Religiosity and Sexual Satisfaction in Middle Age: The Moderating Role of Nonconformity

Abstract

The period of middle adulthood presents people with self-actualization challenges related, among others, to their religious beliefs and sexual satisfaction. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between religiosity, nonconformity and sexual satisfaction, as well as to examine whether nonconformity moderates the relationship between religiosity and sexual satisfaction in middle adulthood. The following questionnaires were used: the Religious Meaning System Questionnaire, the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Creative Behavior Questionnaire CBQIII. A series of regression analyses using Hayes PROCESS macro was run to test the models in a sample of 667 middle adults aged between 35 and 55 (M = 42.62; SD = 5.37). The analyses revealed significant relationships between the variables. The religious meaning system showed negative correlations with both nonconformity and sexual satisfaction, whereas nonconformity was positively correlated with sexual satisfaction. An interaction effect of religiosity and nonconformity on sexual satisfaction, when controlling for gender and age, was also demonstrated. More specifically, religiosity was negatively related to sexual satisfaction in individuals with a high level of nonconformity. By contrast, for low and average levels of nonconformity, the relationship between religiosity and sexual satisfaction was insignificant. The results suggest that religiosity may interact with nonconformity when predicting the intensity of sexual satisfaction of middle adults.

Keywords

• religiosity
• religious meaning system
• sexual satisfaction
• nonconformity
• adulthood