Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Evaluating a General Meaning of Sex Measure

The presence of and search for meaning has divergent and salient outcomes for individuals’ physical, mental, and emotional well‐being. Although numerous domains of meaning have been examined, the literature on the meaning of sex is sparse and lacks a quantitative measure. In this study, we evaluated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Family process 2021-12, Vol.60 (4), p.1307-1330
Main Authors: Hanna‐Walker, Veronica, Busby, Dean M., Leavitt, Chelom E., James, Spencer L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coitus
Confirmatory factor analysis
Humans
instrumento de medición
Interpersonal relationship satisfaction
Meaning
Meaning of Sex
Measure Development
Personal Satisfaction
relaciones amorosas
Reliability
Religiosity
Reproducibility of Results
Romantic Relationships
Sexual Behavior
Sexual beliefs
Sexual intercourse
Sexual motivation
Sexual satisfaction
sexualidad
Sexuality
significado del sexo
Surveys and Questionnaires
性的意义
性行为
恋爱关系
测量
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Summary:The presence of and search for meaning has divergent and salient outcomes for individuals’ physical, mental, and emotional well‐being. Although numerous domains of meaning have been examined, the literature on the meaning of sex is sparse and lacks a quantitative measure. In this study, we evaluated a new general Meaning of Sex (MOS) Measure that captured the presence of (MOS‐P) and search for (MOS‐S) the meaning of sex by analyzing how these subscales were associated with important relational and sexual outcomes (i.e., relationship stability and satisfaction and sexual satisfaction) in two samples. For Sample 1, all participants (N = 865) reported engaging in what they considered to be sexual intercourse and were either single or in a relationship. For Sample 2, all participants (N = 884) reported being in a committed relationship for at least two years. With both samples, confirmatory factor analyses showed good construct validity as the two subscales were distinct from one another and had good reliability. The analyses also demonstrated divergent validity between both scales and meaning in life, sexual motivations, sexual beliefs, and religiosity. The MOS‐S had a strong (and negative) association with relationship stability in both samples. The MOS‐P had a strong (and positive) association with relationship satisfaction in both samples. Resumen La presencia y la búsqueda de significado tiene consecuencias divergentes y prominentes para el bienestar físico, mental y emocional de las personas. Aunque se han analizado varios componentes de significado, la bibliografía sobre el significado del sexo es escasa y carece de un instrumento de medición cuantitativo. En este estudio, evaluamos un nuevo instrumento general de medición del significado del sexo que captó la presencia y la búsqueda del significado del sexo analizando cómo estas subescalas estuvieron asociadas con resultados sexuales y relacionales importantes (p. ej.: la estabilidad y la satisfacción en la relación y la satisfacción sexual) en dos muestras. En la muestra 1, todos los participantes (N = 865) informaron participar en lo que consideraron relaciones sexuales y estaban solteros o en una relación. En la muestra 2, todos los participantes (N = 884) informaron estar en una relación de pareja estable durante al menos dos años. Con ambas muestras, los análisis factoriales confirmatorios indicaron una buena validez de constructo, ya que las dos subescalas eran distintas entre sí y tenían buena f
ISSN:0014-7370
1545-5300
DOI:10.1111/famp.12631