. Yessick is a doctoral student in Cognitive Neuroscience Psychology under the co-supervision of Dr. Caroline Pukall and Dr. Tim Salomons in the Pain, Affect, and Cognition Laboratory at Queen’s University. Lindsey’s research focuses on pain processing in women with provoked vestibulodynia.

C. F. Pukall

Dr. C. F. Pukall received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from McGill University. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Director of the Sexual Health Research Laboratory (SexLab), and the Director of the Sex Therapy Service at the Psychology Clinic at Queen’s University.