Oral sex as infidelity-detection

Erectile Dysfunction and Sexual Coercion: The Role of Sperm Competition Risk

Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been shown to be associated with several negative aspects of intimate relationships. Our goal for the present research was to examine whether ED was associated with men's use of sexual coercion in their intimate relationships (which may include the use of physical coercion, psychological manipulation, or emotional manipulation to gain sexual access) and if perceived sperm competition risk (i.e., perceived risk of partner infidelity, which may place a man's sperm into competition with sperm from another man) played a role in this association. These associations were examined in Study 1 using self-reports provided by men (N = 202) who had a mean age of 30.48 years (SD = 5.03) and were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). ED was found to have a large positive association with sexual coercion. However, men's self-reports did not provide support for sperm competition risk moderating the association between ED and sexual coercion, but an exploratory analysis revealed that sperm competition risk mediated this association. We attempted to replicate and extend these results in Study 2 by using partner-reports provided by women (N = 151) who had a mean age of 30.41 years (SD = 4.77) and were recruited through MTurk. Women's partner-reports provided support for sperm competition risk moderating the association between ED and sexual coercion. In addition, an exploratory analysis found that sperm competition risk also mediated the association between ED and sexual coercion, similar to Study 1. Discussion explores the implications of these results for understanding the role that sperm competition risk may play in the connection between ED and sexual coercion.

Men's Benefit-Provisioning Mate Retention Behavior Mediates the Relationship Between Their Agreeableness and Their Oral Sex Behaviors

Men perform oral sex on their romantic partner as part of a broader benefit-provisioning mate retention strategy and men higher in Agreeableness are especially likely to provision their partner with benefits. The current research explored whether men's benefit-provisioning mate retention behavior mediated the relationship between their Agreeableness and their oral sex behaviors in their long-term romantic relationship. Men (n = 346) in a committed, sexual, heterosexual relationship completed the Mate Retention Inventory-a 104-item instrument that assesses the frequency with which they performed various mate retention behaviors during the past month, a 40-item personality inventory, and reported on a questionnaire their interest in and the time they spent performing oral sex on their romantic partner during their most recent sexual encounter with her. The results indicated that men higher in Agreeableness reported greater interest in and spent more time performing oral sex on their partner, and that their benefit-provisioning mate retention behaviors partially mediated these relationships. The current research is the first to investigate the relationship between personality dimensions and oral sex behaviors and adds to a growing body of research documenting that mate retention strategies influence sexual behavior.

Extradyadic involvement and relationship dissolution in heterosexual women university students

This study examined the role of extradyadic involvement (EDI) in heterosexual dating relationships among young adult females (N = 539). A considerable percentage of participants (36 %) reported that they had engaged in an extradyadic emotional or sexual relationship within the last 2 months. Results from logistic regression analyses supported the general hypothesis that emotional and sexual EDI were both significantly associated with relationship dissolution. These associations remained strong even after controlling for participants' age, relationship duration, and relationship quality. The findings also showed that the strength of the association between acts of emotional or sexual extradyadic behaviors and relationship dissolution was linked to relationship quality, gender of the actor, and type of EDI (emotional vs. sexual). Specifically, compared to participants who reported poor relationship quality, those who reported high relationship quality were more likely to end the partnership if they reported emotional or sexual EDI. Findings suggest that individuals in higher quality relationships appear to have considerably more to lose in their relationship when emotional or sexual EDI occurs. This, in part, may be because the more satisfactory the relationship the more disillusionment one may feel when betrayed by their romantic partner. Overall, the present findings underscore the multifaceted nature of the relationships between EDI and relationship dissolution. We call for more research that rigorously examines what contextual factors influence young adults in dating relationships to dissolve relationships following EDI.

Oral Sex, Semen Displacement, and Sexual Arousal: Testing the Ejaculate Adjustment Hypothesis

Male Indian Flying Foxes ( Pteropus giganteus) that spend more time performing oral sex on a female also spend more time copulating with her. In humans, men who spend more time copulating with their regular partner also perform more “semen-displacing” copulatory behaviors (e.g., deeper, more vigorous penile thrusting). We investigated whether men who spend more time performing oral sex on their regular partner also spend more time copulating with her and perform more semen-displacing copulatory behaviors. We proposed and tested the ejaculate adjustment hypothesis for men's copulatory behaviors: Men adjust their copulatory behaviors to increase their sexual arousal and consequent ejaculate quality, thereby increasing their chances of success in sperm competition. Two hundred and thirty-three men in a committed, heterosexual relationship responded to questions about their copulatory behavior and sexual arousal during their most recent sexual encounter with their long-term partner. The results indicated that men who spend more time performing oral sex on their partner also spend more time copulating with her, perform more semen-displacing copulatory behaviors, and report greater sexual arousal. We discuss limitations to the current research and highlight the heuristic value of sperm competition theory for understanding human sexual behaviors.

Is Cunnilingus-Assisted Orgasm a Male Sperm-Retention Strategy?

We secured data from 243 men in committed, sexual, heterosexual relationships to test the sperm retention hypothesis of oral sex. We predicted that, among men who perform cunnilingus on their partner, those at greater risk of sperm competition are more likely to perform cunnilingus until their partner achieves orgasm (Prediction 1), and that, among men who ejaculate during penile-vaginal intercourse and whose partner experiences a cunnilingus-assisted orgasm, ejaculation will occur during the brief period in which female orgasm might function to retain sperm (Prediction 2). The results support Prediction 1 but not Prediction 2. We discuss limitations of the current research and discuss how these results may be more consistent with alternative hypotheses regarding female orgasm and oral sex.