To talk or not to talk? Communication during sexual activity as a mediator of the association between relationship and sexual satisfaction

I examined whether verbal and non-verbal communication of enjoyment during sexual activity mediated the association between relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction in mixed-sex cohabiting couples contemporaneously (N = 126) and over four months (N = 98) using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIM; Kashy & Kenny, 2000) and bootstrapping analyses. Individuals’ relationship satisfaction positively predicted their perceptions of partner’s verbal and nonverbal sexual communication, but generally did not predict across partner. Individuals’ perceptions of partner’s non-verbal communication positively predicted their own and partner’s sexual satisfaction contemporaneously, but not longitudinally. Perceptions of partner’s verbal communication did not generally predict sexual satisfaction within- or across-partner contemporaneously or longitudinally. Indirect effects suggest that relationship satisfaction may provide a context conducive to effective nonverbal communication during sexual activity, which in turn predicts sexual satisfaction contemporaneously, but not longitudinally.