Abstract
Romantic love and sexual desire have often been seen as two distinct constructs and studied separately. However, in most romantic relationships love, desire, and sex are intertwined. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether daily feelings of love and desire influence engagement in and enjoyment of sexual activity. Ninety mixed-sex couples (N = 180) completed a 30-day daily diary. The results were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling and showed that both love and desire significantly predicted engagement in and enjoyment of sexual activity with desire being a stronger predictor. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 330-342 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 18 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was supported by Patty Brisben Foundation for Women's Sexual Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.