Individual and Partner Correlates of Sexual Satisfaction and Relationship Happiness in Midlife Couples: Dyadic Analysis of the International Survey of Relationships.

The current research reports a dyadic analysis of sexual satisfaction, relationship happiness, and correlates of these couple outcomes in a large multinational dataset consisting of 1,009 midlife heterosexual couples (2,018 individuals) recruited in Japan, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and the United States (Heiman et al., 2011). Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006) identified correlates of sexual satisfaction that included individuals' reports of good health; frequent kissing, cuddling, and caressing; frequent recent sexual activity; attaching importance to one's own and one's partner's orgasm; better sexual functioning; and greater relationship happiness. Even after controlling for individual-level effects, partners' reports of good health; frequent kissing, cuddling, and caressing; frequent recent sexual activity; attaching importance to one's own and one's partner's orgasm; better sexual functioning; and greater relationship happiness contributed significantly to predicting and understanding individuals' sexual satisfaction. Correlates of relationship happiness included individuals' reports of good health; frequent kissing, cuddling, and caressing; frequent recent sexual activity; attaching importance to one's own and one's partner's orgasm; better sexual functioning; and greater sexual satisfaction, and once again, even after controlling for individual-level effects, partners' reports of each of these correlates contributed significantly to predicting and understanding individuals' relationship happiness. Interactions of individual and partner effects with participant gender are also reported. Current results demonstrate empirically that the partner "matters" to an individual's sexual satisfaction and relationship happiness and indicate that a comprehensive understanding of factors contributing to these couple outcomes requires a couple-level research strategy. Partner effects, even when controlling for individual effects, were consistently observed, and explanation of sexual satisfaction and relationship happiness always depended on identifying and understanding mutual and concurrent individual and partner influences.

Sexual satisfaction and relationship happiness in midlife and older couples in five countries.

Sexuality research focuses almost exclusively on individuals rather than couples, though ongoing relationships are very important for most people and cultures. The present study was the first to examine sexual and relationship parameters of middle-aged and older couples in committed relationships of 1-51 years duration. Survey research was conducted in Brazil, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the U.S. targeting 200 men aged 40-70 and their female partners in each country, with 1,009 couples in the final sample. Key demographic, health, physical intimacy, sexual behavior, sexual function, and sexual history variables were used to model relationship happiness and sexual satisfaction. The median ages were 55 for men and 52 for women; median relationship duration was 25 years. Relationship satisfaction in men depended on health, physical intimacy, and sexual functioning, while in women only sexual functioning predicted relationship satisfaction. Models predicting sexual satisfaction included significant physical intimacy and sexual functioning for both genders and, for men, more frequent recent sexual activity and fewer lifetime partners. Longer relationship duration predicted greater relationship happiness and sexual satisfaction for men. However, women in relationships of 20 to 40 years were significantly less likely than men to report relationship happiness. Compared to men, women showed lower sexual satisfaction early in the relationship and greater sexual satisfaction later. Within the long-term committed relationship context, there were significant gender differences in correlates of sexual and relationship satisfaction, with sexual functioning a common predictor of both types of satisfaction and physical intimacy a more consistent and salient predictor for men.