Maintaining sexual desire in intimate relationships: the importance of approach goals.

Full Abstract

Three studies tested whether adopting strong (relative to weak) approach goals in relationships (i.e., goals focused on the pursuit of positive experiences in one's relationship such as fun, growth, and development) predict greater sexual desire. Study 1 was a 6-month longitudinal study with biweekly assessments of sexual desire. Studies 2 and 3 were 2-week daily experience studies with daily assessments of sexual desire. Results showed that approach relationship goals buffered against declines in sexual desire over time and predicted elevated sexual desire during daily sexual interactions. Approach sexual goals mediated the association between approach relationship goals and daily sexual desire. Individuals with strong approach goals experienced even greater desire on days with positive relationship events and experienced less of a decrease in desire on days with negative relationships events than individuals who were low in approach goals. In two of the three studies, the association between approach relationship goals and sexual desire was stronger for women than for men. Implications of these findings for maintaining sexual desire in long-term relationships are discussed.(c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

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Author information

Author/s: Impett, Emily At (EA); Strachman, Amy (A); Finkel, Eli J (EJ); Gable, Shelly L (SL);

Affiliation: Institute of Personality and Social Research, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-5050, USA. eimpett@gmail.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of personality and social psychology (J Pers Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 94 (issue 5) : pp 808-23

Dates: Created 2008/04/30; Completed 2008/08/11;

PMID: 18444740, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Affect
Culture
Female
Gender Identity
Goals
Humans

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