Why Did Passion Wane? A Qualitative Study of Married Women's Attributions for Declines in Sexual Desire

Dados Bibliográficos

ID23346830
AutoresKaren E Sims (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Marta Meana (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
Ano2010
Volume36
Fascículo4
Páginas360-380
Data de publicação2010-06-29
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Sex & Marital Therapy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0092-623X • E-ISSN: 1521-0715
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0092623x.2010.498727
PMID20574890
OpenAlexW2078683368
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas62
Referências citadas25

The high prevalence of sexual desire complaints in women have led a number of researchers and theorists to argue for a reconceptualization of female sexual desire that deemphasizes the drive model and places more focus on relational factors. Lacking in this effort has been a critical mass of qualitative research that asks women to report on their causal attributions for low desire. In this study, the authors conducted open-ended interviews with 19 married women who had lost desire in their marriage and asked what causal attributions they made for their loss of sexual desire and what barriers they perceived to be blocking its reinstatement. Three core themes emerged from the data, all of which represented forces dragging down on sexual desire in the present sample: (a) institutionalization of the relationship, (b) over-familiarity, and (c) the de-sexualization of roles in these relationships. Interpersonal and intrapersonal sexual dynamics featured more prominently than did relationship problems in women's attributions. The authors discuss the results in terms of clinical implications in the psychosocial component of treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

Attribution · Developmental psychology · Human sexuality · Hypoactive sexual desire disorder · Interpersonal communication · Intrapersonal communication · Qualitative research · Sexual desire · Sociology · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Gender Studies · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology · Sexual function and dysfunction studies · Social Psychology