Expectations for the effects of aging on sexuality in parents and average married couples

Abstract

The expectations of 229 college students about sexual activity during each decade from age 20 to age 80 were assessed. Approximately half of the subjects made estimations of their parents' intercourse frequency during these age periods; the remainder estimated married couples “on the average.” All subjects filled out the Profile of Mood States (POMS) immediately after estimating sexual activity. Results indicated that, in all decades but the 70's and 80's, subjects who estimated intercourse frequencies for their parents reported significantly lower means than the group who estimated married couples on the average. Subjects who estimated parental intercourse were significantly more anxious and depressed on the POMS than subjects who estimated married couples on the average. Effects for confusion and hostility were in the same direction but of borderline significance. There was also a dramatic main effect for age, with subjects expecting a steep linear decreasing pattern for intercourse frequency with age. Results are discussed in terms of normative data on sexual activity and in comparison to earlier research which examined only expectations about parental intercourse frequencies.