The interrelationships between sexual self-esteem, sexual assertiveness and sexual satisfaction.(Report)

Abstract: This study investigated the relationships between sexual self-esteem, sexual assertiveness and sexual satisfaction. It was hypothesized that higher levels of sexual self-esteem would be associated with greater sexual satisfaction and that sexual assertiveness would act as a partial mediator. The participants were 25 men and 46 women, aged 19-56 years, recruited from the community. Participants completed questionnaires measuring sexual self-esteem, sexual assertiveness and sexual satisfaction. The results showed strong correlations between all three variables and confirmed sexual assertiveness as a partial mediator of the relationship between sexual self-esteem and sexual satisfaction. The implications of the findings for clinical practice are considered.

Introduction

Sexual satisfaction is associated with a sense of well-being (Taleporos & McCabe, 2002) and physical health (Whipple, Knowles, Davis, Gianotten, & Owens, 2007) and has a strong association with relationship satisfaction (Byers, 2005; Byers, Demmons, & Lawrance, 1998; Cupach & Comstock, 1990; Morokoff & Gillilland, 1993; Trudel, 2002; Young, Denny, Luquis, & Young, 1998). Given the high levels of sexual difficulties and dysfunction in the general population, e.g., Laumann, Paik, and Rosen (1999) found that as many as 31% of men and 43% of women had experience with some form of sexual difficulties, researchers and clinicians have an interest in factors that might facilitate or improve sexual satisfaction.

Sexual assertiveness and sexual self-esteem are two such factors that may affect an individual's levels of sexual satisfaction, where sexual satisfaction is understood to imply the degree of concordance and satisfaction in one's sexual relationship (Hudson, Harrison, & Crosscup, 1981, p. 157). Sexual assertiveness is a sub-type of sexual communication and has been defined as a person's ability to communicate sexual needs and initiate sexual behaviour with a partner (Shafer, 1977). Sexual self-esteem has been defined by Zeanah and Schwarz (1996) as one's affective reactions to the subjective appraisals of one's sexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. To date, research on the relationship that sexual assertiveness and sexual self-esteem may have with sexual satisfaction is lacking. It seems likely that sexual satisfaction might be greater for individuals who are more comfortable asserting their sexual needs, who initiate desired behaviours, and who view their sexuality in a positive light. Therefore, the two principle goals of this investigation were to determine if there was an association between higher levels of sexual self-esteem and greater sexual satisfaction and if sexual assertiveness mediated the relationship between these two variables.

Sexual communication

Much of the available research on sexual communication has been focused on parent-child communication for the purposes of sex education and on communication between partners (usually teenagers) for the purpose of fostering safer-sex behaviours (e.g., Kim & Ward, 2007; Lam & Barnhart, 2006; Peterson, 2006; Widman, Welsh, McNulty, & Little, 2006). Similarly, research on sexual assertiveness has focused on its role in negotiating safer sex behaviours (Noar, Morokoff, & Harlow, 2002; Snell & Wooldridge, 1998). As well, there have been many studies demonstrating the effects of HIV/AIDS prevention programs on sexual assertiveness (Di Noia & Schinke, 2007; Onuoha & Munakata, 2005; Zamboni, Crawford, & Williams, 2000), although it is neither possible nor advisable to draw comparisons between sexual communication for the purpose of sexual satisfaction and sexual communication for the purpose of increasing safer-sex behaviours (Quina, Harlow, Morokoff, Burkholder, & Deiter, 2000). There are distinct differences between sexual assertiveness for the purpose of safer sex behaviours (e.g., "Please use a condom") and sexual assertiveness for the purpose of pleasure (e.g., "I like it when you do that, do it more"). For example, youth may receive sexuality education programs that encourage them to be pro-active about safer sex behaviours but few, if any, are taught to verbalize their desire for sexual pleasure (Allen, 2007).

Sexual communication and sexual satisfaction

Previous investigations in the area of sexual pleasure or satisfaction have operationalized sexual communication as sexual self-disclosure (e.g., Byers & Demmons, 1999; Larson, Anderson, Holman, & Niemann, 1998; MacNeil & Byers, 1997, 2005) rather than sexual assertiveness. Sexual self-disclosure is usually defined as the degree to which a participant has disclosed his or her preferences regarding sexual techniques (e.g., kissing, oral sex, intercourse) to his or her partner (e.g., Byers & Demmons, 1999; MacNeil & Byers, 1997). The results of this research on sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction tend to show a positive relationship between the two variables (Byers & Demmons, 1999; MacNeil & Byers, 1997). However, there can be major differences between disclosing sexual preferences to a partner and having these preferences enacted. Sexual assertiveness involves being able to go beyond disclosing a sexual preference to a partner to actively making requests and initiating behaviours, an act that by its very nature incurs much greater interpersonal risks (i.e., rejection) than disclosure alone. Therefore, it makes sense that individuals who feel greater sexual self-esteem are more likely to show higher levels of sexual assertiveness, a finding that has been demonstrated empirically by Oattes and Offman (2007) who found an association between these variables in a community sample. With a few exceptions (e.g., Bridges, Lease, & Ellison, 2004; Ferroni & Taffe, 1997), sexual assertiveness has not been studied in the context of sexual pleasure and has not been directly investigated in conjunction with sexual satisfaction.

Existing research suggests that greater sexual assertiveness may be associated with greater sexual pleasure. For women, higher levels of sexual assertiveness correlate with greater satisfaction with sexual intercourse (Bridges et al., 2004; Ferroni & Taffe, 1997), greater number of orgasms experienced (Ferroni & Taffe, 1997) as well as greater frequency of sexual activity and greater sexual excitability (Hurlbert, 1991; Hurlbert, Apt, & Rabehl, 1993). In a population study of 2,250 Finnish participants, a strong correlation was shown between effective communication and sexual satisfaction in both men (r = .28, p <.001) …