Believing that sexual satisfaction takes work and is more than natural compatibility may help couples dealing with sexual challenges, according to a longitudinal study published in the Journal of Sex Research. Among a sample of couples navigating women’s low sexual desire, people who endorsed growth beliefs about sexual satisfaction reported better outcomes than those who endorsed destiny beliefs.
While sexual desire typically starts out strong at the beginning of a relationship, it tends to decline as the relationship progresses. Challenges arise when couples face a mismatch in sexual desire. For example, couples navigating women’s low sexual desire tend to report lower relationship and sexual satisfaction and increased conflict. Study authors Stephanie Raposo and her team wondered whether a growth mindset regarding sexual satisfaction might help couples navigating such sexual differences.
There are two types of implicit beliefs about sexual desire and satisfaction. Sexual destiny beliefs propose that sexual satisfaction comes down to natural sexual compatibility, while sexual growth beliefs propose that sexual satisfaction can ebb and flow and takes effort to be maintained. Raposo and her colleagues proposed that sexual growth beliefs might help couples dealing with low sexual desire by alleviating pressure and judgment and creating space to adapt sexual behavior.
The researchers opted to explore implicit sexual beliefs among a sample of 97 women with low sexual desire and their partners. The women had been diagnosed with Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder (FSIAD), a condition defined by clinically low sexual desire accompanied by distress. Participants were between the ages of 19 and 70, most (77%) were straight, and couples had been together for an average of 7 years.
Both partners completed surveys at baseline and again one year later. The surveys assessed implicit sexual beliefs, in addition to sexual and relationship variables like sexual desire, sexual distress, and relationship satisfaction. The questionnaires also assessed personal well-being with measures of anxiety and depression.
First, the researchers examined the associations at baseline. Women with FSIAD who reported higher sexual destiny beliefs also reported lower relationship satisfaction, higher relationship conflict, and higher depression — and so did their partners. These women also reported higher anxiety, and their partners reported lower sexual desire.
Women with FSIAD who reported higher sexual growth beliefs reported greater sexual desire, although their partners reported lower sexual desire. This negative link between women’s sexual growth beliefs and their partner’s sexual desire was unexpected, and the study authors say it would need to be re-examined with further study.
When the researchers analyzed the results from the one-year follow-up, the associations between implicit beliefs and outcomes were not maintained. Notably, sexual desire increased significantly among the women with FSIAD from baseline to one year later, although only 9% of the women said they sought treatment. The researchers say this suggests that the women’s symptoms improved naturally over time, at least to a degree.
Raposo and her colleagues say their findings add to the literature on implicit sexual beliefs by showing that these beliefs can negatively impact couples dealing with sexual dysfunction. Sexual destiny beliefs may exacerbate sexual challenges by leading couples to feel discouraged about the fact that they are experiencing sexual issues. Believing that sexual satisfaction is driven by natural compatibility may encourage feelings of helplessness or avoidance of sex.
Sexual growth beliefs, on the other hand, might encourage couples to be patient and to search for ways to overcome sexual difficulties. This may promote healthy strategies like engaging in open communication and being responsive to a partner’s needs. “With future experimental evidence of the directionality and persistence of the demonstrated effects, research could begin to assess the possibility of targeting implicit sexual beliefs to improve outcomes in couples coping with FSIAD,” the study authors say.
The study, “Navigating Women’s Low Desire: Sexual Growth and Destiny Beliefs and Couples’ Well-Being”, was authored by Stephanie Raposo, Natalie O. Rosen, Serena Corsini-Munt, Jessica A. Maxwell, and Amy Muise.