Does relationship status matter for sexual satisfaction? The roles of intimacy and attachment avoidance in sexual satisfaction across five types of ongoing sexual relationships

Abstract

Are individuals more sexually satisfied in casual sexual relationships or more serious, long-term romantic ones? How are intimacy and attachment styles related to sexual satisfaction in different types of sexual relationships? The present study explored sexual satisfaction across five different types of ongoing sexual relationships: friends with benefits, casual dating, exclusive dating, engaged, and married. A sample of 475 individuals (24 males and 71 females in each group) completed online measures of sexual satisfaction, relationship intimacy, and attachment style. First, engaged individuals reported higher sexual satisfaction than all other relationship types except exclusive dating; no other significant differences emerged. Second, intimacy and sexual satisfaction were positively correlated within each relationship type; however, correlations were stronger for exclusive dating, engaged, and married relationships compared to friends with benefits and casual dating relationships. Third, attachment avoidance, but not attachment anxiety, emerged as a significant predictor for sexual satisfaction in all relationship types except casual dating. These results suggest that there may be different underlying processes involved in sexual satisfaction in different relationship types. Despite similar levels of sexual satisfaction across relationship types, there was variability in the roles of intimacy and attachment avoidance for sexual satisfaction. This variability, however, was not limited to “casual” vs. “serious” sexual relationships, as important differences also emerged between friends with benefits and casual dating relationships. Implications, limitations, and possible directions for future research are discussed.