Female coital orgasm and male attractiveness

Female coital orgasm may be an adaptation for preferentially retaining the sperm of males with "good genes." One indicator of good genes may be physic al attractiveness. Accordingly, R. Thornhill, S. W. Gangestad, and R. Comer (1995) found that women mated to more attractive men reported an orgasm du ring a greater proportion of copulations than did women mated to less attra ctive men. The current research replicates this finding, with several desig n variations. We collected self-report data from 388 women residing in the United States or in Germany. Results support the hypothesis that women mate d to more attractive men are more likely to report an orgasm at the most re cent copulation than are women mated to less attractive men, after statisti cally controlling for several key variables. Discussion addresses (a) the i nability of the present research to specify the causal link between female orgasm and male attractiveness and (b) the proactive nature of female sexua lity documented in recent research guided by an evolutionary perspective.