ORIGINALPAPERThePartner-Speci - PDF document

ORIGINALPAPERThePartner-SpeciÞcSexualLikingandSexualWantingScale:PsychometricPropertiesTamarKrishnamurtiGeorgeLoewensteinReceived:9March2010/Revised:6December2010/Accepted:21March2011/Publishedonline:1July2011SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC2011AbstractInspiredbyresearchshowingthat(one’smotivationtoengageinanactivity)oftendivergesfromliking T.Krishnamurti(G.LoewensteinDepartmentofSocialandDecisionSciences,CarnegieMellonUniversity,5000ForbesAvenue,Pittsburgh,PA15213,USAe-mail:tamar@cmu.eduArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476DOI10.1007/s10508-011-9785-6 whichlikingandwantinghavebeenshowntodifferarepri-marilyareasofhedonicconsumption,thisdistinctionhasnotyetbeenquantiedinthehighlyhedonicdomainofsexualbehavior.Thereareavarietyofinterestingpatternswithrespecttosexualbehaviorthatmightbebetterunderstoodbymakingadistinctionbetweenlikingandwantingforsex.Specically,genderdifferencesinsexualinitiationandreportedenjoymentofsexualactivitymayberelatedtodifferencesinlevelsofsexuallikingandsexualwantingbetweenmenandwomen.Inonestudy,sexwasratedasthesingleactivity,whichproducedthegreatestamountofhappinessinwomen’slives(Kahneman,Krueger,Schkade,Schwarz,&Stone,2004).Moreover,womenhaveagreaterphysiologicalcapacitytoenjoysexthanmendo(Baumeister,Catanese,&Vohs,2001).Yet,womenactasthesexual‘‘gatekeepers’’withinarelationship,determiningwhenandwhethersexualcontactwilloccur(Cohen&Shotland,1996;Meston,Trapnell,&Gorzalka,1998).Thispatternofwomenlimitingpotentiallyhighlyenjoyablesexualcontact,evenaftertheeveofthefeministmovementandmorefreelyavailablecontraceptives,couldbeexplainedifwomen‘like’sexmorethanmendo,but‘want’itless.Inadditiontogenderdifferences,sexualfrequencyhasbeenshowntobesusceptibletoinuencesoftime,withpatternsofdeclineinsexualfrequencyoccurringwithbothageandrela-tionshipduration(Call,Sprecher,&Schwartz,1995;Rao&1995).Whilesomeofthisdecreasemaybeduetochangesinhealthstatusorbackgroundvariables(suchasworkschedule),thesevariablescannotfullyaccountforthisdecline(Greenblat,1983).Whethertheremainingdiminishmentinsexualactivityovertimetogetherisduetoalackofenjoymentoralackofdesireorbothisnotwellunderstood.Lastly,sexualfrequencyhasbeencloselytiedtohappinessacrossgenders,withonestudyshowingthatincreasingaper-son’ssexualactivityfromonceamonthtoonceaweekwouldbeapproximatelyequivalentintermsofhappinesstoreceivingapayincreaseof$50,000(Blanchower&Oswald,2004However,studiesthatexaminepatternsofsexualfrequencydonotgenerallydistinguishbetweensexuallikingandsexualwanting.Ifsexualintercourseissohighlyvaluedasasourceofhappiness,itiscrucialtodeterminewhataspectsofintercourseareactuallyimpactingindividuals.Itmaybethegeneralwantingofsexandthecarryingoutofthosedesiresthatisbenecial.Alternately,itmaybethemoresubtledistinctionoflikingthesexthatwehave,whichhasapositiveimpactonourTounderstandchangesinsexualinitiationandfrequencywithage,relationshipduration,andgender(barringchangesinphysicalabilitytoengageinsexovertime),itiscriticaltodistinguishbetweenthedesireforandtheanticipatedenjoymentofsex.Yet,untilnow,thepsychologicaldistinctionbetweenlikingandwantingforsexwithinarelationshiphasnotbeenexplicitlymeasuredwithasinglescale.Previousworkonsexualqualityhasexaminedgeneralsexualsatisfaction,whichoftenencompasses(andconfounds)sexualfrequency,sexualliking,andsexualwanting.Moreover,totheextentthatpriorscaleshaveexaminedsexualwanting,theytendtoaddresssexualdesireasaninnateforcethatisnotspecictoindividualpartners,butratherthatmotivatessexualbehaviormoregenerally(Krafft-Ebing,1886).Here,wedrawadistinctionbetween,andseektoindependentlymeasure,partner-specicsexualliking(PSSL),whichwedeneasthehedonicexperiencespecictosexualinteractionwithaspecicpartner,andpartner-specicsexualliking(PSSW),whichwedeneasthemotivationtoengageinsexualactivitywiththatpartner.Creatingascalethatcanmeasuresexualwantingforbothsexesischallengingbecause,asarguedbyToates(2009),sexualwantingmayoperatesomewhatdifferentlyinmenandwoman.Toatesfoundthatwomen’swantingmaybemorecloselyassociatedwithdeliberateandcontrolledprocesses.Men’swanting,ontheotherhand,maybemorecloselyassociatedwithautomaticprocessesandthuslesssusceptibletofactorslikethesocialcontextofasexualinteraction.Therefore,itwasimpor-tanttoensurethatourscaleitemsdidnothavestrongsocialorculturalfactorsembeddedinthetext,whichmayinuencewomen’spositiveandnegativecognitionsofthoseitems.Forexample,bothmenandwomenhavebeenshowntoexperiencecomparablelevelsofsexualarousalinresponsetopornographicmaterial(Fisher&Byrne,1978),yetsocialnormsmaymakewomenfeellesscomfortableactivelyseekingoutpornographicstimuli.Asaresult,itemssuchasfrequencyofpornographyusewithone’spartnerwouldserveasapoormeasureforsexualwantingand,consequently,weavoidedincludingitemsinourscalethatcouldhaveasociallyorculturallynormativeinter-Inaddition,whilemenandwomencanbothrecognizekeyphysiologicalindicatorsoftheirdesire,suchasgenitalarousal,someresearchers(e.g.,Chivers,Rieger,Latty,&Bailey,2004Chivers,Seto,Lalumiere,Laan,&Grimbos,2010;Laan&Everaerd,1995)haveinferredfromthelowercorrelationbetweenself-reportandtheonsetofthesephysiologicalindi-catorsamongstfemales,thatwomenshowalackofawarenessofphysicalarousalrelativetomen.Toaccountforthispossi-bility,weincludeditemsinourwantingscalethatwereintendedtocapturebothautomaticphysiologicalarousalresponses,aswellasmoresubjectiveassessmentsofdesire.Asimilarchallengeexistswithrespecttomeasuringsexuallikingduetothecommonobservationthatmenandwomentendtoderivemaximalenjoymentfromdifferenttypesofactivities(Baumeister,;Chivers&Bailey,2004).Toavoiddesigningameasurethatyieldedspuriousdifferencesbasedonthematchbetweenitemsincludedinthescaleandthedifferentspecicpredilectionsofthetwogenders,ourmeasureoflikingdidnotfocusonthepleasuregainedfromspecicsexualactivities. ArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476 Inwhatfollows,wepresentndingsfromaseriesofstudiesthatwereconductedtodevelopandvalidateascalecomprisedoftwosubscales,whichassesssexuallikingandwantingforasexualpartner.InStudy1,factoranalysiswasconductedonaseriesofitemsinordertoidentifytwofactors,whichmeasuresexuallikingandwantingforapartner.Test–retestreliabilityofthesetwofactorswasmeasuredonasubsampleofparticipants.InStudy2,discriminantandconvergentvaliditywereexaminedbyadministeringthetwosexuallikingandwantingsubscales,aswellasestablishedmeasuresofsatisfactionanddesire.Toexaminetherelationshipbetweenthesubscalesandrealbehav-ior,participantsinStudy3wereaskedtocompletethesexuallikingandwantingsubscales,andansweredquestionsaboutsexualbehaviorwithintheirrelationships.Aconrmatoryfac-toranalysis(CFA)wasalsoconducted.Study1:ItemSelectionMethodParticipantsParticipantswere1,145volunteersrecruitedfromadvertise-mentspostedontheelectronicbulletinboardinmajorcitiesacrosstheUnitedStatesandthroughalinkplacedonaNewYorkTimesrecruitmentwebsite.Participantswereeligibletoparticipateiftheywere18yearsorolderandidentiedthemselvesasbeinginasexuallyactiverelationship.Uponcompletingthequestionnaire,participantsweregiventheopportunitytoenteralotterywitha1/50chanceofwinninga$50giftcerticate(doingsorequiredprovidingane-mailaddress,whichnotallchosetodo).Allparticipantscompletedmeasuresonline.ThequestionnairereceivedUniversityInstitu-tionalReviewBoardapprovaland,duetoitsanonymousnature,didnotrequireinformedconsent.Participantswereexcludedfromanalysesiftheywerenotinaheterosexualrelationship18).Womencomprised63%ofthesample.Participantsrangedinagefrom18to98(years31.91,11.20).Lengthofparticipants’primaryromanticrelationshiprangedfromlessthanamonthto52years(months83.51,96.34).Theracialdistributionofthesamplewas81%Caucasian,2.5%African-American,8.9%Asian,and3.2%Hispanic.Thebreakdownofthesampleonhighestlevelofeducationcompletedwas:lessthancollege9.9%,somecollegeoracollegedegree66.9%,andpost-graduatedegree23.1%.MeasuresParticipantscompleted22itemseitherdrawnandmodiedfromexistingmeasuresofgeneralsexualsatisfaction(Hudson,Harrison,&Crosscup,1981)andgeneralsexuallibido(Spector,Carey,&Steinberg,1996)orgeneratedbytheauthorstomea-suredimensionsofPSSLandPSSWthattheyperceivedtobemissingfromexistingscales(seeTables).Specically,Items1,2,5,and6weredrawndirectlyfromtheinstrumentsmentionedabove.Items3,4,7,and11weremodiedfromtheinstrumentsmentionedabovetocapturethedistinctionbetweensexuallikingandsexualwantingwithinaspecicrelationship.Theremainingscaleitemswerecreatedtocapturedimensionsoflikingandwantingnotincorporatedinexistingscales.Participantsratedthefrequencywithwhichtheyexperiencedthethought,feelingorbehaviorcapturedbyeachitem.Partic-ipantsrespondedtoItems1–10andItems16–22ona5-pointscalewithanchorsrangingfrom1Rarelyorneverto5Always.Item11wasmeasuredonan8-pointscaleandItem12wasmeasuredona9-pointscale.Item11measuredfrequencyofsexualthoughts,brokendownintoeightorderedfrequencycategories,rangingfrom‘‘1notatall’’to‘‘8manytimesaday.’’Item12measureddegreeofintensityofthosethoughtsandhadanobviousmidpoint.Thescalerangedfrom‘‘1notatallstrong’’to‘‘9extremelystrong.’’AnalysisPrincipalcomponentsanalysis(PCA)wasconductedtoassesstheunderlyingfactorstructureoftheadministereditems.PCAwaschosentoidentifyauniquefactorsolutionasitavoidsthefactorindeterminacyissuesofalternatefactormethods,suchasexploratoryfactoranalysis(Elffers,Bethlehem,&Gill,1978Itwasanticipatedthatfactorswouldbecorrelatedwithoneanother;therefore,anobliquerotationprocedure(directobli-min)wasused.Itemswithprimaryfactorloadings.40andsecondaryfactorloadings.30wereretained.Itemsthatdidnotloadonmorethanonefactorwerealsoretained.Itemsthatdidnotmeetthesecriteriawereremoveduntilallitemsmetreten-tioncriteria.ResultsThemajorityoftheitems(18outof22)hadahighcorrelation(.3orgreater)withatleastoneotheritem.TheKaiser–Meyer–Olkinmeasureofsamplingadequacyoftheseitemswas.94,muchabovetherecommendedvalueof.6,andBartlett’stestofsphe-ricitywassignicant,13068.23,.001.Theresultsofthesetestssuggestedthatthevariableswerelikelytofactorwell,basedontheircorrelationsandpartialcorrelations.Com-munalitieswereallabove.3,conrmingthecommonvarianceofeachitem.Afterseveraliterations,inwhichfouritemswereeliminatedbecausetheyhadlowinter-itemcorrelationandthreeitemswereremovedbecausetheydidnotcontributetoasimplefactorstructure,atotalof15itemswereretained.Thebest-tsolutionrevealedtwocomponentswitheigen-valueses3.0.Thesetwocomponentsexplained64.7%ofthevar-iance.Therstcomponent,whichwelabeled‘‘partner-specic ArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476 sexualliking(PSSL),’’consistedof10itemshypothesizedtomeasuresexualliking.Thesecondcomponent,‘‘partner-spe-cicsexualwanting(PSSW),’’comprised5itemshypothesizedtomeasuresexualwanting.Thefactor-loadingmatrixforthisnalsolutionisshowninTable.TheloadingsofitemsthatwerenotretainedareshowninTable.Theinter-itemcorre-lationsforretaineditemsareshowninTableInternalValidityandTest–RetestReliabilityTocreatesubscales,wesummedtheitemsloadingoneachfactor.Duetothenon-uniformresponsescalesofeachiteminthePSSWsubscale,beforesummingtheitems,wecalculatedacompositescorebyreweightingtheindividualitemssothatallwereona9-pointscale(e.g.,sothateachitemwasnormalizedwithaweightofone).ThePSSLsubscaleitemswereallona5-pointLikert-typescale,sothecompositescorewasasimplesummationoftheitems.Higherscoresindicatedgreaterlevelsofpartner-specicsexualwantingandliking. Table1ItemsandfactorloadingsforthePSSLandPSSWscalesComponent1Component2CommunalitiesPartner-specicsexuallikingItem1:Mypartnerissexuallyveryexciting.74.17.72Item2:Sexisfunformypartnerandme.78.11.71Item3:Oursexualrelationshiplacksquality.18.54Item4:Sexwithmypartneriswonderful.80.14.77Item5:Mypartnerisverysensitivetomysexualneedsanddesires.84.07.65Item6:Oursexlifeisveryexciting.82.09.76Item7:Ifeelthatoursexlifeisboring.12.60Item8:Ienjoythetechniquesmypartnerlikesoruse.79.04.65Item9:IlosetrackoftimewhenIhavesexwithmypartner.55.20.46Item10:Mysexualfantasiesfeaturemypartner.63.17.54Partner-specicsexualwantingItem11:Thinkingaboutthelastmonth,howoftenhaveyouhadsexualthoughtsaboutyourprimarysexualpartnerwhenyouwerenotengaginginsexualactivity?.21.58.51Item12:Whenyouhavesexualthoughtsaboutyourprimarysexualpartner,howwouldyouratetheintensityofthosefeelings?.23.65.63Item13:Whenyoulookatyourprimarysexualpartner,howoftendoesthisresultinphysicalsexualarousal(e.g.,anerection,increasedheartrate,lubrication,etc.)?.00.80.78Item14:Whenyouthinkaboutyourprimarysexualpartner,howoftendoesthisresultinphysicalsexualarousal?.06.91.65Item15:Whenyouhavephysicalcontactwithyourprimarysexualpartner(e.g.,hugging,holdinghandsortouching),howoftendoesthisresultinphysicalsexualarousal?.04.88.748.021.69Percentageofexplainedvariance53.4611.24Indicatesareverse-codeditem Table2ItemsandfactorloadingsforthoseitemsthatwerenotretainedinthePSSLandPSSWscalesComponent1Component2CommunalitiesItem16:Itiseasyformetogetsexuallyexcitedbymypartner.41.47.67Item17:Igetveryturnedonbeforesexwithmypartner.47.48.64Item18:Oursexlifeismonotonous.01.43Item19:WhenI’mhavingsexwithmypartner,IimagineI’mhavingsexwithsomeoneelse.00.06.38Item20:Whenwehavesex,itistoohurriedlycompleted.20.43Item21:Sexissomethingthathastobeenduredinourrelationship.22.08.43Item22:Duringsex,Igetdistractedbyotherthoughts.04.20.51Indicatesareverse-codeditem Wealsocreatedpartner-specicsexualwantingandsexuallikingscoresinwhichitemswereweightedbyfactorloading.Bothmethodsofscoringwerehighlycorrelated(.95and.92,forwantingandliking,respectively).WealsodeterminedthecorrelationbetweenthemeanfactorscoresforeachfactorandthesimplesummedPSSWandPSSLscores.For ArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476 Bothsubscalesshowedhighinternalconsistency,withCronbach’salphasof.87forPSSWand.93forPSSL.Noincreasesinalphaforeitherscalewereachievablebyeliminatingmoreitems.Duetoconcernsaboutdifferencesinresponsebygender,datawereadditionallyanalyzedseparatelyformenandwomen.Bothsubscalesofthesolutionshowedhighinternalconsistencywhenanalyzedbygender,withaCronbach’salphaof.88and.85,forPSSWinwomenandmen,respectively,andaCronbach’salphaof.94and.93,forPSSLinwomenandmen,respectively.Asexpected,PSSLandPSSWweredistinctbuthighlycorrelated,.62,withtheintercorrelationbetweenthesubscaleslowerthantheirrespectivereliabilitycoefcients.Onaverage,aspredicted,menreportedsignicantlyhigherlevelsofPSSWthanwomen,2.69,.01;however,therewerenosignicantdifferencesinPSSLbetweenmenandwomen.DescriptivestatisticsareshowninTableToassesstest–retestreliability,thescalewasre-administeredtoasubsampleof30participants7daysafteritsrstadminis-tration.Summedscoresfromtherstandsecondadministra-tionsofthelikingsubscalecorrelatedat.75.Summedscoresfromtherstandsecondadministrationsofthewantingsub-scalecorrelatedat.70.ThisdegreeofcorrelationsuggestedthatthePSSLandPSSWscaleseachcaptureatraitthatwasrelativelystable.Study2:ConvergentandDiscriminantValidityThetwocomponentsofthenalscaleofpartner-specicsexuallikingandwanting(PSSLW)showedhighinternalreliability,andtheitemsinthePSSLandPSSWsubscalesshowednoorlowcross-factorloading,indicatingthatthetwosubscalesmeasureddistinctconstructs.Totestforbothconvergentanddiscriminantvalidity(Campbell&Fiske,1959),weconductedasecondstudyinwhichweadministeredtoparticipantsthetwosubscales,aswellasfourestablishedrelatedmeasuresofsexualdesire,sexualsatisfaction,andrelationshipsatisfaction.MethodParticipantsAsecondsampleof67participantswasrecruitedtoexamineconstructvalidity.TheseparticipantswererecruitedusinganonlinesurveyplatformhostedbyAmazon.com.Demographicsweresimilartotherstsample,with71.6%ofthesamplefemaleandanagerangefrom18to61(years32.91,SD12.14).Lengthofparticipants’primaryromanticrelationshiprangedfrom2.20monthsto33.76years(months87.76, Table4DescriptivestatisticsforthePSSLandPSSWscalesbygenderPSSLandPSSWscalesNo.ofPartner-specicsexualwanting528.62(7.53)27.20(8.23)Partner-specicsexualliking1035.91(8.93)36.53(9.46)PSSLscalepossiblescoresrangefrom10to50PSSWscalepossiblescoresrangefrom7.5to45 Table3Inter-itemcorrelationofthe15itemsofthePSSLandPSSWscales1234567891011121314152.693.50.564.73.77.545.63.62.48.676.75.72.54.75.677.62.55.70.58.54.628.65.63.46.70.67.65.509.49.54.37.57.47.54.39.6010.59.56.40.62.55.63.43.55.4711.49.47.33.49.32.44.36.41.39.4712.55.53.31.55.40.54.37.46.42.51.5913.46.42.27.46.33.42.31.37.38.36.45.5514.45.40.22.42.33.43.26.37.40.42.52.58.6015.46.43.27.46.33.42.33.36.38.34.47.54.86.54 Footnote1continuedthemeanfactorscoreforthelikingitemsandthePSSLsummedscore,.93.ForthemeanfactorscoreforthewantingitemsandthePSSWsummedscore,the.94.Therefore,itisfeasibletocalculatepartner-specicsexuallikingandpartner-specicsexualwantingscoresinmorethanoneway.However,forsimplicityandconsistencyofcal-culationbyfutureresearchers,wechosetousethesimplesummedscores,witheachitemnormalizedwithaweightofone,forallreported ArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476 105.15).Theracialdistributionofthesamplewas76.1%Cau-casian,3.0%African-American,11.9%Asian,and7.5%His-panic.Thehighestlevelofeducationobtainedwas:lessthancollege17.9%,somecollegeoracollegedegree65.7%,andapost-graduatedegree16.4%.MeasuresTheRelationshipAssessmentScale(Hendrick,1988).TheRela-tionshipAssessmentScale(RAS)isanestablishedmeasureofgenericrelationshipsatisfaction.Itconsistsofsevenitemsthatareratedona7-pointLikerttypescale.WepredictedthatbothwantingandlikingwouldbemoderatelycorrelatedwiththeRASbecausesexualdesireandenjoymentarebothintegralpartsofgeneralrelationshipsatisfaction.However,wehypothesizedthatliking,whichmeasuresaformofsatisfaction(sexual),wouldbemorestronglycorrelatedthanwantingwiththeRAS.TheSexualSatisfactionInventory(Whitley&Paulson,1975).TheSexualSatisfactionInventory(SSI)consistsof32itemsandwasoriginallydesignedtoassesssexualinmarriedprofessionalwomen.However,ithassubsequentlybecomeanestablishedmeasureofoverallsexualsatisfaction.Weadministeredthismeasuretoensurethatourpartner-speciclikingmeasurewasadequatelymeasuringsexuallikinginwomen,aswellasmen.Moreover,thequestionsintheSSIarepartner-focused,makingitabettervalidationofourmeasurethanmoregeneralmeasuresofsexualsatisfaction.HurlbertIndexofSexualDesire(Apt&Hurlbert,).Thisscaleisa25-itemmeasureofgeneralsexualdesire.Scoresrangefrom0(hyposexualdesire)to100(hypersexualdesire).Thisscalehasbeenshowntohavepredictivevalidityandhasbeenusedtomeasuresexualdesireinanumberofpopulations.SeveralofthequestionsintheHurlbertIndexofSexualDesire(HISD)arealsopartner-focused,makingitabettervalidationofourmeasurethanmoregeneralmeasuresofsexualdrive.Wehypothesizedthatwanting,whichmeasurespartner-focuseddrive,wouldbemorestronglycorrelatedwiththeHISDthanwouldsexualliking.ResultsAsshowninTable,boththePSSWandPSSLsubscaleswerepositivelycorrelatedwiththeRAS,theSSI,andtheHISDforbothmenandwomen,althoughmalePSSLandmalePSSWwereonlyweaklypositivelycorrelatedwiththeSSIandfemalePSSWwasonlyweaklypositivelycorrelatedwiththeRAS.Aspredicted,forwomen,thecorrelationsbetweenPSSLandtheRASandPSSLandtheSSIweresignicantlystrongerthanthecorrelationbetweenPSSWandtheRAS,4.07,.001,andmarginallystrongerthanthecorrelationbetweenPSSWandtheSSI,(36)1.25,.10.Formen,however,thecorrela-tionsbetweenPSSLandtheRASandPSSLandtheSSIwerenotsignicantlystrongerthanthecorrelationbetweenPSSWandtheRASorPSSWandtheSSI.Conversely,thecorrelationbetweenPSSWandtheHISD—bothofwhichmeasuresexualdesire—wasstrongerthanthecorrelationbetweenPSSLandtheHISDforbothmenandwomen,althoughnotsignicantlyso.DiscussionThePSSLandPSSWsubscaleswererelatedtoestablishedmeasuresofsexualdesireandsatisfactioninapatternthatmakessenseintermsofthespeciccontentofthedifferentscales.PSSWwasmorestronglycorrelatedwithameasureofgeneralsexualdesireandPSSLwasmorestronglycorrelatedwithmea-suresofsexualandrelationshipsatisfaction.WedidndgenderdifferencesinthestrengthofthecorrelationsbetweenPSSLandsatisfaction.Specically,thecorrelationbetweenPSSLandtheSSIwasweakerformenthanforwomen.TheSSImeasurebreakssexualsatisfactiondownintocomponentsexualactivi-ties,suchas‘‘kissingyourpartner’’and‘‘oral-genitalstimulationofyourpartnerbyyou.’’OnereasonforthelackofcorrelationbetweensexuallikingandtheSSIforthemeninoursamplecouldbethatmalesexualsatisfactionismorestronglyrelatedtosatiationthanenjoymentofindividualactivitiesand,asaresult,men’ssexualsatisfactionmaybemorestronglylinkedtootherelementsofsexualinteraction,suchassexualfrequency.OnereasonweadministeredtheSSIwastoensurethatourpartner-speciclikingmeasurewascorrelatedwithsexuallikingspe-cicallyforwomen.ThestrengthofthecorrelationbetweenPSSLandtheSSIforwomensuggeststhatthisisthecase.Moreover,wefoundthatthatthePSSLandPSSWsubscalesoveralldisplayedsatisfactorydiscriminantandconvergentvalidity.Asanalpsychometrictestofpredictivevalidity,weexaminedtherelationshipbetweenourtwomeasuresandself-reportedsexualbehaviorinathirdstudy.InStudy3,participants Table5ConvergentvaliditywiththreemeasuresbygenderMeasuresPartner-specicsexuallikingPartner-specicsexualwantingMenWomenMenWomenSexualSatisfactionInventory(SSI).24.61**.20.44**RelationshipAssessmentScale(RAS).74**.66**.57*.24HurlbertIndexofSexualDesire(HISD).56**.52**.64**.66**.05;** ArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476 wereadministeredthePSSLWscaleandwerealsoaskedaboutsexualinitiationandenjoymentofsexualactivitywiththeirprimarysexualpartner.Study3:CrossValidationandPredictiveValidityMethodParticipantsParticipantsforthethirdstudyconsistedofarandomlyselectednationallyrepresentativesampleof2,589participantscollectedthroughasurveyresearchcompany(SurveySamplingInter-).Womencomprised45.3%ofthesample.Participantsrangedinagefrom18to88years(years47.88,17.29).Lengthofparticipants’primaryromanticrelationshiprangedfromlessthanamonthto67years(months232.77,197.17).Theracialdistributionofthesamplewas76.9%Cau-casian,14.7%African-American,1.9%Asian,and3.0%His-panic.Thehighestlevelofeducationobtainedbythesamplewasasfollows:lessthancollege27.3%,somecollegeoracollegedegree63.1%,andapost-graduatedegree9.7%.CrossValidationAnalysisACFAwasconductedtotestthevalidityofthetwo-factorstructuralmodelderivedfromthePCA.Todeterminethedegreeoftbetweenthespeciedmodelandthesample,thefollowingindiceswereused:theTuckerLewisIndex(TLI),withacutoffoff.90foranacceptabletandnd.95foranexcellentt(Tucker&1973),theComparativeFitIndex(CFI),withacutoffutoff.90foranacceptabletandnd.95foranexcellentt(Ben-1990),andarootmeansquareerrorofapproximation(RMSEA),withacutoffof.08foranacceptabletand.05foranexcellentt(Browne&Cudeck,1993).ModicationindicesmadebyAMOSinformedpathadditionstothemodel.PredictiveValidityMeasuresToillustratethepracticaldistinctionbetweenthepartner-spe-cicwantingandpartner-speciclikingsubscales,weaskedparticipantstwoquestionsaboutthesexualpursuitoftheirpartner,whichwepredictedwouldbeaffectedbytheirlevelsofwanting.Participantswereasked,‘‘Whoinitiatessex?’’Therewere5responseoptionsrangingfrom‘‘Ialwaysdo’’to‘‘They(mypartner)alwaysdo.’’BothHunt(1974)andLaumann,Gagnon,Michael,andMichaels(1994)suggestthatfrequencyoforgasmmaybethemostlegitimatereal-worldmeasureofsexualsatisfaction,par-ticularlyforwomen.Weaskedparticipantshowoftentheyexperiencedanorgasmwhenhavingintercoursewiththeirpartner.WeexpectedthatPSSLscoreswouldmorestronglypredictfrequencyoforgasmthanPSSWscores.Manywomenachieveorgasmfrommanualstimulation,butnotfromintercoursealoneandbothmenandwomenregularlyengageinself-stimulation.Asamorerenedbehavioralmea-sureofsexualliking,wecomparedsexualenjoymentresultingfromorgasmwithone’spartnerduringintercoursetoorgasmfromself-stimulation.Weaskedparticipantsbothiftheyexperi-encedanorgasmwhenhavingintercoursewiththeirpartner(93.4%ofmeninoursampleand85.6%ofwomen)andiftheyengagedinmasturbationtoorgasm(72.9%ofmeninoursampleand55.1%ofwomen).Asaproxyforsexualliking,wecom-paredthesubjectivesatisfactionfromorgasmwithpartnertothesubjectivesatisfactionoforgasmwithself(bothmeasuredonscalefrom0‘‘notatallsatisfying’’to8‘‘extremelysatisfying’’)bysubtractingthequalityofmasturbationorgasmfromthequalityoforgasmwithpartner.WeexpectedPSSLscoreswouldbestrongerthanPSSWscoresatpredictinggreatersatisfactionfrompartner-orgasmthanmasturbation-inducedorgasm.ResultsConrmatoryFactorAnalysisThetwo-factor,15-itemsolutionfromthePCAwascross-vali-datedwiththissample.Items1–10loadedstronglyonthepart-ner-specicsexuallikingfactoranditems11–15loadedstronglyonthepartner-specicsexualwantingfactor.Yet,theinitialmodelwasapoort.Afterseveraliterationsbasedonmodi-cationindices,apathofcovariancewasthenaddedbetweenerrortermsforthefollowingitems:1and3,2and10,3and10,3and7,7and10,8and9,13and14,14and15,and13and15.ThenalmodelshowsagoodttoourdatawithCFI.97,.96,andRMSEA.06.ThenalmodelisshowninPredictiveValidityWeexpectedthatsexualwantingwouldbestronglyassociatedwithsexualinitiation.Totestthishypothesis,weregressedsexualinitiationonPSSLandPSSWaswellasseveraldemo-graphicvariables(age,relationshipduration,andgender).Wealsoexpectedthatsexuallikingwouldbestronglyassociatedwithbothmorefrequentorgasmandamoresatis-fyingorgasmwithone’spartnerthanfromself-stimulation(controllingforparticipants’abilitytoachieveorgasm).Totestthishypothesis,weregressedthedifferencescoreoforgasmsatisfactionfrompartnerandorgasmsatisfactionfrommastur-bationonPSSLandPSSWaswellasseveraldemographicvariables(age,relationshipduration,andgender).TheresultsareshowninTable.Thestandardizedregres-sionweightsindicatedthatbothPSSWandPSSLscores ArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476 individuallypredictedsexualinitiation.Interestingly,theypredictedthisdesireindivergentdirections.HigherlevelsofPSSLwereassociatedwithhigherlevelsofperceivedpartnerinitiationofsexualcontactand,conversely,lowerlevelsofself-initiation.Thisndingsuggeststhatpartnerinitiationcouldpotentiallyplayaroleinalteringones’levelofsexuallikingforone’spartner.Aspredicted,higherlevelsofPSSWwereasso-ciatedwithhigherlevelsofperceivedself-initiationofsexualcontact.Moreover,PSSWwastheslightlystrongerpredictorofthetwo.Moreresearchisneededtodeterminethecausaldirectionoftheassociationbetweentheinitiationofsexualcontactwithlikingandwanting.Thestandardizedregressionweightsoftheorgasmfre-quencyregressionindicatedthat,aspredicted,PSSLwasmorestronglyassociatedwithfrequencyoforgasmthanwassexualwantingalthoughPSSWwasalsoasignicantpredictor.Additionally,thestandardizedregressionweightsoftheorgasmsatisfactionregressionindicatedthat,aspredicted,PSSLwasstronglyassociatedwithamoresatisfyingorgasmfrompartnerthanfromself(asdenotedbyapositivedifferencescoreof Fig.1Finalconrmatoryfactoranalysis(CFA)modelofthePSSLWscale( Table6RegressionofbehavioralmeasuresofsexualwantingandsexuallikingondemographicsandthePSSLandPSSWsubscalesVariableWhoinitiatessex?OrgasmfrequencyDifferenceinsatisfactionbetweenorgasmwithpartnerandorgasmfrommasturbationBSEBSEBBSEBAge.00.00.00.00.00.01.00.01.04.89.04.43***.65.06.24***.55.14.14***Relationshipduration(inyears).01.00.10**.01.00.07*.01.01.10*PSSL.02.00.17***.05.00.35***.07.01.31***.03.00.22***.03.00.17***.01.01.03.00129.33,.25.12:Standardizedcoefcientsareshown.05;**.01;***Forgender,malewascodedas‘‘1’’andfemaleas‘‘0’’unlessspeciedotherwise ArchSexBehav(2012)41:467–476 orgasmsatisfactionfrommasturbationsubtractedfromorgasmsatisfactionfrompartner).PSSWwasnotasignicantpredictorofrelativeorgasmsatisfaction.Study3showedthatboththetwosubscalesofthePSSLWscalepredicteddifferentrealmeasuresofsexualbehavior.Thisstudyshowedthatthescalehadadequatepredictivevaliditytoassesssexualqualityofspecicrelationships.GeneralDiscussionInthiswork,wedevelopedandvalidatedashortmeasuretodistinguishbetweenPSSLandPSSWforbothmenandwomen.Study1showedthatthePSSLandPSSWsubscaleshadbothstronginternalandtest–retestreliability.Study2showedthatthemeasurehadsatisfactoryconstructvalidity.Lastly,Study3illustratedthatthePSSLWscalehadgoodpredictivevalidity.Wehavesuggestedthatthesemeasuresmaybeusedtohelpexplainlowsexualfrequencyrelativetoreportedsexualenjoy-mentwithinarelationship.Moregenerally,ourmeasurescanbeusedtotrackchangesinwantingandlikingasafunctionofageandrelationshipduration,andtoexaminethesedifferencesacrossgenders.OurPSSLWscalemaybeusedtoidentifypre-viouslyundiscoveredpredictorsofrelationshiplongevityandsuccessbyansweringsuchquestionsas,‘‘Dorelationshipswithpassionatebeginningstendtomaintainthepassionforlongerorexhibitmoreprecipitousdeclinesthanthosethatbegininamorequiescentfashion?’’Moreworkisrequiredtoexaminehowsex-uallikingandwantingchangeovertimewithinrelationshipsandwhethergenderdifferencesinlikingandwantingincrease,decrease,orremainthesamewithaging,relationshipduration,andanumberofotherexternalfactors.Havingseparatemeasuresofbothsexuallikingandsexualwantingcanalsohelpustoanalyzetheimpactofsituationaldeterminantsofbothfactors,beyondtheimpactofageandrelationshipvariables.Yet,levelsofsexuallikingandsexualwantingwithintherelationshipmay,inaddition,bereectiveofamoredispositionaltrait.Wepredictthatbaselinelevelsofsexuallikingandwantinginanyrelationshipmaybemorereectiveofanindividual’sexperientialcapacitywhereaschangesinsexuallikingandwantingmaybemoresusceptibletoexternalinu-ences.Wesawgenderdifferencesinlevelsofsexualwanting,butnotinlevelsofsexualliking.Thisdisconnectinthedegreeofsexualwantingandsexuallikingamongwomenmayhelpexplainsomeofthemixedresultswithrespecttosexdrivedif-ferencesbetweengenders(forareviewofthemixedevidence,seeBaumeisteretal.,Inotherresearch,sexualfrequencyhasbeenshowntoconferindirectphysicalandemotionalhealthbenetsforbothmenandwomenthatareimportanttounderstandbutlittlestudied(Davey-Smith,Frankel,&Yarnell,;Laumannetal.,).Ithasnotbeenshown,forexample,thatthecausalityoftherelationshiprunsfromfrequencyofsextohealth;norhavethemechanismsbywhichsexcouldaffecthealthbeenexaminedindetail.Eitherthedesiretoengageinsexualactivity(wanting)orthepleasurethatactivityconfers(liking)couldcontributepositivelytohealthstatus.Wesuggestthatteasingaparthowsexualwantingandsexuallikingrelatetohealthandwell-beingisanimportantnextstep.Beyondcontributingpotentiallyusefulmeasuresforinclu-sioninresearchonsexandsexuality,thelikingandwantingscaleshavepotentialapplicationstocounseling.Aswellasbeingofbasicscienticvalue,providingknowledgeofdispositionaldifferencesinwantingbutnotlikingorviceversamayalsobeusefultocouplesthatarefailingtoeffectivelycommunicatewheretheirsexualdifferenceslie.Identifyingasexualmismatch(inlikingorwantingorboth)betweenmembersofacouplecouldallowformoreaccuratecounselingrecommendations.Asmentioned,highlevelsofsexuallikingorsexualwanting,aswellasthedegreetowhichthesetwomeasuresarematchedwithincouples,mighthaveimportantphysical,mental,andemotionalhealthcorrelates.ThePSSLWscalemayhelpustoanswerthequestionofwhetheritisthegeneralwantingofsexandthecarryingoutofthosedesiresthatisbenecialwithinarelation-shiporwhetheritisthemoresubtledistinctionofwantingandlikingofsexwithourcurrentpartnerthathasapositiveimpactonbothindividualwell-beingandthewell-beingofthecoupleasaunit.TheauthorsgratefullyacknowledgethenancialsupportofaNationalScienceFoundationGraduateResearchFellow-shiptoTamarKrishnamurti.ReferencesApt,C.,&Hurlbert,D.F.(1992).Motherhoodandfemalesexualitybeyondoneyearpostpartum:Astudyofmilitarywives.JournalofSexEducationandTherapy,18,104–114.Baumeister,R.F.(2000).Genderdifferencesineroticplasticity:Thefemalesexdriveassociallyexibleandresponsive.Bulletin,126,375–389.Baumeister,R.F.,Catanese,K.R.,&Vohs,K.(2001).Isthereagenderdifferenceinstrengthofsexdrive?Theoreticalviews,conceptualdistinctions,andareviewofrelevantevidence.PersonalityandSocialPsychologyReview,5,242–273.Bentler,P.M.(1990).Comparativetindexesinstructuralmodels.PsychologicalBulletin,107,238–246.Blanchower,D.,&Oswald,A.(2004).Money,sex,andhappiness:Anempiricalstudy.ScandinavianJournalofEconomics,106,393–415.Brauer,L.H.,Cramblett,M.J.,Paxton,D.A.,&Rose,J.E.(2001).Haloperidolreducessmokingofbothnicotine-containinganddenicotinizedcigarettes.Psychopharmacology,159,31–37.Brauer,L.,&deWit,H.(1997).Highdosepimozidedoesnotblockamphetamine-inducedeuphoriainnormalvolunteers.cology,BiochemistryandBehavior,56,265–272.Breiter,H.C.,Gollub,R.L.,Weisskoff,R.M.,Kennedy,D.N.,Makris,N.,Berke,J.D.,etal.(1997).Acuteeffectsofcocaineonhumanbrainactivityandemotion.Ne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