ABSTRACT

Gender differences in experience of first intercourse are among the largest in sexuality research, with women recalling less pleasure and satisfaction than men. This “enjoyment gap” has not been considered in explanations of gender differences in sexual desire. Yet, reinforcement and incentive learning feature prominently in recent models of women’s sexual desire, and nonhuman animal models demonstrate their impact at sexual debut. We examined whether women’s lower sexual desire is explained by their gender or by gendered experience of enjoyment at sexual debut. Emerging adults (N = 838) provided retrospective accounts of physical (orgasm) and affective (satisfaction) enjoyment at (hetero)sexual debut. We replicated gender differences across behavioral, general, and multidimensional measures of trait sexual desire; however, they were contingent on experience and measurement method. When its cognitive multidimensional properties were appreciated, women’s sexual desire varied with experience of orgasm at sexual debut and diverged from men’s only when orgasm did not occur. Such effects were not observed for satisfaction, nor for men. Nor did effects of a control event – masturbatory debut – extend beyond solitary sexual desire. Findings underscore the importance of orgasm equality, and suggest its absence at sexual debut may play an unacknowledged role in differentiating sexual desire.

摘要

在性研究中，初次性交经历的性别差异最大，女性回忆起来的愉悦感和满足感低于男性。在解释性欲的性别差异时，并未考虑这种“享受差距”。然而，强化和激励学习在最近的女性性欲模型中占据突出地位，非人类动物模型展示了它们在首次性行为时的影响。我们研究了女性较低的性欲是否可以用她们的性别或性行为首次享受的性别体验来解释。新兴成人 ( N= 838) 提供了对（异性）性首次亮相时身体（性高潮）和情感（满足）享受的回顾性描述。我们在性欲特征的行为、一般和多维测量中复制了性别差异；但是，它们取决于经验和测量方法。当其认知多维特性得到重视时，女性的性欲随着首次性高潮的经历而变化，并且仅在性高潮没有发生时才与男性不同。没有观察到这种效果的满意度，也没有观察到男性。控制事件——首次自慰——的影响也没有超出单独的性欲。研究结果强调了性高潮平等的重要性，并表明性高潮的缺失可能在区分性欲方面发挥着未被承认的作用。