Abstract:

Sexual satisfaction, genital self-perception, and basic need satisfaction (competence, autonomy, relatedness) in men between the ages of 18 and 71 years were evaluated in the context of Self-Determination Theory?s Basic Need Satisfaction. Two-hundred-four participants (mean age = 37 years) completed questionnaires that assessed the study?s research constructs (sexual satisfaction, genital self-perception, sexual competence, sexual autonomy, sexual relatedness), and social desirability. Computation of alpha coefficients demonstrated reliability of the instruments used to measure these constructs with this sample. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the proposed predictions, and correlation coefficients were computed to examine relationships among the study?s research constructs. The following predictions were supported: (a) genital self-perception significantly predicted basic need satisfaction for sexual competence and sexual autonomy in a sexual interaction, with higher genital self-perception predictive of higher sexual competence and sexual autonomy; and (b) sexual autonomy in a sexual interaction significantly predicted sexual satisfaction, with higher feelings of sexual autonomy relating to higher sexual satisfaction. Results of an analysis designed to examine the influence of sexual orientation on the research constructs indicated that they were independent of the influence of sexual orientation, thereby suggesting that heterosexual and non-heterosexual men did not differ significantly with respect to these constructs. Unsupported findings as well as limitations, clinical implications, and directions for future research are discussed.