High sexual desire for others can increase attraction for your romantic partner? New study answers

Sexual desire is not partner-specific

The study, titled “Sexual desire is not partner-specific,” used two different groups of subjects to conduct the study. For the first group they used a daily diary study and for the second group they conducted an experimental study. Both were designed to examine the relationship between sexual desire for a romantic partner and interest in alternative partners.

The first group consisted of 196 people from 98 newly married couples (mostly heterosexual). Each participant had to complete daily surveys for 14 days assessing their sexual desire for their partner and their interest in alternative partners. The process was repeated annually for two years, with their daily desire rated on a 7-point scale using a single item.

Meanwhile, people’s interest in alternative partners was measured through fantasies, conversations and flirtations with other people of the opposite sex. The study also collected information on sociosexual orientation, relationship length and biological sex to account for individual differences that might influence sexual desire.

For the second study, which was an experimental design, 405 participants in long-term relationships were assigned to one of three controlled conditions: They were either primed to experience sexual desire for their partner, primed to experience sexual desire for an alternative partner to feel, or put into a state of control in which they remembered non-sexual positive experiences.

In the first and second scenarios, participants had to write detailed descriptions of situations that made them feel strong sexual desire for their partner or another person they found attractive. In the control group, participants had to write down examples that made them happy but not sexually aroused.

Results

The study found that when participants in the first group reported increased sexual desire for their partner, they also reported greater interest in alternative partners. Meanwhile, on days when participants felt more interested in alternatives, they expressed higher levels of sexual desire for their partner.

In the experimental study, participants in the first and second groups reported significantly higher sexual desire for their romantic partner compared to participants in the control group. Interestingly, those who experienced sexual desire for their romantic partner did not report a statistically significant increase in desire for alternative partners.