Positive Emotions and Sexual Desire among Healthy Women.

Abstract

Sexual desire disorders are highly prevalent, account for a significant proportion of sexual problems, and affect important aspects of women’s lives. Sexuality research has traditionally focused on dysfunction models, rather than human strengths approaches. Recently, positive psychologists have developed models and methods to examine human strengths. This study used Frederickson’s Broaden and Build model to examine links between positive emotions and sexual desire among women. Positive emotions words were examined relative to sexual domains frequently cited in clinical studies, and compared to sexual cognitions which have been linked to positive sexual outcomes in past studies. One hundred sixty five women answered questionnaires sent via a secure online assessment and survey tool. Analysis revealed that (a) women use more positive than negative words to describe desire; (b) the frequency of using positive words related favorably to sexual desire; (c) positive emotion word use did not correlate with other measures of sexual satisfaction and functioning; and (d) women who used positive emotion words also expressed more positive sexual cognitions about the self. A clearer understanding of the role that positive emotions play in sexual desire using a positive psychology approach may provide a useful framework for researchers, educators, and clinicians who seek to develop successful strategies to help women increase sexual desire.