Cultural Differences in the Treatment of Sex Problems

How WEIRD and Androcentric Is Sex Research? Global Inequities in Study Populations

“…First and foremost, people all over the world have sex (Hall & Graham, 2012). Second, while some biological underpinnings of sexuality are universal, sexual behaviors and practices are socially constructed and vary widely from culture to culture (Hall, 2019). Third, sexual health is considered a basic human right (Kismödi et al, 2017(Kismödi et al, , 2015.…”

“…People's experiences and expressions shape and are shaped by culture and society, through their everyday implicit or explicit exposure to social and cultural institutions, values, and practices (Adams & Markus, 2004;Causadias et al, 2018). Sociocultural messages and beliefs about sexuality are conveyed through various social institutions such as governments, religious institutions, media, schools, or families (Hall, 2019). For example, attitudes and values toward premarital sex or age of consent are defined by culture, and cultural norms shape what is considered as normal or abnormal sexual behavior (Bhavsar & Bhugra, 2013;Heinemann et al, 2016;Majumdar, 2018;Sprecher & Hatfield, 1996).…”

“…As the study of sex and gender keeps relying on WEIRD samples, the uncritical reproduction of Western conceptualizations in research practice prevents us from understanding the complexity of human experience. To contribute to a better understanding of topics such as sexual pleasure and satisfaction, culturally sensitive sex research is needed (Hall, 2019;Hall & Graham, 2012).…”

“…Lack of sample diversity, resulting in the dominance of samples drawn from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) countries, has also been discussed as a problem in other fields such as psychological science (Arnett, 2008;Henrich et al, 2010;Rad et al, 2018;Thalmayer et al, 2021) and medicine (Gurven & Lieberman, 2020). Within sex research, even though cultural differences in sexual dysfunctions and their treatment have received some attention (Atallah et al, 2016;Hall, 2019;Hall & Graham, 2012;Heinemann et al, 2016), current research has failed to grapple with the ways in which culture is relevant for sexuality (Agocha et al, 2014).…”

Couples’ Use of Online Stress Management and Resiliency Training for Sexual Health Concerns: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…For example, participants from different sociocultural backgrounds may have received different cultural messages around sexual values, sexual behaviors, and sexual health, which may have affected their receptivity of the psychoeducation intervention. 67 , 68 Participants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may not have had the means (eg, time, childcare, privacy, internet) to engage in an online couple intervention. 69 In addition, given the high attrition rate, it is likely that the couples who completed this intervention were highly motivated and may not reflect the behavior of other couples who report sexual health concerns.…”