A Closer Look at Sexual Passion in Relationships

Beliefs about sexuality and their associations with sexual passion

“…Sexual growth beliefs can be developed, and they promote the idea that important aspects of sexuality can be enhanced and improved by persistent effort. Sexual passion is strongly associated with sexual and relationship satisfaction in the existing research (Busby et al, 2019; Busby, Leonhardt, & James, 2020). Because of the associations we found in this study, it is likely to be worthwhile to help couples develop stronger sexual growth beliefs and then track over time whether these enhance harmonious sexual passion in their relationship.…”

“…Examining how individuals' sexual beliefs are associated with aspects of their and their partner's sexuality can potentially enhance couple relationships because sex is integral to romantic relationships (McGuire, 2003; Smith & Shaffer, 2013). One aspect of sexual relationships that is strongly correlated with important relational outcomes is actor and partner sexual passion (Busby et al, 2019; Busby, Leonhardt, & James, 2020). A clearer understanding of how beliefs are associated with actor and partner sexual passion can help researchers and applied professionals assist couples to more effectively develop sexually passionate relationships that endure across time.…”

“…Although sexual passion is a relatively novel construct, the different types of sexual passion have been observed to be associated with important behaviors and outcomes, such as varying levels of engagement in numerous sexual activities (e.g., sexual intercourse, masturbation, oral sex, etc. ), distinct sexual and relational outcomes (e.g., couple adjustment, sexual satisfaction, extradyadic sex; Busby, Leonhardt, & James, 2020; Philippe et al, 2019), and even differing sexual arousal patterns in women (Leavitt et al, 2019) and men (Busby, Leonhardt, Leavitt, & Hanna‐Walker, 2020). In almost all cases, harmonious sexual passion has been associated with healthier outcomes and behavior (Busby et al, 2019; Busby, Leonhardt, & James, 2020; Philippe et al, 2019), whereas obsessive and inhibited sexual passion have been associated with less healthy outcomes and behavior (Busby et al, 2019; Busby, Leonhardt, & James, 2020; Busby, Leonhardt, Leavitt, & Hanna‐Walker, 2020; Leavitt et al, 2019; Philippe et al, 2019).…”

“…Sexual growth beliefs, characterized by the belief that individuals can work toward satisfying sexual relationships, would be intrinsic beliefs (i.e., when the origin of individuals' control lies within themselves; Deci & Ryan, 2008; Maxwell et al, 2017). As a result, we hypothesize that sexual destiny beliefs will be associated with higher levels of obsessive and inhibited sexual passion because these passions are also extrinsically controlled (Busby, Leonhardt, & James, 2020; Philippe et al, 2019). On the other hand, sexual growth beliefs will be associated with higher levels of harmonious sexual passion because both sexual growth beliefs and harmonious sexual passion are intrinsic (Maxwell et al, 2017; Philippe et al, 2019).…”

“…Sexual sanctification and sexual passion share a fundamental concern with the energy and time being devoted to the area of sexuality (Busby, Leonhardt, & James, 2020; Mahoney et al, 2005; Philippe et al, 2019; Wrzesniewski et al, 1997). Because sanctification is conceptualized as individuals personally giving divine character and significance to something (Pargament & Mahoney, 2005), sexual sanctification could be associated with a harmonious sexual passion.…”