Big Five Personality Traits and Sex

Uwe Jirjahn and Martha Ottenbacher ()
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Martha Ottenbacher: University of Trier

No 13894, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

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 the person is committed to promises made to the 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 the partner's sexual needs and desires, in sexual communication, in actual and desired frequency of sex, and in extradyadic affairs.

Keywords: sexual communication; family economics; sexual infidelity; Big Five Personality Traits; sexual satisfaction; frequency of intercourse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 D91 J10 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 66 pages
Date: 2020-11
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Published - revised version published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2023, 36, 549 - 580

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Related works:
Journal Article: Big Five personality traits and sex (2023)
Working Paper: Big Five Personality Traits and Sex (2020)
Working Paper: Big Five Personality Traits and Sex (2020)
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