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Sexuality: Measures of Partnerships, Practices, Attitudes, and Problems in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Study
Open accessAbstract
Objectives The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) was designed to examine the relationship between sexual behavior, sexual problems, and health among older women and men. We describe measures of sexual partnerships, sexual practices, sexual problems, attitudes toward sex, and nonsexual intimacy in the first wave of NSHAP. Methods We compare measures of sexuality for those 57-85 years old, by age, separately for men and women. We construct scales of sexual mores, sexual interest, and relationship satisfaction and discuss properties of each scale. Results Sexuality among older adults tends to vary with age and gender. At all ages in this study, men are more likely than women to have a partner, more likely to be sexually active with that partner, and tend to have more positive and permissive attitudes toward sex. The proportions in a sexual partnership, behavior, problems, and attitudes all differ substantially by age. And these age patterns often differ for men and women. Discussion Data obtained in the NSHAP can be used to construct key measures of sexuality among older adults; to examine sexuality itself; and to explore the link between sexuality, health, well-being, and other dimensions of the lives of older adults.
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“Ties between sexual attitudes and sexual well-being have been studied mostly among adolescents and pre-marital young adults, but increasingly, sexual attitudes are being explored in older age groups (Waite et al., 2009).”
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“Consistent with this, although affective forms of intimacy such as kissing and hugging were more frequently reported than eroto-genital practices, the latter remained present within partnered relationships (Waite et al., 2009; Tetley et al., 2018).”
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“Thus, approximately 67% of American women aged 65–74 years express the importance they give to sex 4 .”
Backgroundvon Humboldt, S., Mendoza-Ruvalcaba, N. M., Ribeiro-Gonçalves, J. A., Rodríguez, A. C., Arias‐Merino, E. D., Low, G., & Leal, I. M. P. (2024) · Social Sciences · doi:10.3390/socsci13080435 · Cited by 1
Philosophisch-psychiatrische Reflexionen zur Liebe
Jordan, W. (2023) · Psychiatrische Praxis · doi:10.1055/a-2055-8857 · Cited by 1
“[32] Waite LJ, Laumann EO, Das A et al.”
BackgroundMedicalization of sexuality and sexual health: A perspective review
Goyal, R., Chandran, D., Garg, K., Mohankumar, P., Gupta, S. K., Gautam, R., Chopra, H., & Dhama, K. (2022) · Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences · doi:10.18006/2022.10(6).1241.1252 · Cited by 1
Schröck, F., Kühn, K.-U., & Sträter, B. (2021) · Nervenheilkunde · doi:10.1055/a-1467-7131 · Cited by 2
Bhat, G., & Shastry, A. (2021) · Andrologia · doi:10.1111/and.14159 · Cited by 1
Teaching Aging Through Intersectionality for MSTEM and Other Disciplines
Hash, K. M., & Weirich, M. R. (2020) · The International Journal of Aging and Human Development · doi:10.1177/0091415020919996 · Cited by 2
“Older men may experience difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection and slower response to sexual stimulation (Hillman, 2012; Lindau et al., 2007; Waite et al., 2009).”
BackgroundRamprasad, C., Major, V., Zhang, Y., LaBove, H., Haghighat, S., Fass, O., & El-Ashmawy, M. (2019) · American Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.14309/01.ajg.0000590704.93495.66 · Cited by 1
Villar, F., Serrat, R., José, J. D. S., Lena, M. M.-L., Arias, C. J., Nina‐Estrella, R., Curcio, C., Carbajal, M., Oliveira, R. D. C., Tirro, V., et al. (2019) · Journal of Intergenerational Relationships · doi:10.1080/15350770.2019.1579153 · Cited by 1
“These results contrast with research on attitudes towards other aspects of sex in older adults, which tends to find positive attitudes (e.g. Syme & Cohn, 2015; Waite et al., 2009), in line with the tendency towards greater sexual permissiveness and the emergence of discourses on active and successful aging.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialOdlum, M. L., & Preston, M. A. (2016) · International Journal of Innovative Research in Medical Science · doi:10.23958/ijirms/vol02-i02/11
“(O’Muircheartaigh, 2014; Waite et al., 2009) Labor was defined by the variables of Insurance type (None, Medicare-Medicaid, Private), age (≤69, 70-79, ≥80), and education (≤ High School, > High School).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialLondon, A., & Wilmoth, J. (2014) · Contemporary perspectives on family research · doi:10.1108/s1530-35352014000008a003 · Cited by 1
Exploring Sexual Well-Being in Older Adulthood: Diversity in Experiences and Associated Factors
Bell, S. (2016) · uO Research (University of Ottawa) · doi:10.20381/ruor-188 · Cited by 2
Knowledge of Sexuality and Aging
Hillman, J. L. (2012) · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3399-6_2 · Cited by 1
“Findings from the NSHAP (Lindau et al. 2007 ; Waite et al. 2009) indicate that less than 5% of older men and 4% of older women “usually or always” use a condom when having sex.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialAn Introduction including Media, Boomer, and Cross-cultural Perspectives
Hillman, J. L. (2012) · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3399-6_1 · Cited by 1
Women’s Issues in Sexuality and Aging
Hillman, J. L. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3399-6_7 · Cited by 1
Lee, D. M., Nazroo, J. Y., O'Connor, D. B., Blake, M., & Pendleton, N. (2015) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0465-1 · Cited by 406
Aging “Hot”: Images and Narratives of Sexual Desirability on Television
Montemurro, B., & Chewning, L. (2017) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-017-9478-y
Sexual Function in Normal Elders, MCI and Patients with Mild Dementia
Tsatali, M. S., & Tsolaki, M. (2014) · Sexuality and Disability · doi:10.1007/s11195-014-9353-9 · Cited by 12
“The decline in their sexual function is primarily due to age, poor health and medications, all of which have been related to erectile dysfunction [22, 23].”
BackgroundAttitudes Toward Masturbation Among Residents of Spanish Residential Aged Care Facilities
Villar, F., Serrat, R., Celdrán, M., & Fabà, J. (2015) · Sexuality Research & Social Policy · doi:10.1007/s13178-015-0202-0
Sexual Satisfaction in Psycho-Oncology Patients: Characteristics and Correlates
Park, C. H. K. (2026) · Psychiatry Investigation · doi:10.30773/pi.2025.0438
“…57–85 years showed that male are more likely than female to have a partner with whom they are in a sexually active relationship and maintain more positive and permissive conceptions toward sexual activity 32 ; this is likely to contribute to the maintenance of sexual satisfaction among older male.”
Motivated or misaligned? the importance of sex and mental health among partnered older adults
Shen, S., & Kwon, S. (2026) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2026.2681946
“The Shop is Not Closed”: Sex and Sexuality Among Older Adult Daters
Harris, L. E., & Melanson, C. (2025) · Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2026.2614315
“Because of the gender ratio, among other reasons, men are more likely to have a partner and be sexually active (Waite et al., 2009).”
Variables predictoras de la inactividad sexual en las personas mayores
Piñeiro, I., Ullauri, M. G., Rodríguez, S., Regueiro, B., & Estévez, I. (2020) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · doi:10.6018/analesps.36.3.381951
Predictive variables of sexual inactivity in the elderly
Piñeiro, I., Ullauri, M. G., Rodríguez, S., Regueiro, B., & Estévez, I. (2020) · Anales de Psicología · doi:10.6018/analesps.381951
Lambert‐Shute, J. J., Nguyen, H. N., & Fruhauf, C. A. (2020) · The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy · doi:10.1002/9781119438519.ch78
Maciel, I. V., & Barnett, M. D. (2019) · Encyclopedia of Sexuality and Gender · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-59531-3_33-1
Aktar, R., & DeLamater, J. (2015) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118521373.wbeaa142
Metadata
- Authors
- Waite, L. J., Laumann, E. O., Das, A., & Schumm, L. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2009-06-04
- Volume
- 64B
- Issue
- Supplement 1
- Pages
- i56-i66
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- PMC
- PMC2763521
- OpenAlex
- W2159010740
- Cited by
- 278
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 6.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (P30AG012857, R01AG033903, R37AG030481, R01AG021487)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Marriage and Sexual Relationships
- Keywords
- sexuality, older adults, sexual partnerships, sexual practices, sexual dysfunction, sexual attitudes, sexual mores, sexual interest, relationship satisfaction, gender differences, age differences, scale development
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Attitude, Cross-Sectional Studies, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Female, Health Status, Health Surveys, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological, Sexual Partners, Social Behavior, Social Change, Social Values, United States
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