Pillow Talk and Cognitive Decision Making Processes: Exploring the Role of Orgasm and Alcohol on Communication After Sexual Activity

• In Event: Sexy Topics in Interpersonal Communication

Abstract

The present study explores individuals’ post-coital disclosures by investigating the role of orgasm and alcohol on communication after sexual activity over a two-week time span. Additionally, assessments of the risks and benefits of disclosing were expected to influence the relationship between orgasm, alcohol, and post-coital communication. Results revealed that individuals who orgasmed perceived greater benefits to disclosing to their partners after sexual activity. These individuals also disclosed information of greater magnitude and more positively valenced information compared to those who did not orgasm, though risk-benefit assessments did not mediate this relationship. Additionally, the more alcohol individuals consumed, the fewer benefits they assessed to disclosing, the less deep and positively valenced were their disclosures, and the more unintentional they were in their disclosures. Similarly, this relationship was not mediated by risk-benefit assessments. Lastly, one interaction between orgasm and alcohol emerged for the dimension of valence. Individuals who consumed more alcohol and did not orgasm disclosed less positively valenced information than individuals who consumed less alcohol and did not orgasm across occasions. The implications of these findings for couples’ communication and future research on the post-coital time interval are discussed.

Authors

• Amanda Denes, University of Connecticut

• Tamara D. Afifi, U of Iowa