Terri D. Fisher

The multidimensional sexuality questionnaire: An objective self-report measure of psychological tendencies associated with human sexuality

The purpose of the present investigation was to develop and validate an objective self-report instrument, the Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ), designed to measure psychological tendencies associated with sexual relationships. Results indicated that the MSQ subscales had high internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and were largely independent of social desirability tendencies. Other results indicated that women and men responded in unique ways to the MSQ, with women reporting greater sexual-fear and men reporting greater sexual-esteem, sexual-preoccupation, sexual-motivation, sexual-assertiveness, and external-sexual-control. Additional evidence for the concurrent, discriminant, and convergent validity of the MSQ was found: the MSQ was associated not only with womens and mens sexual attitudes and their exchange and communal approaches to sexual relations, but also with their scores on other instruments conceptually similar to the MSQ. Mens and womens sexual behaviors were also predictably related to their scores on the MSQ subscales. The discussion focuses on research and applied uses of the Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire.

Neuroticism and marital satisfaction: the mediating role played by the sexual relationship.

Why is Neuroticism so harmful to marriage and other intimate relationships? Given that such relationships generally involve a sexual component, the current longitudinal study explored whether the apparent negative impact of own and partners Neuroticism on marriage could be explained by dissatisfaction with the sexual relationship. Just after their weddings, 72 couples reported their marital satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and Neuroticism. One year later, they again reported their marital and sexual satisfaction. Own Neuroticism predicted lower levels of concurrent marital and sexual satisfaction among husbands and wives, declines in sexual satisfaction among husbands and wives, and declines in marital satisfaction among wives. Partners Neuroticism predicted lower levels of concurrent marital satisfaction among husbands and wives, lower levels of concurrent sexual satisfaction among husbands, and declines in sexual satisfaction among husbands. Consistent with predictions, sexual satisfaction mediated every effect of own and partner Neuroticism on marital satisfaction. Results highlight the prominent role played by the sexual relationship in accounting for marital outcomes and thus suggest specific processes through which Neuroticism may affect the marriage.

Reliability and validity of the sexuality scale: a measure of sexual-esteem sexual-depression and sexual-preoccupation.

The Sexuality Scale (SS; Snell & Papini, 1989) was designed to measure sexual‐esteem, (the dispositional tendency to evaluate positively ones capacity to relate sexually to others), sexual‐depression, (the chronic tendency to feel depressed about the sexual aspects of ones life), and sexual‐preoccupation, (the persistent tendency to be absorbed and obsessed with sexual matters). The purpose of the present research was to provide evidence from two separate studies for the reliability and validity of the Sexuality Scale. The results indicated that all three SS subscales had high reliability (both test‐retest and internal consistency). Other findings indicated that the dispositional sexual tendencies measured by the Sexuality Scale were related in predictable ways to mens and womens reports of their sexual behaviors and attitudes.

A comparison of various measures of family sexual communication: Psychometric properties, validity, and Behavioral Correlates

Research on the impact of parent‐child communication about sexuality has yielded contradictory and inconsistent results, perhaps because of the lack of a standard measure of the concept. Nine previously used scales which were purported to measure family sexual communication were administered to 363 college students and their parents to compare the reliability and validity of the various measures. The scales varied in their psychometric properties and seemed to be measuring the concept of family sexual communication in some substantially different ways. None of the measures correlated significantly with responses on a measure of social desirability. The scales showed very little concurrent validity, but it was unclear if this was because of the instruments or the means chosen to demonstrate validity. There were no significant correlations between the various measures of parent‐child communication and the sexual activity and contraceptive use of the college students. This is clearly an area where further in...

A scale for the comparison of the sexual attitudes of adolescents and their parents

We developed a 14-item Attitudes Toward Sexuality Scale (ATSS) to compare the sexual attitudes of early, middle, and late adolescents and their parents. One hundred forty-one adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20 and their parents completed a questionnaire consisting of the ATSS and demographic information. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the adolescents was .75, and for the parents it was .84. A principal components analysis revealed four major dimensions of the scale: a large General factor, Legality/Morality, Alternative Modes of Sexual Expression, and Individual Rights. The correlation pattern between the ATSS and subscales of the Sex Knowledge and Attitudes Test, as well as with certain demographic variables, supports the construct validity of the ATSS. This is, therefore, a scale which may be used for research in which the sexual attitudes of adults and adolescents of various ages are to be measured and compared.

Variables in Addition to Gender That Help to Explain Differences in Perceived Sexual Interest

Variables in addition to gender that might be related to perceptions of sexual intent were examined. College students reported the degree to which they thought characters in various interpersonal situations were indicating sexual interest and completed measures of attitudes toward women, sexual experience, number of sexual partners, hypermasculinity or hyperfemininity, and social desirability responding. Small but significant gender differences were found in interpretations of sexual interest. For men, traditional attitudes toward women, hypermasculinity, and lower social desirability responses significantly predicted perceptions of sexual interest. Among women, higher number of sexual partners, hyperfemininity, and less sexual experience significantly predicted perceived sexual interest. Results indicate that gender alone is insufficient for explaining differing perceptions of sexual interest.

Sex on the Brain?: An Examination of Frequency of Sexual Cognitions as a Function of Gender, Erotophilia, and Social Desirability

It is commonly believed that men think about sex much more often than do women, but the empirical evidence in this area is fairly weak. By means of a golf tally counter, 283 college students kept track of their thoughts pertaining to food, sleep, or sex for one week. Males reported significantly more need-based cognitions overall, but there was no significant interaction between sex of participant and type of cognition recorded. Therefore, although these young men did think more about sex than did young women, they also thought more about food and sleep. In contrast, a retrospective estimated frequency of need-based cognitions obtained at the start of the study revealed a sex difference in sexual cognitions, but not thoughts about eating or sleeping. Erotophilia and sexual desirability responding were significant predictors of frequency of sexual cognitions for women, but not for men. Overall, erotophilia was a better predictor of sexual cognition than was sex of participant. Taken as a whole, the results suggest that, although there may be a sex difference in sexual cognitions, it is smaller than is generally thought, and the reporting is likely influenced by sex role expectations.

Orgasmic latency and subjective ratings of erotic stimuli in male and female subjects

There are few ways in which comparable measures of sexual arousal may be obtained from males and females. Because latency to orgasm is an objective measure that is equivalent for both sexes, it may be a useful dependent variable for the investigation of response patterns and differences in men and women. To explore this possibility 24 men and 18 women participated in experimental sessions during which they masturbated to orgasm while viewing sexually explicit films and then rated the film for its arousal value. Male orgasmic latency was not significantly different across rating categories, whereas female research participants showed a significant quadratic trend in which films perceived as being average in arousal quality resulted in the longest latencies. Possible reasons for this sex difference are discussed, and it is suggested that using latency to orgasm as the dependent variable may be a valuable technique in researching sex differences in response to psychosexual stimulation.