Kateřina Klapilová

Relationship satisfaction and outcome in women who meet their partner while using oral contraception

Hormonal variation over the menstrual cycle alters womens preferences for phenotypic indicators of mens genetic or parental quality. Hormonal contraceptives suppress these shifts, inducing different mate preference patterns among users and non-users. This raises the possibility that women using oral contraception (OC) choose different partners than they would do otherwise but, to date, we know neither whether these laboratory-measured effects are sufficient to exert real-world consequences, nor what these consequences would be. Here, we test for differences in relationship quality and survival between women who were using or not using OC when they chose the partner who fathered their first child. Women who used OC scored lower on measures of sexual satisfaction and partner attraction, experienced increasing sexual dissatisfaction during the relationship, and were more likely to be the one to initiate an eventual separation if it occurred. However, the same women were more satisfied with their partners paternal provision, and thus had longer relationships and were less likely to separate. These effects are congruent with evolutionary predictions based on cyclical preference shifts. Our results demonstrate that widespread use of hormonal contraception may contribute to relationship outcome, with implications for human reproductive behaviour, family cohesion and quality of life.

Sexual satisfaction, sexual compatibility, and relationship adjustment in couples: the role of sexual behaviors, orgasm, and men's discernment of women's intercourse orgasm.

INTRODUCTION Research indicated that (i) vaginal orgasm consistency is associated with indices of psychological, intimate relationship, and physiological functioning, and (ii) masturbation is adversely associated with some such measures. AIM The aim of this study was to examine the association of various dyadic and masturbation behavior frequencies and percentage of female orgasms during these activities with: (i) measures of dyadic adjustment; (ii) sexual satisfaction; and (iii) compatibility perceived by both partners. METHODS In a sample of 85 Czech long-term couples (aged 20-40; mean relationship length 5.4 years), both partners provided details of recent sexual behaviors and completed sexual satisfaction, Spanier dyadic adjustment, and Hurlbert sexual compatibility measures. Multiple regression analyses were used. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The association of sexual behaviors with dyadic adjustment, sexual compatibility, and satisfaction was analyzed. RESULTS In multivariate analyses, womens dyadic adjustment is independently predicted by greater vaginal orgasm consistency and lower frequency of womens masturbation. For both sexes, sexual compatibility was independently predicted by higher frequency of penile-vaginal intercourse and greater vaginal orgasm consistency. Womens sexual satisfaction score was significantly predicted by greater vaginal orgasm consistency, frequency of partner genital stimulation, and negatively with masturbation. Mens sexual satisfaction score was significantly predicted by greater intercourse frequency and any vaginal orgasm of their female partners. Concordance of partner vaginal orgasm consistency estimates was associated with greater dyadic adjustment. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that specifically penile-vaginal intercourse frequency and vaginal orgasm consistency are associated with indices of greater intimate relationship adjustment, satisfaction, and compatibility of both partners, and that womens masturbation is independently inversely associated with measures of dyadic and personal function. Results are discussed in light of previous research and an evolutionary theory of vaginal orgasm.

Partner Choice, Relationship Satisfaction, and Oral Contraception The Congruency Hypothesis

Hormonal fluctuation across the menstrual cycle explains temporal variation in women’s judgment of the attractiveness of members of the opposite sex. Use of hormonal contraceptives could therefore influence both initial partner choice and, if contraceptive use subsequently changes, intrapair dynamics. Associations between hormonal contraceptive use and relationship satisfaction may thus be best understood by considering whether current use is congruent with use when relationships formed, rather than by considering current use alone. In the study reported here, we tested this congruency hypothesis in a survey of 365 couples. Controlling for potential confounds (including relationship duration, age, parenthood, and income), we found that congruency in current and previous hormonal contraceptive use, but not current use alone, predicted women’s sexual satisfaction with their partners. Congruency was not associated with women’s nonsexual satisfaction or with the satisfaction of their male partners. Our results provide empirical support for the congruency hypothesis and suggest that women’s sexual satisfaction is influenced by changes in partner preference associated with change in hormonal contraceptive use.

Current Hormonal Contraceptive Use Predicts Female Extra-Pair and Dyadic Sexual Behavior: Evidence Based on Czech National Survey Data:

Data from 1155 Czech women (493 using oral contraception, 662 non-users), obtained from the Czech National Survey of Sexual Behavior, were used to investigate evolutionary-based hypotheses concerning the predictive value of current oral contraceptive (OC) use on extra-pair and dyadic (in-pair) sexual behavior of coupled women. Specifically, the aim was to determine whether current OC use was associated with lower extra-pair and higher in-pair sexual interest and behavior, because OC use suppresses cyclical shifts in mating psychology that occur in normally cycling women. Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) regression and negative binomial models were used to test associations between OC use and these sexual measures, controlling for other relevant predictors (e.g., age, parity, in-pair sexual satisfaction, relationship length). The overall incidence of having had an extra-pair partner or one-night stand in the previous year was not related to current OC use (the majority of the sample had not). However, among the women who had engaged in extra-pair sexual behavior, OC users had fewer one-night stands than non-users, and tended to have fewer partners, than non-users. OC users also had more frequent dyadic intercourse than non-users, potentially indicating higher commitment to their current relationship. These results suggest that suppression of fertility through OC use may alter important aspects of female sexual behavior, with potential implications for relationship functioning and stability.

Specifically Penile-Vaginal Intercourse Frequency Is Associated With Better Relationship Satisfaction: A Commentary on Hicks, McNulty, Meltzer, and Olson (2016)

In a recent Psychological Science article, Hicks, McNulty, Meltzer, and Olson (2016) asserted that previous research on the association between sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction led to inconclusive results. However, Hicks et al. overlooked good evidence that there is a consistent relationship between penile-vaginal intercourse frequency and measures of relationship satisfaction (among other dimensions of satisfaction and indices of psychological and physical health and function; Brody, 2010; Brody & Costa, 2009; Brody, Costa, Hess, & Weiss, 2011; Costa & Brody, 2007; Maunder, Schoemaker, & Pruessner, 2017; Santtila et al., 2008; Smith, Nezlek, Webster, & Paddock, 2007). Other sexual behaviors (e.g., masturbation, anal sex, cunnilingus) are generally uncorrelated or even adversely associated with relationship satisfaction and other satisfaction measures (Brody, 2010). The significance of the associations between penile-vaginal intercourse and relationship satisfaction remains consistent in studies using large representative population samples or multivariate methods to control for the frequency of all measured sexual behaviors (Brody & Costa, 2009; Santtila et al., 2008). Space limitations preclude presenting a metaanalysis of the correlations between penile-vaginal intercourse frequency and relationship satisfaction, but examples include effect sizes (Cohen’s ds) such as 0.72 for men and 0.63 for women in a nationally representative Swedish sample (N = 2,810; Brody & Costa, 2009), 0.21 for men and 0.32 for women in a Finnish study of twins (N = 3,604; Santtila et al., 2008), and 1.04 for women in a convenience sample from Portugal (N = 30; Costa & Brody, 2007). Unfortunately, many studies fail to differentiate between penile-vaginal intercourse and other sexual behaviors, which thereby precludes the ability to detect essential differences between sexual behaviors. Various studies have found that when sexual behaviors are not very clearly defined, some individuals even exclude certain categories of sexual activities from their definition of sex (Byers, Henderson, & Hobson, 2009; Gute, Eshbaugh, & Wiersma, 2008; Peterson & Muehlenhard, 2007). Hicks et al. noted that in their own study results, there might have been a biasing effect due to not being sufficiently specific regarding definitions of sex. The two studies that Hicks et al. cited as not finding an association between sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction actually measured “any sexual engagement between spouses in which at least one of the spouses experienced an orgasm” (Hurlbert & Apt, 1994, p. 491) and “any mutually voluntary activity that involves genital contact and/or stimulation, even if intercourse or orgasm did not occur” (Heiman et al., 2011, p. 744). It has been noted that sexual pleasure is an evolutionary adaptation that ultimately motivates people to engage in penile-vaginal intercourse in the service of reproduction; however, sexual pleasure can be diverted to other functions, and people can engage in sexual behaviors other than penile-vaginal intercourse for the 691547 PSSXXX10.1177/0956797617691547Brody et al.Penile-Vaginal Intercourse and Relationship Satisfaction research-article2017