THE ROLE OF SEXUAL ATTITUDE SIMILARITY IN ROMANTIC HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS

This investigation explored the role of sexual attitude similarity in sexually involved romantic couples. Findings indicate that sexual atti tudes of partners are positively correlated, and that partners exhibit significantly greater levels of similarity than randomly generated co uples. Similarity in sexual attitudes did not vary as a function of le ngth of relationship or length of sexual involvement. Gender differenc es were evident in the correlations between certain types of sexual at titudes and the four indicators of relationship quality: sexual satisf action, relational satisfaction, commitment, and sexual communication satisfaction. In addition, sexual communication satisfaction mediated the effect of sexual attitude similarity on both males' and females' s exual satisfaction.