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. 2014 Nov;69 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):S83-98.
doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbu072.

Sexuality and physical contact in National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project Wave 2

Adena M Galinsky  1 , Martha K McClintock  2 , Linda J Waite  3
Affiliations

Sexuality and physical contact in National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project Wave 2

Adena M Galinsky et al. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Introduction: Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) includes new measures of sexual interest and behavior, as well as new measures of the context of sexual experience and the frequency and appeal of physical contact. This is the first time many of these constructs have been measured in a nationally representative sample.

Method: We describe the new measures and compare the distributions of each across gender and age groups, in some cases by partnership status.

Results: Two components of sexuality decrease with age among both men and women: frequency of finding an unknown person sexually attractive and receptivity to a partner's sexual overtures. In contrast, the inclination to make one's self sexually attractive to others was a more complicated function of partner status, gender, and age: partnered women and unpartnered men made the most effort, with the more effortful gender's effort decreasing with age. Both men and women find nonsexual physical contact appealing but sexual physical contact is more appealing to men than women. Finally, two fifths of men and women report dissatisfaction with their partner's frequency of caring behaviors that make later sexual interactions pleasurable, and a fifth of women and a quarter of men who had vaginal sex in the past year report dissatisfaction with amount of foreplay.

Discussion: These data offer the opportunity to characterize sexual motivation in older adulthood more precisely and richly and to examine how the context of sexual experience and the nonsexual aspects of physical intimacy correlate with sexual behavior, enjoyment, and problems.

Keywords: Caring touch; Physical contact; Sex behavior; Sexual interest; Sexuality..

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