RESEARCH PAPER
Sexual satisfaction and oversexualization among adults. The moderating role of self-esteem
1
Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
Submission date: 2023-12-31
Final revision date: 2024-03-01
Acceptance date: 2024-03-04
Online publication date: 2024-05-13
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
the role of personality in interpersonal relations and social behaviorsquality of life and well being
ABSTRACT
Background:
In the contemporary world, there is excessive creation and exposure of one’s own sexuality among adults. Taking this into account, the determinants of sexualization are being sought. The aim of this research was to assess the significance of se-lected demographic variables and the number of sexual partners, as well as psychological variables (self-esteem and sexual satisfaction) for revealing behaviours related to over-sexualization. We also investigated whether self-esteem can moderate the relationship between sexual satisfaction and over-sexualization.
Participants and procedure:
Seven hundred persons, including 403 women (298 heterosexual and 105 gay) and 297 men (199 heterosexual and 98 gay) were surveyed. The respondents were aged from 18 to 45 years (M = 22.90, SD = 4.62). In the study the following tools were used: the Oversexualization Questionnaire, the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Self-Esteem Scale.
Results:
It was found that sexualized appearance was more important for homosexual persons than heterosexual ones and seduction differentiated women and men and was correlated with the age and the number of sexual partners. Oversexualization demonstrated in appearance and message contents was correlated with low self-esteem and low sexual satisfaction. Low self-esteem was found to be a significant moderator in the relationship between sexual satisfaction and sexualized appearance.
Conclusions:
The present study indicates the importance of self-esteem and sexual satisfaction for sexualized appearance. Low self-esteem moderates the relationship between sexual satisfaction and sexualized appearance.
In the contemporary world, there is excessive creation and exposure of one’s own sexuality among adults. Taking this into account, the determinants of sexualization are being sought. The aim of this research was to assess the significance of se-lected demographic variables and the number of sexual partners, as well as psychological variables (self-esteem and sexual satisfaction) for revealing behaviours related to over-sexualization. We also investigated whether self-esteem can moderate the relationship between sexual satisfaction and over-sexualization.
Participants and procedure:
Seven hundred persons, including 403 women (298 heterosexual and 105 gay) and 297 men (199 heterosexual and 98 gay) were surveyed. The respondents were aged from 18 to 45 years (M = 22.90, SD = 4.62). In the study the following tools were used: the Oversexualization Questionnaire, the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Self-Esteem Scale.
Results:
It was found that sexualized appearance was more important for homosexual persons than heterosexual ones and seduction differentiated women and men and was correlated with the age and the number of sexual partners. Oversexualization demonstrated in appearance and message contents was correlated with low self-esteem and low sexual satisfaction. Low self-esteem was found to be a significant moderator in the relationship between sexual satisfaction and sexualized appearance.
Conclusions:
The present study indicates the importance of self-esteem and sexual satisfaction for sexualized appearance. Low self-esteem moderates the relationship between sexual satisfaction and sexualized appearance.
REFERENCES (42)
1.
American Psychological Association (2007). Report of the APA Task Force on the sexualisation of girls. APA Publish-ing.
2.
Ashkinazi, M., Wagner, S. A., Cunningham, K., & Mattson, R. E. (2024). Body image satisfaction and body-related partner commentary link to marital quality through sexual frequency and satisfaction: a path model. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 13, 31–49. https://doi.org/10.1037/cfp000....
3.
Basson, R. (2000). The female sexual response: a different model. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 26, 51–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/009262....
4.
Birnholtz, J. (2018). I don’t want to seem trashy: Exploring context and self-presentation through young gay and bisexual males’ attitudes toward shirtless selfies on Instagram. Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1145/322943....
5.
Brassard, A., Dupuy, E., Bergeron, S., & Shaver, F. R. (2015). Attachment insecurities and women’s sexual function and satisfaction: The mediating roles of sexual self-esteem, sexual anxiety, and sexual assertiveness. Journal of Sex Research, 52, 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/002244....
6.
Brassard, A., Houde F., Caouette, C., Lussier, Y., & de Pierrepont, C. (2016). Validation of a new questionnaire as-sessing adult oversexualization among emerging adults. Manuscript submitted for publication (made available by A. Bassard).
7.
Brassard, A., Perron-Laplante, J., Lachapelle, É., de Pierrepont, C., & Péloquin, K. (2018). Oversexualization among emerging adults: Preliminary associations with romantic attachment and intimacy. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 27, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2....
8.
Brassard, A., Pétrin, M. A., Loisel, C., Lapierre, R., Girard, M. F., & de Pierrepont, C. (2021). The mediating role of oversexualized behaviour in the relationships between attachment and marital commitment in young adults. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 53, 391–400. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs000....
9.
Dapp, L. C., Krauss, S., & Orth, U. (2023). Testing the bottom-up and top-down models of self-esteem: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 124, 1111–1131. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp00....
10.
Davis, D., Shaver, P. R., Widaman, K. F., Vernon, M. L., Follette, W. C., & Beitz, K. (2006). I can’t get no satisfac-tion: Insecure attachment, inhibited sexual communication, and sexual dissatisfaction. Personal Relationships, 13, 465–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475.... 00130.x.
11.
Fasoli, F., Durante, F., Mari, S., Zogmaister, C., & Volpato, C. (2018). Shades of sexualization: When sexualization becomes sexual objectification. Sex Roles, 78, 338–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199....
12.
Gagnon-Girouard, M. P., Turcotte, O., Paré-Cardinal, M., Lévesque, D., St-Pierre Tanguay, B., & Bégin, C. (2014). Body image, sexual and marital satisfaction among heterosexual couples. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Sci-ence, 46, 134–146. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00290....
13.
Hally, C. R., & Pollack, R. (1993). The effects of self-esteem, variety of sexual experience, and erotophilia on sexual satisfaction in sexually active heterosexuals. Journal of Sex Education & Therapy, 19, 183–192. https://doi.org/10.1080/016145....
14.
Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based ap-proach. Guilford Publications.
15.
Hoyt, W. D., & Kogan, L. R. (2001). Satisfaction with body image and peer relationships for males and females in a college environment. Sex Roles, 45, 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013... 01827550.
16.
ISAPS – International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (2023). International survey on aesthetic/cosmetic proce-dures. Retrieved from https://www.isaps.org/discover....
17.
Izdebski, Z. (2017). Sexuality of Poles at the beginning of 21st century. Research study. Publishing House of Jagiello-nian University.
18.
Janicka, I. (2008). The length of living together and the sexual satisfaction of cohabiting partners. Developmental Psychology, 4, 37–48.
19.
Janicka, I., & Cieślak, M. (2020). Sexual satisfaction and its meaning in emotionally close relationships. Polish Psy-chological Forum, 25, 389–405. https://doi.org/10.14656/PFP20....
20.
Johnson, P. O., & Fey, L. C. (1950). The Johnson-Neyman technique, its theory and application. Psychometrika, 15, 349–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF0228....
21.
Kvalem, I. L., Graham, C. A., Hald, G. M., Carvalheira, A. A., Janssen, E., & Štulhofer, A. (2020). The role of body image in sexual satisfaction among older people living in partnerships: a population-based study conducted in four European countries. European Journal of Aging, 17, 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433....
22.
Lammek, M. J. (2022). The body as a reflection of relations with others. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 10, 184–189. https://doi.org/10.5114/cipp.2....
23.
Leary, M. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). The nature and function of self-esteem: Sociometer theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 32, 1–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-....
24.
Łaguna, M., Lachowicz-Tabaczek, K., & Dzwonkowska, I. (2007). Self-Esteem Scale (SES) by Morris Rosenberg – Polish adaptation. Social Psychology, 2, 164–176.
25.
Mahadevan, N., Gregg, A. P., & Sedikides, C. (2021). Self-esteem as a hierometer: Sociometric status is a more potent and proximate predictor of self-esteem than socioeconomic status. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 150, 2613–2635. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge000....
26.
Meltzer, A. L., & McNulty, J. K. (2010). Body image and marital satisfaction: Evidence for the mediating role of sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction. Journal of Family Psychology, 24, 156–164. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00190....
27.
Miljeteig, K., & von Soest, T. (2022). An experience sampling study on the association between social media use and self-esteem. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, 34, 373–382. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1....
28.
Nomejko, A., & Dolińska-Zygmunt, G. (2014). The Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire – psychometric properties. Polish Journal of Applied Psychology, 12, 105–112. https://doi.org/10.1515/pjap-2....
29.
Nomejko, A., & Dolińska-Zygmunt, G. (2019). Sexual satisfaction of women and men in early, middle and late adult-hood – psychosocial determinants. Impuls.
30.
Orth, U., & Robins, R. W. (2022). Is high self-esteem beneficial? Revisiting a classic question. American Psycholo-gist, 77, 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp000....
31.
Peixoto, M., Amarelo-Pires, I., Pimenteal Biscaia, M. S., & Machado, P. P. (2018). Sexual self-esteem, sexual func-tioning and sexual satisfaction in Portuguese heterosexual university students. Psychology & Sexuality, 9, 305–316. https://doi.org/10.1080/194198....
32.
Rentzsch, K., & Schröder-Abé, M. (2022). Top down or bottom up? Evidence from the longitudinal development of global and domain-specific self-esteem in adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122, 714–730. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp00....
33.
Sánchez-Fuentes, M. M., Santos-Iglesias, P., & Sierra, J. C. (2014). A systematic review of sexual satisfaction. In-ternational Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 14, 67–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1697-....
34.
Shepler, D. K., Smendik, J. M., Cusick, K. M., & Tucker, D. R. (2018). Predictors of sexual satisfaction for part-nered lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 5, 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd000....
35.
Skowronski, M., Busching, R., & Krahé, B. (2022). Women’s exposure to sexualized TV, self-objectification, and consideration of cosmetic surgery: The role of age. Psychology of Popular Media, 11, 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm000....
36.
Sumter, S. R., Cingel, D., & Hollander, L. (2022). Navigating a muscular and sexualized Instagram feed: an experi-mental study examining how Instagram affects both heterosexual and nonheterosexual men’s body image. Psychology of Popular Media, 11, 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm000....
37.
Swami, V., Frederick, D. A., Aavik, T., Alcalay, L., Allik, J., Anderson, D., & Zivcic-Becirevic, I. (2010). The attractive female body weight and female body dissatisfaction in 26 countries across 10 world regions: Results of the In-ternational Body Project I. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 309–325. https://doi.org/10.1177/014616....
38.
Szymczak, K., & Janicka, I. (2021). Oversexualization Questionnaire – Polish adaptation. Polish Sexuology, 19, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.5603/SP.202....
39.
Traeen, B., Markovic, A., & Kvalem, I. L. (2016). Sexual satisfaction and body image: a cross-sectional study among Norwegian young adults. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 31, 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/146819....
40.
van den Brink, F., Vollmann, M., Smeets, M. A. M., Hessen, D. J., & Woertman, L. (2018). Relationships between body image, sexual satisfaction, and relationship quality in romantic couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam000....
41.
Yamamiya, Y., Cash, T. F., & Thompson, J. K. (2006). Sexual experiences among college women: The differential effects of general versus contextual body images on sexuality. Sex Roles, 55, 421–427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199....
42.
Ziherl, S., & Masten, R. (2010). Differences in predictors of sexual satisfaction and in sexual satisfaction between female and male university students in Slovenia. Psychiatria Danubina, 22, 425–429.
Copyright: © Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
| eISSN: | 2353-561X |
| ISSN: | 2353-4192 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
