Why we haven't died out yet

Maß, Reinhard; Hölldorfer, Marion; Moll, Bettina; Bauer, Renate; Wolf, Karsten D.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.06.007

Cited by 24 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For instance, both men and women, on average, exhibit fluctuation in sexual desire at rates between approximately one and four times per month. Once a month is consistent with previous research suggesting that women's desire fluctuates during different stages of their menstrual cycle [11,[31][32][33][34] and that some men's desire may fluctuate similarly, potentially due to their partner [35]. However, it is important to interpret these links with caution because we did not examine whether the fluctuation was due specifically to the menstrual cycle, or how many of the female participants were taking hormonal contraceptives that might influence their menstrual cycles.…”

Section: Fluctuation and Persistence In Individualssupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Previous research has shown that individuals' levels of sexual desire may ebb and flow [6] leading to instances of sexual desire discrepancy between partners, and subsequently lower sexual and relationship satisfaction [6][7][8]. While previous research has indicated that hormonal [9][10][11], relational [12,13], or social factors [3] may influence levels of sexual desire, to date researchers have not attempted to quantify whether there are regular, cycling, patterns in the fluctuation of sexual desire and assess whether couples exhibit synchrony (i.e. partners' levels of sexual desire peak and trough at the approximately the same time) or asynchrony (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has also suggested that there may be regular variation in desire based on hormonal fluctuation in both women and men. For example, a number of studies have indicated that women's sexual desire may fluctuate according to phases of the menstrual cycle [11,[31][32][33][34] highlighting the potential for a gender difference that has biological origins, and may have regular and predictable patterns of change. Female sexual desire has been shown to increase during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, peak during the ovulatory phase, and subside at the start of the luteal phase; the probability of engagement in sexual activity is increased during the follicular phase [9,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Using spectral and cross-spectral analysis to identify patterns and synchrony in couples' sexual desire.

Vowels¹,

Mark²,

Vowels³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Sexual desire discrepancy and low sexual desire are two of the most frequently reported sexual concerns for individuals and couples and both have been shown to be negatively associated with sexual and relationship satisfaction. Sexual desire has increasingly been examined as a state like construct that ebbs and flows, but little is known about whether there are patterns in the fluctuation of sexual desire. Utilizing spectral and cross-spectral analysis, we transformed 30 days of dyadic daily diary data for perceived levels of sexual desire for 133 couples (266 individuals) into the frequency domain to identify shared periodic state fluctuations in sexual desire. Spectral analysis is a technique commonly used in physics and engineering that allows time series data to be analyzed for the presence of regular cycles of fluctuation. Cross spectral analysis allows for dyadic data to be analyzed for shared rates of fluctuation between partners as well as the degree of (a)synchrony (or phase shift) between these fluctuations. Men and women were found to exhibit fluctuations in sexual desire at various frequencies including rates of once and twice per month, and to have sexual desire that was unlikely to fluctuate over periods of three days or less and therefore exhibited persistence. Similar patterns of fluctuation were exhibited within couples and these patterns were found to be largely synchronous. The results have important implications for researchers, clinicians, and educators in that they corroborate the supposition that sexual desire ebbs and flows and suggest that it does so with predictable regularity. Further, while instances of desire discrepancy may arise due to differences in rates of sexual desire fluctuation, such instances may be normal for romantic relationships.

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Section: Fluctuation and Persistence In Individualssupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Using spectral and cross-spectral analysis to identify patterns and synchrony in couples' sexual desire.

Vowels¹,

Mark²,

Vowels³

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Factors influencing sexual desire can be individual, interpersonal, and societal. Individual factors include attraction to one's partner (Basson, 2000), hormones (Caruso et al, 2014;Mark, Leistner, & Garcia, 2016;Mass, Holldorfer, Moll, Bauer, & Wolf, 2009), stress (Ferreira, Narciso, Novo, & Pereira, 2014), and self-esteem (McCarthy & Wald, 2015;Murray & Milhausen, 2012a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies for Mitigating Sexual Desire Discrepancy in Relationships

Vowels

Mark

2020

Arch Sex Behav

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Sexual desire discrepancy, when one member of a couple experiences more or less sexual desire relative to their partner, is among the main reasons for couples to seek therapy. A great deal of prior research has examined the complexity of sexual desire and the role of sexual desire discrepancy in long-term relationships, but little research has specifically examined strategies used to mitigate sexual desire discrepancy when it arises. Thus, the purpose of the present mixed methods study was to identify the strategies that individuals in long-term relationships use during times of desire discrepancy and to address whether the use of specific strategies influenced sexual and relationship satisfaction and sexual desire. We collected data from 229 participants and our thematic content analysis produced 17 strategies, divided into five main groups (disengagement, communication, engagement in activity alone, engagement in other activity with partner, and have sex anyway). Specific strategies were associated with sexual and relationship satisfaction but not with sexual desire. Specifically, partnered strategies were associated with higher levels of sexual and relationship satisfaction compared to individual strategies. Additionally, participants who reported that their strategies were very helpful had higher levels of sexual and relationship satisfaction compared to participants who found them somewhat helpful followed by not at all helpful. These results have implications for clinicians, educators, and researchers and highlight the importance of using effective strategies to deal with desire discrepancy and communicating about them in relationships. The use of effective strategies can have implications for overall couple well-being.

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“…Previous research has shown that individuals’ levels of sexual desire may ebb and flow [ 6 ] leading to instances of sexual desire discrepancy between partners, and subsequently lower sexual and relationship satisfaction [ 6 – 8 ]. While previous research has indicated that hormonal [ 9 – 11 ], relational [ 12 , 13 ], or social factors [ 3 ] may influence levels of sexual desire, to date researchers have not attempted to quantify whether there are regular, cycling, patterns in the fluctuation of sexual desire and assess whether couples exhibit synchrony (i.e. partners’ levels of sexual desire peak and trough at the approximately the same time) or asynchrony (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using spectral and cross-spectral analysis to identify patterns and synchrony in couples’ sexual desire

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexual desire discrepancy is one of the most frequently reported sexual concerns for individuals and couples and has been shown to be negatively associated with sexual and relationship satisfaction. Sexual desire has increasingly been examined as a state-like construct that ebbs and flows, but little is known about whether there are patterns in the fluctuation of sexual desire. Utilizing spectral and cross-spectral analysis, we transformed 30 days of dyadic daily diary data for perceived levels of sexual desire for a non-clinical sample of 133 couples (266 individuals) into the frequency domain to identify shared periodic state fluctuations in sexual desire. Spectral analysis is a technique commonly used in physics and engineering that allows time series data to be analyzed for the presence of regular cycles of fluctuation. Cross-spectral analysis allows for dyadic data to be analyzed for shared rates of fluctuation between partners as well as the degree of (a)synchrony (or phase shift) between these fluctuations. Men and women were found to exhibit fluctuations in sexual desire at various frequencies including rates of once and twice per month, and to have sexual desire that was unlikely to fluctuate over periods of three days or less and therefore exhibited persistence. Similar patterns of fluctuation were exhibited within couples and these patterns were found to be largely synchronous. While instances of desire discrepancy may arise due to differences in rates of sexual desire fluctuation and random fluctuations, such instances may be normal for romantic relationships. The results have important implications for researchers, clinicians, and educators in that they corroborate the supposition that sexual desire ebbs and flows and suggest that it does so with predictable regularity.

show abstract

Why we haven't died out yet

Cited by 24 publications

References 23 publications

Using spectral and cross-spectral analysis to identify patterns and synchrony in couples' sexual desire.

Using spectral and cross-spectral analysis to identify patterns and synchrony in couples' sexual desire.

Strategies for Mitigating Sexual Desire Discrepancy in Relationships

Using spectral and cross-spectral analysis to identify patterns and synchrony in couples’ sexual desire

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