The Actual and the Desired Verbal and Non-Verbal Sexually Assertive Communication between Married Couples from a Collectivistic Muslim Culture

Abstract

Explicit and frequent verbal and non-verbal sexual communication is essential for marital satisfaction. Most of the studies on sexual communication relate to the Western cultures. The current study investigated the gaps between the actual and the desired sexually assertive verbal and non-verbal communication between husbands and wives belonging to a collectivistic Muslim culture. The study involved 207 married couples from Pakistan. A newly developed questionnaire along with ‘the longing for interpersonal touch picture questionnaire’ was used to gather data. The study revealed significant differences between the actual and the desired levels of sexually assertive communication among couples. It was found that husbands and wives were not sexually as vocal and expressive as they desired to be. Husbands, furthermore, significantly craved for hugging and stroking from their wives. The significant gap between the actual and the desired levels of sexually assertive communication was regarded as a product of certain psychosocial factors such as shame, gender, morality, modesty, culture, and female objectification.