Exploring actor and partner correlates of sexual satisfaction among married couples

Using the Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction, we consider how infidelity, pornography consumption, marital satisfaction, sexual frequency, premarital sex, and cohabitation are associated with married couples’ sexual satisfaction. Data from 433 couples are analyzed with structural equation models to determine the contributions of (a) each respondent’s predictors (actor effects) and (b) his/her spouse’s predictors (partner effects). No gender differences in actor and partner effects emerge. Marital satisfaction and sexual frequency act as rewards and increase sexual satisfaction. A partner effect emerges for marital infidelity, suggesting that a spouse’s infidelity is costly for sexual satisfaction. Finally, some evidence suggests that pornography consumption is costly for own and spouse’s sexual satisfaction, especially when pornography is used by only one spouse.