Sexual destiny and growth beliefs,yuan beliefs,approach sexual motives,and sexual communication in Chinese heterosexual adults

Abstract

The current research examined the relationships between sexual implicit (destiny and growth) beliefs and yuan beliefs. This research also examined the association between sexual implicit beliefs and sexual communication satisfaction through the mediating role of sexual communal motives and motivation to express emotional value for a partner during sex. Results showed that sexual destiny and growth beliefs were positively related to yuan beliefs. Sexual destiny and growth beliefs were also associated with sexual communication satisfaction through the mediating effects of sexual communal motives and the motivation to express emotional value for a partner during sex. Specifically, high levels of sexual destiny and growth beliefs were associated with high levels of motivation to fulfill a partner’s sexual needs and high levels of inclination to emphasize/express emotional value for a partner during sex; these were also associated with high levels of sexual communication satisfaction. The findings suggest that sexual implicit beliefs may overlap with yuan beliefs, and sexual implicit beliefs and approach sexual motives are important for sexual communication in romantic relationships.

Keywords

Implicit theories sexual communication sexual destiny beliefs sexual growth beliefs sexual motives

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

A. B.

Rosen

N. O.

Price

Bergeron

(2016). Associations between penetration cognitions, genital pain, and sexual well-being in women with provoked vestibulodynia. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 13(3), 444–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2015.12.024

Bandalos

D. L.

(2002). The effects of item parceling on goodness-of-fit and parameter estimate bias in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(1), 78–102. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0901_5

Blunt-Vinti

Jozkowski

K. N.

Hunt

(2019). Show or tell? Does verbal and/or nonverbal sexual communication matter for sexual satisfaction? Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 45(3), 206–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2018.1501446

Bohns

V. K.

Scholer

A. A.

Rehman

(2015). Implicit theories of attraction. Social Cognition, 33(4), 284–307. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2015.33.4.284

Carver

C. S.

Sutton

S. K.

Scheier

M. F.

(2000). Action, emotion, and personality: Emerging conceptual integration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(6), 741–751. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167200268008

Carver

C. S.

White

T. L.

(1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: the BIS/BAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(2), 319–333.

Chang

H. C.

Holt

G. R.

(1991). The concept of Yuan and Chinese interpersonal relationship. In Ting-Toomey

Korzenny

(Eds.), Cross-culture interpersonal communication (pp. 28–57). SAGE.

Chi

Bongardt

D. V. D.

Hawk

S. T.

(2015). Intrapersonal and interpersonal sexual behaviors of Chinese university students: Gender differences in prevalence and correlates. Journal of Sex Research, 52(5), 532–542. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.914131

Cooper

M. L.

Shapiro

C. M.

Powers

A. M.

(1998). Motivations for sex and risky sexual behavior among adolescents and young adults: A functional perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(6), 1528–1558. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.6.1528

10.

Cooper

M. L.

Talley

A. E.

Sheldon

M. S.

Levitt

Barber

L. L.

(2008). A dyadic perspective on approach and avoidance motives for sexual behavior. In Elliot

A. J.

(Ed.), Handbook of approach and avoidance motivation (pp. 615–632). Psychology Press.

11.

Cupach

W. R.

Comstock

(1990). Satisfaction with sexual communication in marriage: Links to sexual satisfaction and dyadic adjustment. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7(2), 179–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407590072002

12.

David Garson

(2016). Partial least squares: Regression & structural equation models. Retrieved April 1, 2021, from https://www.smartpls.com/resources/ebook_on_pls-sem.pdf

13.

Day

L. C.

Muise

Joel

Impett

E. A.

(2015). To do it or not to do it? How communally motivated people navigate sexual interdependence dilemmas. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(6), 791–804. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215580129

14.

Dweck

C. S.

Leggett

E. L.

(1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95(2), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256

15.

Elliot

A. J.

Church

M. A.

(1997). A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(1), 218–232.

16.

Elliot

A. J.

Covington

M. V.

(2001). Approach and avoidance motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 13(2), 73–92.

17.

Gable

S. L.

(2006). Approach and avoidance social motives and goals. Journal of Personality, 74(1), 175–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00373.x

18.

Gewirtz-Meydan

Finzi-Dottan

(2018). Sexual satisfaction among couples: The role of attachment orientation and sexual motives. Journal of Sex Research, 55(2), 178–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1276880

19.

Goodwin

Findlay

(1997). “We were just fated together”…Chinese love and the concept of yuan in England and Hong Kong. Personal Relationships, 4(1), 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.1997.tb00132.x

20.

Gray

J. A.

(1987). The psychology of fear and stress. Cambridge University Press.

21.

Hair

J. F.

Risher

J. J.

Sarstedt

Ringle

C. M.

(2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24.

22.

Hair

J. F.

William

C. B.

Barry

J. B.

Rolph

E. A.

(2010). Multivariate data analysis. Prentice Hall.

23.

Harris

Monahan

J. L.

Hovick

S. R.

(2014). Communicating new sexual desires and the factors that influence message directness. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 29(4), 405–423. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2014.954992

24.

Hill

C. A.

(1997). The distinctiveness of sexual motives in relation to sexual desire and desirable partner attributes. Journal of Sex Research, 34(2), 139–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499709551878

25.

Hill

C. A.

Preston

L. K.

(1996). Individual differences in the experience of sexual motivation: Theory and measurement of dispositional sexual motives. Journal of Sex Research, 33(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499609551812

26.

Hong

Yamamoto

Chang

D. S.

Lee

(1993). Sex in a Confucian society. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 21(3), 405–419. https://doi.org/10.1521/jaap.1.1993.21.3.405

27.

Hsu

H. P.

Hwang

K. K.

(2016). Serendipity in relationship: A tentative theory of the cognitive process of Yuanfen and its psychological constructs in Chinese cultural societies. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 282. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00282

28.

Impett

E. A.

Gordon

A. M.

Kogan

Oveis

Gable

S. L.

Keltner

(2010). Moving toward more perfect unions: Daily and long-term consequences of approach and avoidance goals in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(6), 948–963. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020271

29.

Impett

E. A.

Peplau

L. A.

Gable

S. L.

(2005). Approach and avoidance sexual motives: Implications for personal and interpersonal well-being. Personal Relationships, 12(4), 465–482. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2005.00126.x

30.

Jeffreys

(2015). Sex in China. Polity.

31.

Jodouin

J. F.

Bergeron

Desjardins

Janssen

(2019). Sexual behavior mediates the relationship between sexual approach motives and sexual outcomes: A dyadic daily diary study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(3), 831–842. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1259-7

32.

Jones

A. C.

Robinson

W. D.

Seedall

R. B.

(2018). The role of sexual communication in couples’ sexual outcomes: A dyadic path analysis. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 44(4), 606–623. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12282

33.

Knee

C. R.

(1998). Implicit theories of relationships: Assessment and prediction of romantic relationship initiation, coping, and longevity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(2), 360–370. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.360

34.

Knee

C. R.

Patrick

Lonsbary

(2003). Implicit theories of relationships: Orientations toward evaluation and cultivation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0701_3

35.

Lemay

E. P.

Jr Venaglia

R. B.

(2016). Relationship expectations and relationship quality. Review of General Psychology, 20(1), 57–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000066

36.

Little

T. D.

Cunningham

W. A.

Shahar

Widaman

K. F.

(2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 151–173. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_1

37.

Mann

K. F. S.

Cheng

(2012). Effects of beliefs in yuan on coping and psychological well-being among Hong Kong Chinese. Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 3(2), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507686.2012.708665

38.

Mattingly

B. A.

McIntyre

K. P.

Knee

C. R.

Loving

T. J.

(2019). Implicit theories of relationships and self-expansion: Implications for relationship functioning. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(6), 1579–1599. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518768079

39.

Maxwell

J. A.

Muise

MacDonald

Day

L. C.

Rosen

N. O.

Impett

E. A.

(2017). How implicit theories of sexuality shape sexual and relationship well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112(2), 238–279. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000078

40.

Mills

Clark

M. S.

Ford

T. E.

Johnson

(2004). Measurement of communal strength. Personal Relationships, 11(2), 213–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2004.00079.x

41.

Muise

Boudreau

G. K.

Rosen

N. O.

(2017). Seeking connection versus avoiding disappointment: An experimental manipulation of approach and avoidance sexual goals and the implications for desire and satisfaction. Journal of Sex Research, 54(3), 296–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1152455

42.

Muise

Impett

E. A.

(2016). Applying theories of communal motivation to sexuality. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(8), 455–467. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12261

43.

Muise

Impett

E. A.

Desmarais

(2013). Getting it on versus getting it over with: Sexual motivation, desire, and satisfaction in intimate bonds. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(10), 1320–1332. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167213490963

44.

Muise

Impett

E. A.

Kogan

Desmarais

(2013). Keeping the spark alive: Being motivated to meet a partner’s sexual needs sustains sexual desire in long-term romantic relationships. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4(3), 267–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550612457185

45.

Muise

Kim

J. J.

McNulty

J. K.

Impett

E. A.

(2016). The positive implications of sex for relationships. In Knee

C. R.

Reis

H. T.

(Eds.), Advances in personal relationships (pp. 124–147). Cambridge University Press.

46.

Pan

(1994). A sex revolution in current China. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 6(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1300/J056v06n02_01

47.

Rancourt

K. M.

Rosen

N. O.

Bergeron

Nealis

L. J.

(2016). Talking about sex when sex is painful: Dyadic sexual communication is associated with women’s pain, and couples’ sexual and psychological outcomes in provoked vestibulodynia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(8), 1933–1944. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0670-6

48.

Reznik

R. M.

(2015). Implicit relationship theories and relational communication. In: The international encyclopedia of interpersonal communication. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

49.

Ringle

C. M.

Wende

Jan-Michael

. (2015). SmartPLS 3. Bönningstedt: SmartPLS. http://www.smartpls.com

50.

Rosen

N. O.

Muise

Bergeron

Impett

E. A.

Boudreau

G. K.

(2015). Approach and avoidance sexual goals in couples with provoked vestibulodynia: Associations with sexual, relational, and psychological well-being. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 12(8), 1781–1790. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12948

51.

Sanchez

D. T.

Moss-Racusin

C. A.

Phelan

J. E.

Crocker

(2011). Relationship contingency and sexual motivation in women: Implications for sexual satisfaction. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(1), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9593-4

52.

Sprecher

Toromorn

M. I.

(2002). A study of men and women from different sides of earth to determine if men are from mars and women are from Venus in their beliefs about love and romantic relationships. Sex Roles, 46(5), 131–147.

53.

Sutherland

Rehman

U. S.

(2018). Viewing sexual desire as stable versus fluid: The impact of implicit beliefs on women’s coping with sexual desire problems. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 44(4), 410–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2017.1405306

54.

Tang

Bensman

Hatfield

(2012). The impact of culture and gender on sexual motives: Differences between Chinese and North Americans. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36(2), 286–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.12.013

55.

Wheeless

L. R.

Wheeless

V. E.

Baus

(1984). Sexual communication, communication satisfaction, and solidarity in the developmental stages of intimate relationships. Western Journal of Communication (Includes Communication Reports), 48(3), 217–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570318409374158

56.

Yang

K. S.

D. Y. F.

(1988). The role of yuan in Chinese social life: A conceptual and empirical analysis. In Paranjpe

A. C.

D. Y. F.

Rieber

R. W.

(Eds.), Asian contributions to psychology (pp. 263–281). Praeger.

57.

Yeung

W. J. J.

(2016). Paradox in marriage values and behavior in contemporary China. Chinese Journal of Sociology, 2(3), 447–476. https://doi.org/10.1177/2057150X16659019

58.

Zhang

K. L.

Beck

E. J.

(1999). Changing sexual attitudes and behaviour in China: Implications for the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. AIDS Care, 11(5), 581–589. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540129947730

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.12 MB