An online survey in Italy found that sexually assertive individuals tend to be more satisfied with their relationships. Sexual esteem was associated with both body appreciation and sexual assertiveness. The paper was published in Behavioral Sciences.
Satisfaction in romantic relationships refers to how positively people evaluate the quality of their partnership and their feelings toward their partner. High relationship satisfaction is consistently associated with greater happiness, better mental and physical health, lower stress, and even longer life expectancy.
Relationship satisfaction is shaped by many factors. Sexuality is one of them. It contributes to relationship quality not only in terms of sexual activity but also in how openly partners can communicate about their desires, needs, and boundaries. One concept that captures this ability is sexual assertiveness, which includes being able to initiate wanted sexual activity, refuse unwanted activity, communicate preferences, and negotiate safer sex.
Another important concept is sexual esteem—the extent to which people view themselves as worthy, competent, and confident sexual partners. Body appreciation, i.e., a positive attitude towards one’s body, which means accepting, respecting, and valuing it despite perceived imperfections, can also be important for relationship quality.
Study author Marco Rizzo and his colleagues conducted a study in which they examined the associations between body appreciation, sexual assertiveness, sexual esteem, and relationship satisfaction. They hypothesized that higher body appreciation would be associated with higher sexual assertiveness and sexual esteem, and that both sexual esteem and sexual assertiveness would be associated with better relationship satisfaction.
These authors analyzed responses from 473 participants from a larger study who declared that they were in a romantic relationship and heterosexual. Participants’ average age was 23 years. 97% of them were Italian citizens. 82% resided in central Italy. 50% were men. The average length of their relationship was 3 years.
This analysis used data from assessments of sexual assertiveness (the Sexual Assertiveness Questionnaire), body appreciation (the Body Appreciation Scale), sexual esteem (the Sexual Esteem Subscale of the Multidimensional Sexuality Scale), and relationship satisfaction (the Dyadic-Familiar Relationship Satisfaction Scale) that participants completed. They also used the demographic data.
Results showed that men tended to report greater body appreciation and sexual esteem than women. Participants with higher sexual assertiveness tended to report higher relationship satisfaction. While initial data showed weak links between relationship satisfaction and both body appreciation and sexual esteem, the final statistical model revealed that sexual esteem and body appreciation were not directly associated with relationship satisfaction.
Study authors tested a statistical model proposing that body appreciation leads to better sexual esteem and sexual assertiveness, and that these psychological characteristics would, in turn, lead to better relationship satisfaction. Results showed that body appreciation may indeed lead to better sexual esteem, and, through this link, to better sexual assertiveness. Higher sexual assertiveness could, according to this model, lead to better relationship satisfaction, although sexual esteem itself did not directly predict relationship satisfaction.
“These findings underscore a process through which sexual assertiveness and body appreciation can enhance relational well-being and inform educational programs aimed at promoting healthy romantic relationships,” study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific knowledge about romantic relationships. However, the design of the study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. Additionally, all data came from self-reports, leaving room for reporting bias to have affected the results.
The paper, “Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships: The Role of Body Appreciation, Sexual Esteem and Sexual Assertiveness,” was authored by Marco Rizzo, Camilla Matera, Daniela Caso, Anna Rosa Donizzetti, Caterina Grano, Amanda Nerini, and Chiara Rollero.