Fairer Sex: The Role of Relationship Equity in Female Sexual Desire.

Previous investigations into Female Sexual Desire (FSD) have been focused on women's biological, cognitive, and emotional processes, despite evidence that FSD is also responsive to relational contexts. Past research consistently demonstrates a general association between relationship satisfaction and FSD. There remains, however, a need to expound this connection. In response, this study explored the role of relationship equity in relationship satisfaction and FSD. For this cross-sectional study, 299 Australian women aged 18 to 39 years responded to an online questionnaire measuring relationship factors and dimensions of sexual desire. Two mediation models were tested to examine how relationship equity was associated with solitary and dyadic sexual desire, via a connection with relationship satisfaction. As expected, equality in relationships predicted relationship satisfaction, which, subsequently, was related to higher levels of dyadic sexual desire. No significant mediation was found for solitary desire, indicating that relationship factors may not play a critical role in this domain. This result also demonstrates a distinct divergence between the two domains of desire that requires further examination. These results solidify the notion of FSD as a multifaceted construct and present meaningful implications for theory, research, and clinical practice.