The relationship between women’s cognitive flexibility and perceived partner responsiveness with sexual satisfaction: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Cognitive flexibility and perceived partner responsiveness are thought to be important for sexual satisfaction as they facilitate adaptive communication, emotional closeness, and the ability to cope effectively with relational challenges. The objective of the present study was to examine sexual satisfaction in terms of various variables and to explore the relationship between sexual satisfaction and cognitive flexibility with perceived partner responsiveness. Data was collected online between 25.11.2022 and 20.06.2023 from 432 women living in Turkiye. Personal Information Form which was prepared by the researchers in line with the literature, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), Perceived Partner Responsiveness Scale (PPRS), and Golombok-Rust Sexual Satisfaction Scale-Female Form (GRSS) were used as data collection tools. The mean age of the women was 30.34 ± 6.75 (min: 19, max: 70). This cross-sectional study revealed that significant negative correlations have been found between the deterioration in women’s sexual satisfaction and cognitive flexibility, and partner responsiveness. In addition, while cognitive flexibility alone accounted for 10% of the total variance in sexual satisfaction in Model 1, the explained variance increased to 28% with the addition of perceived partner sensitivity in Model 2. This study, which shows that cognitive flexibility and perceived partner sensitivity have a significant effect on sexual satisfaction, is important for health professionals in terms of evaluating the factors affecting women’s sexual satisfaction and raising awareness within the scope of evaluating sexuality holistically.