Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40011322›Full record

ArticleArchives of sexual behavior2025

The Impact of Heterosexual Scripts on Women's Sexual Desire in Relationships.

Joëlle Wilhelmine Smets, Sarah Miller, Christophe Leys

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Article in Archives of sexual behavior, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Joëlle Wilhelmine SmetsFaculty of Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, avenue F. Roosevelt, 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. joelle.smets@ulb.be.ORCID 0009-0001-3517-3337
Sarah MillerFaculty of Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Christophe LeysFaculty of Psychology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Numerous studies have described that women's sexual desire is lower than men's desire. Within a heterosexual couple, a sexual desire discrepancy can be associated with sexual and relationship dissatisfaction. The factors that negatively influence women's sexual desire are biological, psychological, relational, cognitive and sociocultural. The present study aimed to determine the extent to which adherence to sexual norms predicted sexual desire in women engaged in a romantic relationship (min. 6 months). These norms were addressed by Simon and Gagnon's (1984) notion of sexual scripts, which designate the sociocultural norms governing the sexual behaviors of men and women. A sample of women (N = 829, M age = 32 years, SD = 12.20, range = 18-72) completed a questionnaire about sexual desire and heterosexual scripts. The results showed that the more women in relationships say they felt desire, the less they subscribed to heterosexual scripts and particularly the conception that a man's sex drive is higher than a woman's. This conception seems to be the most determinant of women's sexual desire in relationships. The results attest also to the persistence and strength of heterosexual scripts which, despite greater equality between men and women, continue to negatively influence women's sexual desire. By becoming aware of these conditionings, women suffering from low sexual desire and sexual desire discrepancy within their couple can break free from them and experience a more fulfilling sexuality. Lastly, some interesting contradictory results are addressed in discussion.

Indexed as

HeterosexualityInterpersonal RelationsLibidoSexual BehaviorSexual PartnersAdolescentAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultHeterosexual scriptsSex driveSexual desireSexual desire discrepancy

Identifiers

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.