Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Measuring and Altering Mating Drive in Male Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: February 15, 2017
Attachment style and subjective motivations for sex
Deborah Davis1, Phillip R Shaver, Michael L Vernon
1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno 89557, USA. debdavis@unr.nevada.edu
Abstract:
The relation of attachment style to subjective motivations for sex was investigated in an Internet survey of 1999 respondents. The relations of attachment anxiety and avoidance to overall sexual motivation and to the specific motives for emotional closeness, reassurance, self-esteem enhancement, stress reduction, partner manipulation, protection from partner's negative affect and behavior, power exertion, physical pleasure, nurturing one's partner, and procreation were explored. As predicted, attachment anxiety was positively related to overall sexual motivation and to all specific motives for sex, with the exception of physical pleasure. Avoidance was negatively related to emotional closeness and reassurance as goals of sex and positively related to manipulative use of sex but minimally related to most other motives. Sexual passion was positively related to attachment anxiety and negatively related to avoidance, and anxiety was related to the maintenance of passion over time, whereas avoidance was related to loss of passion over time.
Related Concept Videos
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Primary Motives: Sleep, Sex, and Pain Avoidance
Sleep is a fundamental physiological drive that fosters a state of restfulness crucial for several bodily functions. It facilitates body restoration, the process by which the body repairs, rejuvenates, and maintains itself during sleep, including memory...
Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles
Attachment Styles
Close Relationships and Culture
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...