Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the Link Between Benevolent Sexism and Orgasm Frequency in Heterosexual Women

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Previous research on subclinical orgasmic difficulties among women has focused on intrapsychic and interpersonal variables, but little attention has been paid to the more distal ideological factors that might indirectly constrain sexual pleasure. We hypothesized that women’s endorsement of a benevolently sexist worldview would be negatively associated with orgasm frequency. Specifically, we predicted that benevolent sexism would be associated with increased perceptions of male sexual selfishness. This perception of men as interested in their own sexual pleasure would then predict decreased willingness to ask a partner for sexual pleasure, which in turn would be associated with less frequent orgasms. We found support for our model across two studies (Study 1: N = 339; Study 2: N = 323). We did not, however, find a direct effect of benevolent sexism on orgasm frequency. We discuss possible additional variables linking benevolent sexism with orgasm frequency, implications, and future directions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The full survey measured men and women’s sexual attitudes, sexual history, and social attitudes, N = 986. Additional information regarding the full survey can be provided by the authors upon request.

  2. In both Study 1 and 2, each variable had >5 % missing data; hence, series mean substitution was used.

References

  • Albarracin, J., & Plambeck, C. R. (2010). Demographic factors and sexist beliefs as predictors of condom use among Latinos in the USA. AIDS Care, 22, 1021–1028. doi:10.1080/09540121.2010.487089.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Altenburger, L. E., Carotta, C. L., Bonomi, A. E., & Snyder, A. (2016). Sexist attitudes among emerging adult women readers of Fifty Shades fiction. Archives of Sexual Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10508-016-0724-4.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Althof, S. E., Leiblum, S. R., Chevret-Measson, M., Hartmann, U., Levine, S. B., McCabe, M., … Wylie, K. (2005). Psychological and interpersonal dimensions of sexual function and dysfunction. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2, 793–800. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01618.x.

  • Backus, F. R., & Mahalik, J. R. (2011). The masculinity of Mr. Right: Feminist identity and heterosexual women’s ideal romantic partners. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35, 318–326. doi:10.1177/0361684310392357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barlow, F. K. (2016). Sex and political attitudes. Unpublished raw data.

  • Barreto, M., & Ellemers, N. (2005). The burden of benevolent sexism: How it contributes to the maintenance of gender inequalities. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 633–642. doi:10.1002/ejsp.270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barreto, M., Ellemers, N., Piebinga, L., & Moya, M. (2010). How nice of us and how dumb of me: The effect of exposure to benevolent sexism on women’s task and relational self-descriptions. Sex Roles, 62, 532–544. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9699-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, J. C., & Wright, S. C. (2011). Yet another dark side of chivalry: Benevolent sexism undermines and hostile sexism motivates collective action for social change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 62–77. doi:10.1037/a0022615.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, G. E. (2003). The meaning of heterosexual intercourse among women with female orgasmic disorder. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 61–71. doi:10.1023/A:1021845513448.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buhrmester, M., Kwang, T., & Gosling, S. D. (2011). Amazon’s Mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3–5. doi:10.1177/1745691610393980.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calogero, R. M., & Jost, J. T. (2011). Self-subjugation among women: Exposure to sexist ideology, self-objectification, and the protective function of the need to avoid closure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 211–228. doi:10.1037/a0021864.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, J., & Shapiro, D. (2016). Conducting clinical research using crowdsourced convenience samples. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 12, 53–81. doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093623.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Z., Fiske, S. T., & Lee, T. L. (2009). Ambivalent sexism and power-related gender-role ideology in marriage. Sex Roles, 60, 765–778. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9585-9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Coffelt, T. A., & Hess, J. A. (2014). Sexual disclosures: Connections to relational satisfaction and closeness. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 40, 577–591. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2013.811449.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, E. B., Fenigstein, A., & Fauber, R. L. (2014). The faking orgasm scale for women: Psychometric properties. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 423–435. doi:10.1007/s10508-013-0212-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, R. M., & Brody, S. (2007). Women’s relationship quality is associated with specifically penile-vaginal intercourse orgasm and frequency. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 33, 319–327. doi:10.1080/00926230701385548.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Daniluk, J. C. (1998). Women’s sexuality across the life span: Challenging myths, creating meanings. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dardenne, B., Dumont, M., & Bollier, T. (2007). Insidious dangers of benevolent sexism: Consequences for women’s performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 764–799. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.93.5.764.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durán, M., Moya, M., & Megías, J. L. (2011). It’s his right, it’s her duty: Benevolent sexism and the justification of traditional sexual roles. Journal of Sex Research, 48, 470–478. doi:10.1080/00224499.2010.513088.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández, M. L., Castro, Y. R., Otero, M. C., Foltz, M. L., & Lorenzo, M. G. (2006). Sexism, vocational goals, and motivation as predictors of men’s and women’s career choice. Sex Roles, 55, 267–272. doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9079-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitz, C. C., & Zucker, A. N. (2015). Everyday exposure to benevolent sexism and condom use among college women. Women and Health, 55, 245–262. doi:10.1080/03630242.2014.996721.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fugl-Meyer, K. S., Öberg, K., Lundberg, P. O., Lewin, B., & Fugl-Meyer, A. (2006). On orgasm, sexual techniques, and erotic perceptions in 18- to 74-year old Swedish women. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 3, 56–68. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2005.00170.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glick, P., Diebold, J., Bailey-Werner, B., & Zhu, L. (1997). The two faces of Adam: Ambivalent sexism and polarized attitudes toward women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 1323–1334. doi:10.1177/01461672972312009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 491–512. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glick, P., Fiske, S. T., Mladinic, A., Saiz, J. L., Abrams, D., Masser, B., … López, W. (2000). Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 763–775. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.5.763.

  • Goodman, J. K., Cryder, C. E., & Cheema, A. (2013). Data collection in a flat world: The strengths and weaknesses of Mechanical Turk samples. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 26, 213–224. doi:10.1002/bdm.1753.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haavio-Mannila, E., & Kontula, O. (1997). Correlates of increased sexual satisfaction. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 399–419. doi:10.1023/A:1024591318836.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, E. A., Thai, M., & Barlow, F. K. (2016). Fifty shades flipped: Effects of reading erotica depicting a sexually dominant woman compared to a sexually dominant man. Journal of Sex Research. doi:10.1080/00224499.2015.1131227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, R. D., Bennett, C. M., Fairley, C. K., & Dennerstein, L. (2006). What can prevalence studies tell us about female sexual difficulty and dysfunction? Journal of Sexual Medicine, 3, 589–595. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2006.00241.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heiman, J. R. (2002). Sexual dysfunction: Overview of prevalence, etiological factors, and treatments. Journal of Sex Research, 39, 73–78. doi:10.1080/00224490209552124.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. (1995). Evaluating model fit. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 76–99). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurlbert, D. F. (1991). The role of assertiveness in female sexuality: A comparative study between sexually assertive and sexually nonassertive women. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 17, 183–190. doi:10.1080/00926239108404342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, M. P., Strassberg, D. S., & Turner, C. M. (2004). Communication and associated relationship issues in female anorgasmia. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 30, 263–276. doi:10.1080/00926230490422403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kilianski, S., & Rudman, L. (1998). Wanting it both ways: Do women approve of benevolent sexism? Sex Roles, 39, 333–352. doi:10.1023/A:1018814924402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klapilová, K., Brody, S., Krejčová, L., Husárová, B., & Binter, J. (2015). Sexual satisfaction, sexual compatibility, and relationship adjustment in couples: The role of sexual behaviors, orgasm, and men’s discernment of women’s intercourse orgasm. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 12, 667–675. doi:10.1111/jsm.12766.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laan, E., & Rellini, A. H. (2011). Can we treat anorgasmia in women? The challenge to experiencing pleasure. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 26, 329–341. doi:10.1080/14681994.2011.649691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, J. H., Anderson, S. M., Holman, T. B., & Niemann, B. K. (1998). A longitudinal study of the effects of premarital communication, relationship stability, and self-esteem on sexual satisfaction in the first year of marriage. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 24, 193–206. doi:10.1080/00926239808404933.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laumann, E. O., Paik, A., & Rosen, R. C. (1999). Sexual dysfunction in the United States: Prevalence and predictors. Journal of the American Medical Association, 281, 537–544. doi:10.1001/jama.281.6.537.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Litzinger, S., & Gordon, K. C. (2005). Exploring relationships among communication, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 31, 409–424. doi:10.1080/00926230591006719.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mark, K. P., & Jozkowski, K. N. (2013). The mediating role of sexual and nonsexual communication between relationship and sexual satisfaction in a sample of college-age heterosexual couples. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 39, 410–427. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2011.644652.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, M. P., & Delaney, S. M. (1992). An evaluation of therapeutic programs for the treatment of secondary inorgasmia in women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 21, 69–89. doi:10.1007/bf01542717.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, M. P., & Giles, K. (2012). Differences between sexually functional and dysfunctional women in childhood experiences and individual and relationship domains. International Journal of Sexual Health, 24, 181–194. doi:10.1080/19317611.2012.680686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morokoff, P. J., Quina, K., Harlow, L. L., Whitmire, L., Grimley, D. M., Gibson, P. R., & Burkholder, G. J. (1997). Sexual Assertiveness Scale (SAS) for women: Development and validation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 790–804. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.4.790.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nobre, P. J. (2009). Determinants of sexual desire problems in women: Testing a cognitive-emotional model. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 35, 360–377. doi:10.1080/00926230903065716.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Öberg, K., Fugl-Meyer, A., & Fugl-Meyer, K. (2004). On categorization and quantification of women’s sexual dysfunctions: An epidemiological approach. International Journal of Impotence Research, 16, 261–269. doi:10.1038/sj.ijir.3901151.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Puts, D. A., Welling, L. L., Burriss, R. P., & Dawood, K. (2012). Men’s masculinity and attractiveness predict their female partners’ reported orgasm frequency and timing. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33, 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2011.03.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rehman, U. S., Rellini, A. H., & Fallis, E. (2011). The importance of sexual self-disclosure to sexual satisfaction and functioning in committed relationships. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8, 3108–3115. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02439.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rudman, L. A., & Glick, P. (2008). The social psychology of gender: How power and intimacy shape gender relations. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sakalli, N. (2001). Beliefs about wife beating among Turkish college students: The effects of patriarchy, sexism, and sex differences. Sex Roles, 44, 599–610. doi:10.1023/A:1012295109711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, D. T., & Kiefer, A. K. (2007). Body concerns in and out of the bedroom: Implications for sexual pleasure and problems. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 808–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-007-9205-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, D. T., Phelan, J. E., Moss-Racusin, C. A., & Good, J. J. (2012). The gender role motivation model of women’s sexually submissive behavior and satisfaction in heterosexual couples. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 528–539. doi:10.1177/0146167211430088.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Satinsky, S., Reece, M., Dennis, B., Sanders, S., & Bardzell, S. (2012). An assessment of body appreciation and its relationship to sexual function in women. Body Image, 9, 137–144. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2011.09.007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sibley, C. G., & Overall, N. C. (2011). A dual process motivational model of ambivalent sexism and gender differences in romantic partner preferences. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35, 303–317. doi:10.1177/0361684311401838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sibley, C. G., Overall, N. C., & Duckitt, J. (2007). When women become more hostilely sexist toward their gender: The system-justifying effect of benevolent sexism. Sex Roles, 57, 743–754. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9306-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van den Brink, F., Smeets, M. M., Hessen, D., & Woertman, L. (2015). Positive body image and sexual functioning in Dutch female university students: The role of adult romantic attachment. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45, 1217–1226. doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0511-7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Viki, G. T., Abrams, D., & Hutchison, P. (2003). The “true” romantic: Benevolent sexism and paternalistic chivalry. Sex Roles, 49, 533–537. doi:10.1023/A:1025888824749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woo, J. T., Brotto, L. A., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2011). The role of sex guilt in the relationship between culture and women’s sexual desire. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 385–394. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9609-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Emily Ann Harris & Matthew J. Hornsey

  2. School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Fiona Kate Barlow

Authors
  1. Emily Ann Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthew J. Hornsey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fiona Kate Barlow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emily Ann Harris.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Queensland Human Ethics Committee, the Australian National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Harris, E.A., Hornsey, M.J. & Barlow, F.K. On the Link Between Benevolent Sexism and Orgasm Frequency in Heterosexual Women. Arch Sex Behav 45, 1923–1931 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0780-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0780-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation