Styles of sexual expression in women: Clinical implications of multivariate analyses

Abstract

Two different multivariate techniques were applied to self-reported trait and behavioral data concerning sexual behavior from a sample of North American women. Canonical correlation delineated three styles in which certain demographic attributes and cognitive indices of sexual arousal were related to forms of sexual expression. The first style was characterized by respondents who experienced high rates of intercourse and orgasm in a cohabitation arrangement but who did not necessarily report satisfaction with their sexual responsivity. A second style was characterized by older women currently without partners who expressed a liking for erotic literature and media, direct genital stimulation, and frequent masturbation but who were dissatisfied with their sexual responsivity. The third style, which included respondents most satisfied with their sexual responsivity, was characterized by women who were more aware of physiological changes during sexual arousal and who enjoyed gently seductive erotic activities, breast stimulation, and genital stimulation. A discriminant analysis showed that those women who were most highly satisfied with their sexual responsivity experienced frequent intercourse and orgasm consistency, enjoyed gently seductive erotic activities and breast stimulation, but were unresponsive to erotic literature and media. A second discriminant analysis showed that women who achieved orgasm most consistently were older, were more aware of physiological changes during sexual arousal, reported higher frequencies of masturbation and intercourse, and were less likely to be aroused by erotic preliminaries. These results are discussed within the context of the literature on the treatment and prevention of sexual dysfunction.