Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/307496 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Population Economics [ISSN:] 1432-1475 [Volume:] 36 [Issue:] 2 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin, Heidelberg [Year:] 2022 [Pages:] 549-580
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
Sexual well-being plays an important role in the quality of life. Against this background, we provide an economics-based approach to the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and various dimensions of sexuality. From a theoretical viewpoint, personality influences sexual well-being not only by how a person feels about sex, but also by how the person behaves in a sexual relationship. Personality shapes information sharing about sexual preferences, the way dissonant sexual preferences of the partners are handled, and the extent to which a person is committed to promises made to a partner. Using a large representative dataset from Germany, we find that personality traits play a role in a person's own sexual satisfaction, in (the self-assessment of) fulfilling their partner's sexual needs and desires, in sexual communication, in actual and desired frequency of sex, and in extradyadic affairs. Conscientiousness contributes to a mutually beneficial sex life and increases a person's commitment to their partner. The opposite holds true for neuroticism. While extraversion and openness to experience help realize a mutually beneficial sex life, we find no evidence that they have a commitment value. On the contrary, extraversion is associated with lower commitment to the partner. Agreeableness contributes to higher commitment. However, agreeableness appears to make people more reluctant to express their sexual needs and desires.
Subjects: 
Big Five personality traits
Sexual satisfaction
Frequency of intercourse
Sexual infidelity
Sexual communication
Family economics
JEL: 
D10
D91
J10
J12
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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