Sex- and Age-Specific Patterns of Sexual Motivation in Relation to Emotion Regulation and Dyadic Coping.

Abstract

Sexual motivation is a multidimensional psychological construct linked to various emotional and relational processes. This research consisted of two studies conducted among Hungarian adults to examine associations between sexual motivation, emotion dysregulation, and dyadic coping across age and sex. Study 1 included 572 cisgender participants (381 women, 191 men; M age = 29.7, SD = 10.9) and investigated how self-centered, relationship-oriented, and coping-related sexual motivations correlated with emotion regulation difficulties. Study 2 involved 466 participants (312 women, 154 men; M age = 30.9, SD = 11.2) and explored the relationship between sexual motivation and dyadic coping. In Study 1, self-centered sexual motivation was positively associated with emotion dysregulation in men but not in women. Relationship-oriented sexual motivation was negatively associated with age and certain emotion regulation challenges, while coping-related motivation showed distinct associations by sex. In Study 2, self-centered sexual motivation correlated negatively with dyadic coping, particularly among men. Relationship-oriented sexual motivation was positively associated with supportive dyadic coping, especially in men. Coping-related sexual motivation showed no significant associations with dyadic coping across age or sex. Overall, these studies highlighted the interplay between sexual motivation, emotional regulation, and relational dynamics, emphasizing the importance of considering both age and sex differences.