What is sexual pleasure?
: non-monogamous people’s definitions

  • Carolina Caeiro Henriques

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

Sexual pleasure is a relevant indicator of sexual well-being. It has frequently been
associated with other constructs such as orgasm, satisfaction, and well-being itself.
However, these are all individual aspects of people’s sexual lives, and each deserves to
be explored independently. The definitions of sexual pleasure have been based on experts’
theoretical views, leaving people’s personal experiences of sexual pleasure aside.
Furthermore, the studies on this topic seem to mainly focus on dyadic relationships.
The aim of this study was to understand the definition of partnered sexual pleasure
in a sample of people who engage in consensually non-monogamous (CNM) relationships
through a reflexive thematic analysis. For this purpose we selected 96 participants from
a larger study according to their relational configuration.
Through a reflective thematic analysis, we identified five themes: “Comfort
Zone”; “Emotional Bonding”; “Fulfilling Practices”; “Relevant Sensations”; and
“Openness to Experience”. Our findings reinforce a multidimensional and holistic view
on sexual pleasure, given the diversity of factors mentioned by our participants in their
responses. Safety, security, communication, connection, satisfaction, specific practices,
and exploration are amongst the most frequent answers. The results support previous
definitions of sexual pleasure, while providing a more specific and complex approach on
this construct. Although our sample only includes people who engage in CNM
relationships, there were no mentions of specific practices of this type of relational
configuration.
Key-words: sexual pleasure, consensual non-monogamy, thematic analysis
Date of Award2024
Original languageEnglish
SupervisorPatrícia M. Pascoal (Supervisor) & Daniel Cardoso (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • SEXOLOGY
  • PLEASURE
  • NON-MONOGAMY
  • SEXUAL PLEASURE

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