Sex and aging Flashcards
What percent of Canadian adults marry?
95%
Many never married adults live in ________ relationships?
Common law relationships
What is the increasingly common alternative to marriage?
Cohabitation, living together (possibly in a common-law relationship).
Do cohabiting couples have more or less sex than married couples?
More!
What are some common problems after marriage? (3) (these are for heterosexual and homosexual marriage)
- Negotiating roles
- Sexial problems may become more of a source os dissatisfaction once rose-coloured glasses come off
- Hard to find time for sex in age of dual earners
What is a decline in sex after first year of marriage called?
Habituation
Decline in ongoing years may reflect physical factors that can occur due to aging
What is sexual activity between a person in a committed relationship and someone other than that person’s partner called?
Extradyadic sex
This does not necessarily mean cheating or infidelity
What are four circumstances where extradyadic sex can occur?
- Accidental
- Romantic infidelity
- Open relationship/marriage
- Philanderers
How many people engage in extramarital sex?
Not as many as you’d think.
25% men
15% women
Rates vary across the country
What is it called where married couples exchange partners with each other or include a third partner?
Swinging
How has technology most impacted extradyadic sex?
Internet infidelity
What does equity theory say about extramarital sex?
People mentally calculate the benefits and costs for them in a relationship of extradyadic sex
What is it called when someone has more than one simultaneous intimate relationship?
Polyamory
How long do widowed and divorced women who have postmarital sex begin a relationship after end of marriage?
1 year
If postmarital sex doesn’t occur in one year, likeliness of postmarital relationship drops.
Which are more sexually active after a marriage? Men or women?
Men
What are 3 myths about sex and aging?
- Sex is for the young
- Older people are not able to enjoy sex
- Older people are physically unattractive and therefore sexually undesirable
What is the period of change where both genders experience hormonal decline during midlife?
The climacteric
What are seven signs of a climacteric in men?
- Gradual decline in amount of bio-available testosterone
- Decrease in the urgency of sexual desire
- More difficult to gain and maintain an erection
- Less rigid erection
- Increased refractory period
- REduced force and volume of ejaculate
- More stimulation required may improve control over orgasm
When does testosterone in men begin declining?
Around 40
What are six signs of a climacteric in women?
- Thinning of vaginal wall
- Reduced elasticity of the vagina
- Less engorgement of labia
- Reduced vaginal and uterine contraction during orgasm
- Slowing and reduced vaginal lubrication
- Menopause (the end of menstrual periods)
What are three factors that increase sexual desire in people after the climacteric?
- No fear of pregnancy
- Improved ejaculatory control
- More privacy, time and money
What is the discrimination of elders called?
Ageism
What are 6 sociocultural factors for negative opinions of sex and the aging?
- Ageism
- Institutions that provide no opportunity for sex among elders
- Social perception of sex among elders as ‘cute,’ troublesome or disagreeable
- Perception of elders as vulnerable
- Social isolation
- Lack of a partner
Who are more likely to not have a partner as they age?
Women, men die quicker.
List 7 factors that decrease sexual desire in the aging?
- Lack of partner (esp for women)
- Older men remarry younger women
- Age is less valued in women
- Non-supportive partner
- Slow sexual response may provoke anxiety
- Fatigue and excessive alcohol
- Negative body image (esp among women)
What are 6 issues that affect the sexuality of older women?
- Double standard of aging (older men valued more)
- Lasting effects of gender-role socialization
- Generational attitudes about discussing sex or seeking help about sex
- Bereavement
- Marital or elder abuse
- Caregiver disapproval
What are three positive factors of aging in homosexual community?
- May have have advantage in coping with stereotyping and stigma
- Less confined to rigid gender roles
- Higher degree of independence and self sufficiency
Do married couples who have cohabitated with each other before marriage divorce less or more often than other married people?
More often!
What is the number one people give for getting married?
Signifying their commitment
On average, sexual encounters of married couples last how long?
About 20 minutes
What are the two most common ways of initiating sex for married couples?
- Direct verbal statement
2. Kissing passionately
Are married men or women more likely to refuse their partner’s initiation in sex?
Both just as likely to refuse sex, despite stereotypes.
True or false? People are more sexuallty satisfied if their partner experiences high sexual rewards and low sexual costs
true
What type of effect does number of hours worked in a week for married men and women have on frequency of sexual intercourse?
Non at all! THe quality of work is more associated with sexual outcomes
If a person approves or disapproves in extradyadic sex, does this make them more likely to have it?
No
Equity theory predicts extradyadic sex when ___?
When one partner believes that they are putting more into the relationship than what they are getting from it.
What is the beginning of menopause and the climacteric called in women?
perimenopause
What is male menopause called?
Andropause
What are two factors that maintain sexual capacity in old age according to Masters and Johnson?
- Regular sex is good for physical and mental health
- Regularity of sexual expression keeps sex organs vital
What is the most common sexual problem that older men have?
Erectile difficulties
What is the most common sexual problem that older women have?
Low desire
