Are gonadal steroids linked with orgasm perceptions and sexual assertiveness in women and men?

Full Abstract

Past findings suggest links between orgasms and testosterone (T), as well as sexuality and estradiol (E), and we examined hormone-orgasm links in this study via two hypotheses (below). Participants were 86 women and 91 men who provided a saliva sample and completed a demographics questionnaire, the Orgasm Checklist (Mah and Binik, 2002), the Hurlbert (1991) Index of Sexual Assertiveness, and the Sexual Desire Inventory (Spector and Fremeth, 1996). Results supported the first hypothesis of correlations between T and positive orgasm experience in women, specifically with the relaxation, soothing, and peaceful items in both partnered and solitary orgasm contexts. Results also indicated correlations between E and flooding and spreading items in a solitary orgasm context. There were no associations between hormones and men's perceptions of their orgasm experiences. There was no support for the second hypothesis of associations between higher T and more sexual assertiveness. Post hoc analyses showed associations between E and women's sexual desire, and T and men's sexual desire. We discuss implications of these findings including that solitary vs. partnered orgasm experiences may differ, and suggest that T might be associated with perceptions of psychological experiences of orgasms, and E might be associated with perceptions of physical experiences of orgasms.

Author information

Author/s: van Anders, Sari M (SM); Dunn, Emily J (EJ);

Affiliation: Departments of Psychology and Women's Studies, Program in Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences Program, University of Michigan, Mail: 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA. smva(-atsign-)umich.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Hormones and behavior (Horm Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Aug; vol 56 (issue 2) : pp 206-13

Dates: Created 2009/07/28; Completed 2009/10/12;

PMID: 19409392, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/12/2009, IMS Date: )

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

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.