A meta-analysis of studies examining sexual self-disclosure (i.e., how much people are willing to share about their sexual preferences, attitudes, and history) found that people are generally willing to share important aspects of their sexuality with their partners. People who were sexually assertive, satisfied with sexual communication, and generally inclined to self-disclose were more likely to engage in sexual self-disclosure. The paper was published in. Journal of Sex Research.
People often share information about their own sexual preferences, desires, boundaries, concerns, or difficulties with others. This is called sexual self-disclosure. Sexual self-disclosure occurs in romantic relationships, friendships, therapy, medical consultations, and research settings.
In romantic relationships, sexual self-disclosure is important because it helps partners understand each other’s needs, boundaries, and expectations. If it’s done spontaneously, respectfully, and based on trust, it can improve intimacy and sexual satisfaction. However, sexual topics can also feel dangerous because they are private and can expose you to embarrassment, rejection, judgment, and misuse of the information. Many people believe that sexual self-disclosure to a romantic partner is central to the development of a relationship because it involves sharing important and sensitive aspects of one’s identity.
Study authors Katie O. Knowles and Matthew D. Hammond conducted a meta-analysis to examine people’s general levels of sexual self-disclosure to their romantic partners and test the extent to which self-disclosure differs across different areas of sexual orientation. They also sought to identify factors that act as facilitators or barriers to sexual self-disclosure.
To frame the study, the authors used communication privacy management theory. This theory suggests that people constantly manage the boundaries of their personal information, weighing the potential benefits of sharing (e.g., increased intimacy) against the potential costs (e.g., a partner’s negative reaction or damage to their own reputation).
To collect the data, the study authors searched for records in public scientific databases, including PsycInfo, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and the ProQuest dissertation and dissertation database using search terms such as romantic relationships, self-disclosure, sex, and their various variations. These also included a range of terms related to the content of sexual self-disclosure, such as preferences, problems, kinks, pornography, and attitudes.
Additionally, the authors searched the reference lists of the studies they found, emailed authors requesting unpublished data, and searched for studies using three commonly applied sexual self-disclosure scales. We also searched open science frameworks (platforms where scientists post data about their research and research projects) for pre-registered research projects and publicly available datasets. The search resulted in a total of 28 research reports presenting results from 30 studies, including data from 9,239 participants.
From the research report, the study authors concluded that, on average, people tend to disclose moderate to large amounts of sexual information to their romantic partners. This includes information about sexual attitudes and values, sexual history, sexual difficulties, sexual preferences, and solo sexual behavior. In particular, there was no evidence that people disclosed more of one type of sexual information than another. People were just as likely to share their attitudes as they were to share their individual actions.
Those who reported higher sexual communication satisfaction, higher sexual assertiveness, and a higher tendency to self-disclose in general were more likely to engage in sexual self-disclosure behaviors. Apart from these three, the study authors identified 14 additional psychological factors associated with more or less sexual self-disclosure.
Higher perceived threats to partners and relationships, attachment avoidance, and attachment anxiety were associated with lower levels of sexual self-disclosure. Conversely, factors associated with higher levels of sexual self-disclosure included sexual satisfaction and frequency, relationship satisfaction, the (perceived) importance of sex and disclosure, and attitudinal similarity between partners. Interestingly, the researchers found that the length of the relationship did not have a significant effect on how much a person disclosed.
“Our findings provide new support for the theoretical argument that people are willing to share important aspects of their sexuality while retaining some degree of privacy about their sexual information, and suggest that people weigh the benefits and costs of disclosing aspects of their sexuality to their partners,” the study authors concluded.
This research contributes to scientific understanding of how people communicate their sexual attitudes, preferences, and needs. However, the study authors note that most of the studies they analyzed focused on only one member of a romantic pair and did not take into account couple dynamics or the broader social context. Therefore, the studies analyzed were limited in their ability to fully capture the shared environment of participants’ relationships and the extent to which sexual self-disclosure was reciprocal.
The paper, “A Meta-Analysis of People’s Self-Disclosure of Sexual Information to Romantic Partners,” was authored by Katie O. Knowles and Matthew D. Hammond.
