Understanding barriers to sexual communication

Abstract

There is consistent empirical evidence to suggest that more open and positive sexual communication is a vital component of sexual relationships, but romantic partners tend to avoid sexual communication. Although clinical and theoretical writing has identified barriers to sexual communication, there is a relative paucity of empirical literature investigating specific barriers to sexual communication and whether these barriers are unique to sexual communication. We developed the Barriers to Communication Questionnaire, a measure that investigates the types of threat that are activated during couples’ sexual and nonsexual communication (Study 1) and the degree to which these threats are differentially activated across the two discussions (Study 2). In Study 1, we found that the same categories of threats were activated for both sexual and nonsexual conflict communication: threat to self, threat to partner, and threat to relationship. Study 2 revealed that threat to self is activated to a greater degree during sexual conflict communication compared to nonsexual conflict communication. The differential degree to which threat to self is activated during sexual and nonsexual communication provides a plausible explanation for why romantic partners tend to avoid sexual communication more so than nonsexual communication. The measure developed in the current study could be used clinically to identify the specific threats that are preventing an individual from communicating with the partner about needs and desires. In the research domain, the measure can be used to further investigate the causal association between emotional barriers and sexual communication.