The relationship between sexual enjoyment and actualization of self and sexual partner

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Abstract
The purposes of this study were (1) to show that a previously established relationship between female sexual enjoyment and self‐actualization also holds for males and (2) to demonstrate that sexual enjoyment of males and females is related to the actualization of their sexual partners. Forty‐two couples attending a large northeastern state university participated on a voluntary basis. Actualization was measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory. Sexual enjoyment was assessed by a questionnaire about orgasm consistency and by the Sexual Interaction Inventory (SII), which measures a variety of aspects of sexual satisfaction. Self‐actualization was related to orgasm consistency among males but not females. Several SII scales were correlated with self‐actualization for both males and females. Partners' self‐actualization was positively correlated with several aspects of male sexual enjoyment. However, female sexual enjoyment was negatively correlated with partners' self‐actualization. The results indicate that personality factors account for variance in male as well as female sexual responsiveness and that personality characteristics of one's partner may be related to one's sexual pleasure.