Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T04:28:28.199Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What Makes for Good Sex? The Associations Among Attachment Style, Inhibited Communication and Sexual Satisfaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2014

Clautilde B. Khoury  and
Bruce M. Findlay
Clautilde B. Khoury
Affiliation:
Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Bruce M. Findlay*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Dr Bruce Findlay, Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, PO Box 218, Hawthorn VIC 3122, Australia. Email: bfindlay@swin.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that those with insecure attachments (characterised by anxiety, avoidance or both; Hazan & Shaver, 1994), would engage in less effective communication on sexual matters, which would in turn predict lower sexual satisfaction. A sample of 125 participants aged between 18 and 65 completed an online questionnaire asking about their sexual and intimate relationships, and their attachment patterns. As expected, avoidant individuals reported poorer sexual communication, which contributed to their sexual dissatisfaction. Contrary to expectations, anxiety did not have this effect. Interestingly, those anxious individuals in a relationship of 9 months or longer engaged in poorer sexual communication, which negatively impacted their sexual satisfaction. It was suggested that the ‘honeymoon period’ may be responsible for this finding. Alternatively, and as suggested by Davis et al. (2006), other variables, such as sexual anxiety and using sex as a barometer of relationship status, may account for this effect and warrant further exploration.

Keywords

attachmentsexual satisfactionsexual communication
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 5 , 2014 , e7
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Australian Academic Press Pty Ltd 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, M.D., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: Assessed in the strange situation and at home. Hillsdale: NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Aubin, S., & Heiman, J.R. (2004). Sexual dysfunction from a relationship perspective. In Harvey, J.H., Wenzel, A., & Sprecher, S. (Eds.), The handbook of sexuality in close relationships (pp. 477–519). Seattle, WA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2000). Marriages and divorces (Cat. No. 3310.0). Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2008). Divorces, Australia, 2007 (Cat. No. 3307.0.55.001). Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Baron, R.M., & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barrientos, J.E., & Paez, D. (2006). Psychosocial variables of sexual satisfaction in Chile. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 32, 351–368.Google Scholar
Beck, U., & Beck-Gernsheim, E. (2002). Individualization. Institutionalized individualism and its social and political consequences. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birnbaum, G.E., Reis, H.T., Mikulincer, M., Gillath, O., & Orpaz, A. (2006). Sex is more than just sex: Attachment orientations, sexual experience, and relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 929–943.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1969).Attachment and loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Brennan, K.A., Clark, C.L., & Shaver, P.R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In Simpson, J.A. & Rholes, W.S. (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46–47). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Butzer, B., & Campbell, L. (2008). Adult attachment, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction: A study of married couples. Personal Relationships, 15, 141–154.Google Scholar
Byers, E.S. (2011). Beyond the birds and the bees and was it good for you?: Thirty years of research on sexual communication. Canadian Psychology, 25, 20–28.Google Scholar
Catania, J.A., Gibson, D.R., Chitwood, D.D., & Coates, T.J. (1990). Methodological problems in AIDS behavioral research: Influences on measurement error and participation bias in studies of sexual behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 339–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collins, N.L., & Read, S.J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644–663.Google Scholar
Cupach, W.R., & Metts, S. (1991). Sexuality and communication in close relationships. In McKinney, K. & Sprecher, S. (Eds.), Sexuality in close relationships (pp. 93–110). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Davis, D., Shaver, P.R., Widaman, K.F., Vernon, M.L., Follette, W.C., & Beitz, K. (2006). ‘I can't get no satisfaction’: Insecure attachment, inhibited communication, and sexual dissatisfaction. Personal Relationships, 13, 465–483.Google Scholar
Feeney, J.A., & Noller, P. (2004). Attachment and sexuality in close relationships. In J.H. Harvey, Wenzel, A., & Sprecher, S. (Eds.), The handbook of sexuality in close relationships (pp. 183–234). Queensland: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Fraley, C.R., Waller, N.G., & Brennan, K.A. (2000). An item response theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 350–365.Google Scholar
Gagnon, J.H. (1990). The implicit and explicit use of the scripting perspective in sex research. Annual Review of Sex Research, 1, 1–43.Google Scholar
Hatfield, E., Utne, M.K., & Traupmann, J. (1979). Equity theory and intimate relationships. In Burgess, R.L. & Huston, T.L. (Eds.), Social exchange in developing relationships (pp. 99–133). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P.R. (1994). Attachment as an organizational framework for research on close relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5, 1–22.Google Scholar
Hazan, C., & Zeifner, D. (1994). Sex and the psychological tether. In Bartholomew, K. & Perlman, D. (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships, 5 (pp. 151–177). London: JessicaKingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Hudson, W.W. (1998). Index of sexual satisfaction. In Davis, C.M., Yarber, W.L., Bauserman, R., Schreer, G., & Davis, S.L. (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures (pp. 512–513). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
LaRossa, R., & Reitzes, D. (1993). Symbolic interactionism and family studies. In Boss, P.G., Doherty, W.J., LaRossa, R., Schumm, R.W., & Steinmetz, S.K. (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 135–166). New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrance, K., & Byers, E.S. (1995). Sexual satisfaction in long-term heterosexual relationships: The interpersonal exchange model of sexual satisfaction. Personal Relationships, 2, 267–285.Google Scholar
MacNeil, S., & Byers, E.S. (1997). The relationships between sexual problems, communication and sexual satisfaction. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 6, 277–283.Google Scholar
MacNeil, S., & Byers, E.S. (2005). Dyadic assessment of sexual self disclosure and sexual satisfaction in heterosexual dating couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 169–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacNeil, S., & Byers, E.S. (2009). Role of sexual self-disclosure in the sexual satifaction of long-term heterosexual couples. Journal of Sex Research, 46, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maunder, R.G., Panzer, A., Viljuer, M., Owen, J., Human, S., & Hunter, J.J. (2006). Physicians’ difficulty with emergency department patients is related to patients’ attachment style. Social Science and Medicine, 63, 552–562.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P.R. (2007). Reflections on security dynamics: Core constructs, psychological mechanisms, relational contexts, and the need for an integrative theory. Psychological Inquiry,18, 197–209. doi:10.1080/10478400701512893CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, S.A., & Byers, E.S. (2004). Actual and desired duration of foreplay and intercourse: Discordance and misperceptions within heterosexual couples. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 301–309.Google Scholar
Reynolds, W.M. (1982). Development of reliable and valid short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 119–125.3.0.CO;2-I>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusbult, C.E. (1983). A longitudinal test of the investment model: The development (and deterioration) of satisfaction and commitment in heterosexual involvements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 101–117.Google Scholar
Schachner, D.A., Shaver, P.R., & Mikulincer, M. (2005). Interpersonal sensitivity in the context of attachment relationships. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 141–169.Google Scholar
Sprecher, S., & Cate, R.M. (2004). Sexual satisfaction and sexual expression as predictors of relationship satisfaction and stability. In Harvey, J.H., Wenzel, A., & Sprecher, S. (Eds.), The handbook of sexuality in close relationships (pp. 235–252). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Stulhofer, A., Busko, V., & Brouillard, P. (2010). Development and bicultural validation of the new sexual satisfaction scale. Journal of Sex Research, 47, 257–268.Google Scholar
Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L.S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Timm, T.M., & Keiley, M.K. (2011). The effects of differentiation of self, adult attachment, and sexual communication on sexual and marital satisfaction: A path analysis. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 37, 206–223.Google Scholar
Whitley, M.P. (1998). Sexual satisfaction inventory. In Davis, C.M., Yarber, W.L., Bauserman, R., Schreer, G., & Davis, S.L. (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures (pp. 519–521). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar