The mediating role of sexual self-disclosure satisfaction in the association between expression of feelings and sexual satisfaction in heterosexual adults

Abstract

The present study had the main goal of testing a mediation model of expression of feelings and sexual satisfaction via sexual self-disclosure, trying to understand if the process of sexual self-disclosure is a significant mediator variable of the association between expression of feelings and sexual satisfaction. The sample of this study comprised by 564 cisgender, heterosexual participants (370 women, 65.60%), who were in a dyadic and exclusive relationship of commitment. Two models were tested: a simple mediation model and a moderate mediation model in which the objective is to test the influence of gender on the of mediation. Overall, results showed that men and women had similar mean values for sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction, however, a significantly higher expression of feelings was found in women compared to men. The results demonstrated that expression of feelings was a significant predictor variable of sexual satisfaction and that sexual self-disclosure is partially a mediator variable of the tested model. Gender did not moderate the association between expression of feelings and sexual self-disclosure. The present study shows that expression of feelings and sexual self-disclosure are important aspects of sexual satisfaction in both genders.