ArticlePsychological science2016
Capturing the Interpersonal Implications of Evolved Preferences? Frequency of Sex Shapes Automatic, but Not Explicit, Partner Evaluations.
Article in Psychological science, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Women Are Slightly More Sexually Satisfied in Their Romantic Relationships Than Men: An Integrative Data Analytic Approach.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Compensatory Effects of Affectionate Communication in Marriages with Infrequent Sexual Activity.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Does It Feel Like Yesterday or Like It's Been Forever? Subjective Time Since Sex in Romantic Relationships.Social psychological and personality science · 2025Article
- Sexual Expression and Subsequent Marital Quality Among Partnered Older Adults.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Psychologists should study basic social cognition processes within the context of sexual interactions.Communications psychology · 2024Review
- CD38 is associated with bonding-relevant cognitions and relationship satisfaction over the first 3 years of marriage.Scientific reports · 2021Observational
- Implicit interpersonal evaluations as a risk factor for suicidality: Automatic spousal attitudes predict changes in the probability of suicidal thoughts.Journal of personality and social psychology · 2019Article
- The neural and genetic correlates of satisfying sexual activity in heterosexual pair-bonds.Brain and behavior · 2019Article
- Changes in, and factors associated with, frequency of sex in Britain: evidence from three National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal).BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2019Article
- Speech Is Silver, Nonverbal Behavior Is Gold: How Implicit Partner Evaluations Affect Dyadic Interactions in Close Relationships.Psychological science · 2018Article
- Does support need to be seen? Daily invisible support promotes next day relationship well-being.Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2018Article
- Casual Sexual Scripts on the Screen: A Quantitative Content Analysis.Archives of sexual behavior · 2018Article
- Specifically Penile-Vaginal Intercourse Frequency Is Associated With Better Relationship Satisfaction: A Commentary on Hicks, McNulty, Meltzer, and Olson (2016).Psychological science · 2018Article
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4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
A strong predisposition to engage in sexual intercourse likely evolved in humans because sex is crucial to reproduction. Given that meeting interpersonal preferences tends to promote positive relationship evaluations, sex within a relationship should be positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Nevertheless, prior research has been inconclusive in demonstrating such a link, with longitudinal and experimental studies showing no association between sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction. Crucially, though, all prior research has utilized explicit reports of satisfaction, which reflect deliberative processes that may override the more automatic implications of phylogenetically older evolved preferences. Accordingly, capturing the implications of sexual frequency for relationship evaluations may require implicit measurements that bypass deliberative reasoning. Consistent with this idea, one cross-sectional and one 3-year study of newlywed couples revealed a positive association between sexual frequency and automatic partner evaluations but not explicit satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of automatic measurements to understanding interpersonal relationships.
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