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Positive Emotions and Sexual Desire Among Healthy Women

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Positive Emotions and Sexual Desire Among Healthy Women POSITIVE EMOTIONS AND SEXUAL DESIRE AMONG HEALTHY WOMEN by Elizabeth J. Brough A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Nursing) in The University of Michigan 2009 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Bonnie M. Hagerty, Chair Professor Reg A. Williams Professor Christopher M. Peterson Adjunct Clinical Professor Dennis P. Sugrue Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my Mom, Betty Brough and to my husband and best friend, Paul Schnatz, without whom this work could not have been completed. Importantly, this work is dedicated to the courageous women who participated in the study and were willing to share their thoughts and feelings to advance the science of positive psychology and sexuality among women. ii Acknowledgements My dissertation committee went above and beyond the call of duty to help bring this study into existence. Special thanks to Dr. Bonnie Hagerty and Dr. Reg Williams who never gave up; providing much time, effort, and critique to support this work. Thank you to Dr. Peterson who gave the valuable gift of his time, support and wise counsel to help me move from concept to dissertation. Dr. Dennis Sugrue brought a clinical point of view by offering suggestions to provide context for this work in the real world. Two other scholars helped me immeasurably. The inspiration for applying a positive emotion model to sexuality came from Dr. Barbara Fredrickson whose work and excellent instruction offered important structure and insights. Special gratitude goes to Dr. Cathy Antonakos, who guided me through data management, analysis and final stages of this work. Her encouragement and optimism have helped me broaden and build my thought action repertoire in order to complete this work. iii Table of Contents Dedication ........................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. ix Abstract ............................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 Purpose ............................................................................................................................ 2 Background ..................................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Problem ............................................................................................ 5 Theoretical and Research Model Challenges .................................................................. 7 Chapter 2 Review of Literature ........................................................................................... 9 Psychobiology Approaches ............................................................................................. 9 Neurophysiology mechanisms of structure and function .......................................... 11 Neuroendocrine mechanisms .................................................................................... 12 Psychopharmacology ................................................................................................ 15 Summary of Psychobiology ...................................................................................... 16 Psychological Approaches to Research in Sexual Desire ............................................. 17 Challenges and Opportunities for Positive Psychology Research ............................ 17 Defining Emotions .................................................................................................... 19 Purpose of Emotions ................................................................................................. 21 iv Positive Emotions ..................................................................................................... 23 Emotions and Sexual Desire ..................................................................................... 26 Critique of Current Emotions Research .................................................................... 27 Negative Emotions and Sexual Desire ...................................................................... 28 Opportunity to Link Positive Emotions to Sexual Desire ......................................... 30 Specific Positive Emotions Which May be Linked to Sexual Desire ....................... 33 Questions and Possible Approaches for Future Research ............................................ 35 Sexual Desire Model and Positive Emotion-Desire Model .......................................... 36 Summary Literature Review ......................................................................................... 41 Specific Aims ................................................................................................................ 42 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 3 Research Design and Methods ......................................................................... 46 Design ........................................................................................................................... 46 Participants .................................................................................................................... 46 Measures ....................................................................................................................... 48 Background Characteristics ...................................................................................... 48 Depression Screening ................................................................................................ 48 Emotion Word Use ................................................................................................... 50 Positive Cognitive Representations .......................................................................... 52 Sexual Desire, Satisfaction and Function ................................................................. 56 Procedures ..................................................................................................................... 57 Data analysis procedures .............................................................................................. 59 Chapter 4 Results .............................................................................................................. 62 Demographic and Background Characteristics ............................................................. 62 Sexuality Related Characteristics ............................................................................. 62 v Medication Use ......................................................................................................... 64 Were Emotion Words Used When Writing about Desire? ........................................... 66 General descriptors ................................................................................................... 67 What Patterns of Positive and Negative Words Were Used? ....................................... 68 Is Positive Word Use Related to Sexual Outcome Variables? ..................................... 70 Linguistic Categories ................................................................................................ 71 Psychological Processes and Current Concerns ....................................................... 71 Use of Positive and Negative Words ........................................................................ 73 How Do Positive Emotions and Cognitions Link to Sexual Variables? ................... 76 Desire, Satisfaction and Sexual Function ................................................................. 76 Sexual Arousal, Frequency, and Receptivity ............................................................ 78 Chapter 5 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 80 Sexuality Related Findings ........................................................................................... 81 Word Counts ................................................................................................................. 81 What Patterns of Emotion Word Use Emerged? .......................................................... 82 How Do Emotions Relate to Sexual Desire? ................................................................ 83 How Do Positive Emotions and Positive Sexual Self-Schemas Relate to Desire? ...... 87 Unexpected Findings .................................................................................................... 89 Limitations and Future Directions ................................................................................ 92 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 96 Appendices .......................................................................................................................
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