Primary Submission Category: LGBTQ+
The Gendered Sexual Experiences and Marital Quality of Middle-Aged Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples
Authors: Yiwen Wang Debra Umberson Hye Won Chai Sara Mernitz
Presenting Author: Yiwen Wang*
Sex plays an important role in shaping the marital quality of couples, often in different ways for straight men and women. But gender dynamics are likely to differ for same-sex compared to different-sex couples. In this study we compared the sexual experiences and marital quality of men and women in mid-life gay, lesbian, and straight married couples, and considered the perspective of both spouses in each couple. We used mixed-effects multilevel modeling to analyze dyadic survey data from 830 midlife gay, lesbian, and straight spouses in 415 unions. We assessed gender differences in sexual frequency, sexual satisfaction, and sexual motives and the associations of respondent and partner reports of sexual experiences with marital quality. Our findings indicate that both men and women in same- and different-sex marriages reported similar levels of sexual satisfaction and they were equally likely to have sex for emotional closeness. However, compared to women in same-sex marriage, women in different-sex marriage were more likely to have sex to please their spouse, for the sake of relationship, or due to pressure from their spouse. More importantly, partner reports of feeling pressure to have sex were found to be negatively associated with marital quality for all groups, except for men married to women. Taken together, this study sheds light on how sexual experiences and its implications for marital quality are shaped by both partners across different relational contexts.