Psychological Reports, 1991, 68, 620-622.
@ Psychological Reports 1991
CORRELATES OF SEXUAL INTEREST A M O N G ELDERLY M E N L. EUGENE THOMAS Universily of Connecticut Summary.-Interview data were collected from 46 English elderly men (age 70 to 94 years) relating to attitudes, psychological traits, and life satisfaction. Sexual interest was not related to life satisfaction or marital status but was significantly correlated with measures of emotional expressivity, personal identity, as well as regrets about the past. Findings are discussed in terms of Erikson's later stages of ego development.
Of the growing literature on sexuality among the elderly (Martin, 1981; Giambro, 1979-80; Weg, 19831, little research has directly addressed the question of the relation of sexual interest to life satisfaction and other psychological variables. This study was focused on evaluating the importance of sex to elderly men and the relation of sexual interest to their psychological state and sense of personal well-being.
METHOD Interviews were conducted with 46 middle- and upper-middle status elderly men (70 to 94 years), whose mean age was 76.3 yr. Respondents, who were residing in London, England, were selected by means of multiple-entry referral sampling, beginning with participants in a university extension program, persons active in elderly social programs, and members of several churches and synagogues in central London. Refusal rate for the sample was
25%. Two interviews, spaced three to four weeks apart, were conducted with each participant in his home. Each interview took about an hour and included open-ended questions relating to present and past life experiences. Three structured instruments were also administered; see Table 1 below. At the end of the second interview respondents were asked, "How important is sex in your life now?" and where given a card with the choices, "very important," "somewhat important," "no longer important," and "never been important." Open-ended questions were coded to provide measures of a number of relevant variables, shown in Table 1. Coding categories were developed from pretest protocols. Two coders achieved agreement of 80% or better for each of the variables, with disagreements decided by a third coder.
'Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Gerontolo ical Society of America, November, 1985. Support for the research and data analysis was proviied by the University of Connecticut Research Foundation. Address correspondence to L. Eugene Thomas, Box U-58, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268.
62 1
CORRELATES O F SEXUAL INTEREST AMONG ELDERLY MEN
RESULTS Half of the sample (50%) reported that sex was no longer important to them, while most of the remainder said that it was "somewhat important" (39%). Four of the men (7%) said that sex had never been important to them, and two (4%) reported that it was still "very important." Importance of sex did not d f f e r significantly by marital status of respondents ( X 2= 1.04), of whom 59% were married, 32% widowed or divorced, and 9% never married. Sexual interest was negatively correlated (Pearson r = - .33) with age. Sex was rated as "very" or "somewhat" important by 60% of those under age 75 years, but only 24% of those 75 years or older rated sex this important. Pearson correlations between other dependent variables and sexual measures are given in Table 1. TABLE 1 PWRSONCORRELATIONS BETWE N I IMPORTANCE OF SEX AND BEHAVIORAL A N D PSYCHOLOGICAL WSUKES Measure
n
M
SD
r
45 3.28 1.26 .37t 46 3.68 .36t 1.43 45 2.37 .85 .36t 46 3.67 1.00 .34t 44 3.90 .32* 1.66 45 19.26 4.01 .25' 44 7.20 1.85 -.I2 45 2.62 1.05 -.I1 46 3.83 1.36 -.05 44 6.64 2.62 .02 46 3.28 .88 .O 1 45 25.92 8.25 -.01 otherwise indicated, variables were coded from open-ended questions in the
"Frequently surprised" "Confident sharing" "Regrets about life" "Often moved to tears" "Sense of identityM "Openness to experience"' Cantril "present"b "Organizationd participation" "Close friends" Cantril "futuremb "Perceived health"
LSI-A'
Note.-Unless interview L~udn&(1962). Cantril (1965). ' ~ e u ~ a r t e nHavighwt, , and Tobin (1961). *p
@ Psychological Reports 1991
CORRELATES OF SEXUAL INTEREST A M O N G ELDERLY M E N L. EUGENE THOMAS Universily of Connecticut Summary.-Interview data were collected from 46 English elderly men (age 70 to 94 years) relating to attitudes, psychological traits, and life satisfaction. Sexual interest was not related to life satisfaction or marital status but was significantly correlated with measures of emotional expressivity, personal identity, as well as regrets about the past. Findings are discussed in terms of Erikson's later stages of ego development.
Of the growing literature on sexuality among the elderly (Martin, 1981; Giambro, 1979-80; Weg, 19831, little research has directly addressed the question of the relation of sexual interest to life satisfaction and other psychological variables. This study was focused on evaluating the importance of sex to elderly men and the relation of sexual interest to their psychological state and sense of personal well-being.
METHOD Interviews were conducted with 46 middle- and upper-middle status elderly men (70 to 94 years), whose mean age was 76.3 yr. Respondents, who were residing in London, England, were selected by means of multiple-entry referral sampling, beginning with participants in a university extension program, persons active in elderly social programs, and members of several churches and synagogues in central London. Refusal rate for the sample was
25%. Two interviews, spaced three to four weeks apart, were conducted with each participant in his home. Each interview took about an hour and included open-ended questions relating to present and past life experiences. Three structured instruments were also administered; see Table 1 below. At the end of the second interview respondents were asked, "How important is sex in your life now?" and where given a card with the choices, "very important," "somewhat important," "no longer important," and "never been important." Open-ended questions were coded to provide measures of a number of relevant variables, shown in Table 1. Coding categories were developed from pretest protocols. Two coders achieved agreement of 80% or better for each of the variables, with disagreements decided by a third coder.
'Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Gerontolo ical Society of America, November, 1985. Support for the research and data analysis was proviied by the University of Connecticut Research Foundation. Address correspondence to L. Eugene Thomas, Box U-58, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268.
62 1
CORRELATES O F SEXUAL INTEREST AMONG ELDERLY MEN
RESULTS Half of the sample (50%) reported that sex was no longer important to them, while most of the remainder said that it was "somewhat important" (39%). Four of the men (7%) said that sex had never been important to them, and two (4%) reported that it was still "very important." Importance of sex did not d f f e r significantly by marital status of respondents ( X 2= 1.04), of whom 59% were married, 32% widowed or divorced, and 9% never married. Sexual interest was negatively correlated (Pearson r = - .33) with age. Sex was rated as "very" or "somewhat" important by 60% of those under age 75 years, but only 24% of those 75 years or older rated sex this important. Pearson correlations between other dependent variables and sexual measures are given in Table 1. TABLE 1 PWRSONCORRELATIONS BETWE N I IMPORTANCE OF SEX AND BEHAVIORAL A N D PSYCHOLOGICAL WSUKES Measure
n
M
SD
r
45 3.28 1.26 .37t 46 3.68 .36t 1.43 45 2.37 .85 .36t 46 3.67 1.00 .34t 44 3.90 .32* 1.66 45 19.26 4.01 .25' 44 7.20 1.85 -.I2 45 2.62 1.05 -.I1 46 3.83 1.36 -.05 44 6.64 2.62 .02 46 3.28 .88 .O 1 45 25.92 8.25 -.01 otherwise indicated, variables were coded from open-ended questions in the
"Frequently surprised" "Confident sharing" "Regrets about life" "Often moved to tears" "Sense of identityM "Openness to experience"' Cantril "present"b "Organizationd participation" "Close friends" Cantril "futuremb "Perceived health"
LSI-A'
Note.-Unless interview L~udn&(1962). Cantril (1965). ' ~ e u ~ a r t e nHavighwt, , and Tobin (1961). *p
