A recent study published in Psychology and Sexuality suggests that relational context and the frequency of sexual practices play a central role in the sexual satisfaction of people who engage in BDSM and kink. The research provides evidence that sexual well-being in these communities is shaped by a mix of relationship status, education, and specific behavioral roles. These findings highlight the complexity of non-traditional sexual expressions across different cultures.
Understanding what contributes to sexual satisfaction helps professionals improve sexual health frameworks and overall human well-being. Much of the existing scientific literature focuses almost entirely on mainstream sexual behaviors. Practices such as BDSM, which involves bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, and masochism, often fall outside these conventional frameworks.
Scientists note that these non-traditional sexual practices are sometimes misunderstood or pathologized by broader society. Because of this societal stigma, the sexual well-being of individuals who participate in BDSM or kink communities remains under-explored. Past data tends to show that these practitioners experience equal or even higher levels of sexual satisfaction compared to the general public.
“We wanted to contribute to the visibility and destigmatization of BDSM, kink practices, and sexual diversity in general through a respectful and academically grounded perspective,” said study author Alejandro Sánchez Ocaña, an affirmative psychologist and sexologist at the Sexological Studies Unit at the CIBIS Research Center at the University of Almería in Spain.
He noted that the lack of literature on these topics in Spanish-speaking contexts created a need for further interdisciplinary research. The team was driven by an “interest in sexual diversity, especially in the ways it is shaped by practices, identities, and social dynamics,” Sánchez Ocaña said. “We were particularly drawn to BDSM and kink because it remains a relatively underexplored area of research, despite its social and cultural relevance within sexuality studies.”
BDSM and kink are not just collections of physical acts but can be understood as distinct sexual subcultures. These communities have shared meanings, norms, and social spaces that validate their members. The authors propose that participating in these validating subcultures might help individuals align their desires with their behaviors, enhancing their overall psychological wellness.
Researchers wanted to understand the specific factors that predict sexual satisfaction and pleasure within these specific subcultures. They aimed to see if patterns identified in a previous study of a Chilean population would appear in a different cultural context. By extending their work to a Spanish sample, the authors hoped to create a detailed comparison between two distinct Spanish-speaking countries.
The team also sought to explore the gap between sexual arousal and actual behavior. This concept, known as arousal and behavior discordance, looks at the difference between what people find sexually arousing in their imagination and what they actually perform in real life. Understanding this gap is highly relevant in kink contexts, where fantasy, consent, and negotiation are central to the experience.
To explore these dynamics, the researchers used a cross-sectional design, meaning they collected data from participants at a single point in time. They gathered information using an online survey. The survey assessed three main areas, which included demographic characteristics, general sexuality variables, and specific BDSM and kink behaviors.
The researchers collected data from two separate samples. The Chilean group consisted of 543 participants surveyed between June and July of 2020. The Spanish group included 233 participants surveyed between November 2024 and January 2025.
The surveys asked participants about their age, gender identity, sexual orientation, relationship status, and educational level. To measure sexual satisfaction, all participants completed a standardized questionnaire designed to rate their fulfillment with their sex lives. The Spanish group also completed a separate standardized scale specifically measuring sexual pleasure.
Participants answered detailed questions about their specific BDSM roles. They were asked if they primarily identified as dominant, meaning they take a controlling or active role, or submissive, meaning they take a receptive or yielding role. They could also identify as a switch, which is someone who alternates between dominant and submissive roles depending on the situation or partner.
The survey also measured the frequency of BDSM behaviors over the past four months, the variety of practices engaged in, and the number of lifetime BDSM partners. The authors specifically asked participants to list practices they found sexually arousing and then note whether they would actually be willing to perform those acts. This allowed the researchers to measure the exact difference between a person’s fantasies and their real-world actions.
When looking at the demographic results, the authors found distinct differences between the two countries. The Chilean participants were younger, with an average age of about 24, and more likely to identify as feminine or bisexual. The Spanish participants were older, with an average age of about 38, and had higher levels of formal education.
The educational background of the participants stood out significantly. In the Spanish sample, over 60 percent of the participants held a university degree, compared to just under 27 percent in the general Spanish population. The Chilean sample also showed higher educational attainment than national averages, supporting existing theories that individuals who engage in kink tend to pursue higher education.
Despite demographic differences, both samples shared similar lifestyle patterns compared to the general population of their respective countries. Both the Chilean and Spanish kink groups included higher proportions of non-cisgender individuals, meaning people whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. Both groups also had higher numbers of non-heterosexual individuals and lower levels of religious affiliation than the general public.
In terms of their actual BDSM practices, both groups most commonly engaged in activities with formal, established partners rather than casual acquaintances. They also primarily practiced in domestic settings, such as their own homes. The most common specific behaviors reported in both countries included spanking and the use of sex toys.
The Spanish sample reported a wider variety of enacted practices and a higher number of lifetime BDSM partners than the Chilean sample. The authors suggest this might be due to the older average age of the Spanish participants, who simply have had more time to explore their sexuality. It might also reflect greater access to specialized venues and community events in Spain.
Even with the differences in actual behaviors, participants in both countries reported a similar number of fantasies or practices that they found sexually arousing. Both groups showed a similar gap between what they found arousing and what they actually did. For example, intense or technically demanding activities like rope bondage were frequently found arousing but were less often acted out in real life.
Certain behaviors were consistently rated as low in arousal and infrequently performed by participants in both countries. Practices such as medical play or coprophilia held very limited appeal within these specific surveyed populations. This suggests that some highly stigmatized or niche practices remain uncommon even within alternative sexual subcultures.
When looking at what predicts sexual satisfaction, the researchers found that relationship status was the most significant factor for both countries. Participants in monogamous and non-nonmonogamous relationships reported higher levels of sexual satisfaction than those who were not in a relationship. A higher frequency of BDSM practices also predicted greater sexual satisfaction in both samples.
“This does not mean that quantity matters more than quality, but rather that, when the quality of sexual experiences is similar, greater frequency appears to make a difference,” Sánchez Ocaña said.
He emphasized that these interactions are fundamentally rooted in mutual agreement. “One of the main takeaways is that BDSM and kink should not be understood as forms of violence or deviant, but rather as consensual and pleasurable practices shaped by a range of factors, including social, relational, emotional, and sexual, among others,” Sánchez Ocaña explained.
The Chilean participants reported slightly higher overall sexual satisfaction scores than the Spanish participants. The authors note that age often negatively impacts sexual satisfaction in the general population, which might explain why the younger Chilean group scored higher. Still, the Spanish participants maintained moderate to high levels of satisfaction.
In the Spanish sample, the authors also analyzed the predictors of sexual pleasure. They found that a higher educational level and a bisexual orientation were positively associated with sexual pleasure. Identifying as a submissive or a switch was also significantly linked to higher levels of sexual pleasure compared to identifying as strictly dominant.
“The relationship between higher education and a greater variety of practices was probably due to a broader access to information, communities, and opportunities for exploration, which in turn may be linked to greater pleasure,” Sánchez Ocaña said. “This may seem pretty obvious but it is something we had not thought of!”
The strong link between higher sexual pleasure and identifying as a submissive or a switch offers insight into how power dynamics function. Being a submissive does not imply passivity or victimization, but rather involves an active, consensual choice within a framework of mutual trust. The receptive nature of submission and the fluid dynamics of switching might allow individuals to immerse themselves more deeply in physical sensations and emotional intensity.
The researchers noted a specific negative association in the Spanish sample regarding gender identity. Identifying as non-binary was negatively associated with sexual satisfaction. This suggests that gender-diverse individuals might face unique interpersonal challenges or minority stress that impacts their sexual well-being.
The authors highlight that readers should not assume one cultural context is inherently better for sexual expression based on these scores. The differences in satisfaction and pleasure might reflect age disparities and specific sample compositions rather than purely cultural variation. Because the surveys were distributed online through convenience sampling, the results might overrepresent individuals who are digitally connected and active in online kink communities.
The findings should be understood within the specific cultural and social contexts of the two countries studied, and they should not be generalized to other populations. “As with any study of this kind, cultural context plays an important role in shaping sexual practices, meanings, and experiences,” Sánchez Ocaña noted.
Another limitation is that the data for the two countries were collected four years apart. This time gap might introduce contextual differences based on changing social attitudes between 2020 and 2024. The survey designs also had slight variations, such as allowing multiple responses for certain questions in Spain but only single responses in Chile, which limits direct statistical comparisons.
“Although our findings highlight several positive aspects of BDSM and kink practices, it is also important to recognize that this is a complex field that requires further attention,” Sánchez Ocaña said. “BDSM/kink practitioners, as well as LGBTQIA+ communities, continue to face discrimination and stigma in a range of social settings, which can negatively affect wellbeing, access to care, and social recognition.”
He pointed out that people who engage in these practices often experience discrimination within healthcare systems. To address this, the research team aims to produce work that has practical value in reducing stigma and improving professional understanding in health, education, and social policy.
“Our aim is to continue incorporating broader perspectives and lived experiences in order to better represent marginalized and stigmatized sexually diverse populations, including BDSM/kink communities, sex workers, and people who engage in sexualized drug use or chemsex,” Sánchez Ocaña said.
“We are especially interested in producing research that not only expands academic knowledge but also has practical value in reducing stigma and improving professional understanding in areas such as health, education, and social policy.
“Although our findings highlight several positive aspects of BDSM and kink practices, it is alsoimportant to recognize that this is a complex field that requires further attention. BDSM/kinkpractitioners, as well as LGBTQIA+ communities, continue to face discrimination and stigma in a range of social settings, which can negatively affect wellbeing, access to care, and social recognition. In this sense, people who engage in BDSM and kink practices experience discrimination within healthcare systems, a topic that remains under discussion and that we
explored in other studies.”
“Our research team has also explored related issues, including the role of sexual assertiveness in shaping consent in BDSM contexts, with the goal of improving consent (sex) education for the general population. Together, this broader line of research seeks to support a better understanding of sexually diverse communities highlighting their positive aspects and needs.”
The study, “Beyond sexuality and boundaries: cross-national perspectives on sexual satisfaction and BDSM/kink in Chile and Spain,” was authored by Manuel Catalán Águila, Alejandro Sánchez-Ocaña, Charlotta Carlström, Inmaculada Fernández Agis, and Jenna Marie Strizzi.
