When sex isn't the answer: Examining sexual compliance,restraint, and physiological stress

Past research suggests that sexual activity has numerous health benefits; however, we argue that the association between sexual behavior and health is nuanced. More specifically, we argue that when individuals comply with their partner's sexual desire, sex may have unintended negative health consequences. As such, we evaluated how sexual desire and frequency interact to predict individuals' cortisol levels (i.e. a physiological measure of stress) in romantic relationships. Sixty-four participants (38 women, 26 men) who were in generally good health provided salivary cortisol samples and completed questionnaires assessing sexual behavior. As hypothesized, multiple regression analyses confirmed that the interaction between desired and actual sexual frequency predicted cortisol; participants who reported higher sexual frequency than desired (i.e. sexual compliance) had higher cortisol than participants whose desired and actual frequency matched. Interestingly, participants who reported lower frequency than desired (i.e. sexual restraint) had cortisol levels similar to participants whose desired and actual frequency matched. Overall, the results suggest that being sexually compliant (i.e. engaging in more frequent sex than desired) may be stressful and thus lead to negative physiological consequences.