J. Oggins et al., RACE AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BLACK-AND-WHITE NEWLYWEDS PERCEPTIONS OF SEXUAL AND MARITAL RELATIONS, The Journal of sex research, 30(2), 1993, pp. 152-160
A representative sample of 199 Black and 174 White urban newlywed coup
les completed questionnaire items about their marital and sexual relat
ions. In principal components analyses of these reports, care and posi
tive relations in the marriage were associated with perceptions of sex
ual enjoyment in the marriage for women more than men, although these
perceptions were also associated for men. Reports of sexual upset were
associated with reports of irritation and tension for all groups, but
least so for White wives. Reports of enjoyable and upsetting sexual r
elations emerged on separate factors for Black spouses but not White s
pouses, suggesting that Black spouses pay greater attention to sexual
enjoyment in its own right. However, further analysis showed that this
pattern characterized lower income Black wives, but not higher income
Black wives, for whom positive and negative sexual relations items cl
ustered, as they did for White wives. Thus, for these couples, race, g
ender, and class were all salient in shaping their perceptions of mari
tal and sexual relations.