Psychological androgyny and sexual adequacy

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Human Sexuality
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Sexual competence is influenced by personality traits.
• Traditional sex-role typing may negatively impact sexual relationships.
• Androgyny, characterized by flexibility, is hypothesized to enhance sexual functioning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that androgynous individuals possess greater sexual competence than sex-typed individuals.
• To explore the relationship between personality, sex-typing, and sexual competence in couples.
• To examine cultural variations in sex-role expression and their impact on sexual satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Bem Sex-Role Inventory to assess androgyny and sex-typing.
• Compared personality profiles of a patient group with a control group.
• Analyzed sexual competence in relation to spousal androgyny and marriage duration.

Main Results:

• A higher prevalence of androgynous individuals was observed in the control group compared to the patient group.
• Androgyny in at least one spouse significantly increased the likelihood of couple sexual competence.
• Increased sex-typing and stereotyped femininity were noted in longer-married patient couples.

Conclusions:

• Androgyny's flexibility and adaptability are conducive to satisfactory sexual relationships.
• Sex-typing, particularly pronounced femininity, may be associated with sexual difficulties in some populations.
• Cultural stereotypes regarding Israeli masculinity and femininity were challenged by the study's findings.