Married Women’s and Men’s Experiences Regarding the Concept of Sexual Desire: A Qualitative Research

Background: Sexual desire has biological, individual, interpersonal, and social dimensions. The question raised here is whether being a woman or a man influences sexual desire or whether gender differences contribute to it. Objectives: This study aimed at exploring married women’s and men’s experiences regarding the concept of sexual desire. Methods: This study conducted by a qualitative design and with a thematic analysis method. Data were collected using semi structured-interviews (with an equal number of men and women) chosen through a purposeful sampling method. After being conducted, each interview was transcribed verbatim and read several times to achieve the sense of the whole and then, the key terms were highlighted as codes. After the initial classification of the codes, subthemes and main themes gradually appeared. Results: Two main themes were developed as follows: “feeling of arousal with the goal of achieving orgasm” and “individual conditions and relational skills strengthening sexual desire.” Conclusions: Participants considered physical, psychological, and interpersonal dimensions of sexual desire. They mostly intended sexual intercourse and orgasm during the feeling of sexual desire. The skills of couples to interact with each other and physical and psychological readiness for an individual to have sexual relationships strengthened sexual desire. Any evaluation and treatment in the field of sexual desire should be comprehensive and consider all contextual, individual, and interpersonal aspects of each society.