By Carol Southall
This blog is a summary of our published article:
Bouchard, K. N., Cormier, M., Huberman, J. S., & Rosen, N. O. (2023). Sexual script flexibility and sexual wellbeing in long-term couples: A dyadic longitudinal study. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 20, 945-954. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdad067
What is sexual script flexibility?
In long term relationships, couples often face sexual challenges that disrupt their typical sexual routine [1].
If couples have flexible sexual routines, or sexual scripts, they may be more able to maintain sexual wellbeing throughout challenges [2]. This could mean having a more adaptable approach in which couples might shift to different sexual behaviours when their normal sexual behaviours are disrupted.
Couples with more rigid sexual scripts may feel that sex has to go one familiar way, which results in less flexibility when facing a sexual challenge that could lead to a decrease in sexual wellbeing for either member of the couple.
What did we want to know?
We wanted to understand whether greater sexual script flexibility is associated with greater sexual wellbeing for both members of a couple in a long term relationship, who recently experienced sexual challenges. In doing so, we specifically wanted to learn whether flexible sexual scripts impacted three facets of sexual wellbeing: dyadic sexual desire (the desire both members of a couple feel for one another), sexual satisfaction, and sexual distress.
We also wanted to see whether gender played a role in sexual script flexibility and sexual wellbeing by investigating whether the effects were the same for both men and women.
What did we do?
We had 74 long term couples (mixed and same gender couples) complete an online survey about sexual script flexibility and the three facets of sexual wellbeing at the beginning of the study, and again four months later. The survey asked participants to think about how they would approach sexual challenges by responding to items such as “I think of different options for sex when my normal sexual routine is not successful because of my sexual problem(s).” [3] Participants responded on a scale of 1 (seldom or never) to 4 (almost always). We looked at the data from couples together to better understand how members of a couple influence each others’ sexual wellbeing in relation to flexibility.
What did we find?
We found that when an individual reported higher sexual script flexibility in the face of recent sexual challenges, both they and their partner were more likely to report greater sexual satisfaction. As well, individuals who reported greater sexual script flexibility were more likely to report greater dyadic sexual desire (desire for their partner), and lower sexual distress.
One unexpected finding was that individuals’ greater sexual script flexibility was linked to their partner’s lower sexual script flexibility, as well as their own lower dyadic sexual desire four months later. We found no interactions between sexual script flexibility and gender.
What does this mean?
The results were in line with our hypothesis that greater sexual script flexibility is associated with greater sexual satisfaction for individuals and their partners. This provides empirical support for interventions that help to modify rigid sexual scripts in sex and couples therapy to promote sexual wellbeing.
However, we found that individuals’ greater sexual script flexibility was associated with their partner’s lower dyadic sexual desire and their own lower dyadic sexual desire four months later. This suggests that greater sexual script flexibility could decrease individuals’ desire over time.
Given these different findings, the associations between sexual script flexibility and sexual wellbeing should be further investigated and replicated.
References
[1] Laumann, E. O., Glasser, D. B., Neves, R. C. S., & Moreira, E. D. (2009). A population-based survey of sexual activity, sexual problems and associated help-seeking behavior patterns in mature adults in the United States of America. International Journal of Impotence Research, 21(3), 171–178. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2009.7
[2] Barsky, J. L., Friedman, M. A., & Rosen, R. C. (2006). Sexual dysfunction and chronic illness: The role of flexibility in coping. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 32(3), 235–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/00926230600575322
[3] Gauvin, S., & Pukall, C. F. (2018). The SexFlex Scale: A measure of sexual script flexibility when approaching sexual problems in a relationship. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 44(4), 382–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623x.2017.1405304
