Thinking about sex and power can bring certain ideas to mind. In some ways, the association between these two factors is natural.
Power is often defined as having control over resources, allowing those in power to influence and manipulate others. And in fact, power in any area (financial power, power over colleagues in the workplace, even temporary power over peers) is associated with greater sexual motivation. People with more power are “especially likely to pursue goals related to sex and mating,” and many people strongly associate power with sex.
Positive relationship: power improves our sexual relationships
Increased power is associated with greater sexual assertiveness. For example, in one study, employees in positions of power at work also rated themselves higher in sexual assertiveness.
Sexually assertive people feel more comfortable initiating sex and communicating their sexual needs and desires, so it is not surprising that those who are more sexually assertive also experience greater sexual satisfaction. What is interesting about the correlation between power and sexual assertiveness is that, although men are supposed to be more sexually assertive than women, the relationship between power and sexual assertiveness was the same for both sexes.
Increased power is also associated with higher sexual self-esteem. People with high sexual self-esteem are confident in their sexual abilities and their aptitude for positive sexual experiences. They also see themselves as more attractive. Higher sexual self-esteem is also related to lower sexual anxiety.
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Both men and women in positions of power in the workplace rated their own sexual self-esteem as higher than those who lacked power. In fact, power had a larger effect than gender on both sexual assertiveness and sexual self-esteem.
Gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors tend to be smaller in more gender-equal nations. Lammers and Stoker suggest that as women gain more power, some gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors may disappear entirely.
Negative relationship: power makes our sexual relationships worse
Both men and women who indicated a higher status in the power hierarchy at work also reported more instances of actual infidelity, as well as a greater intention to engage in future infidelities. The authors propose that power causes greater confidence in the ability to attract new partners and therefore makes powerful people of both sexes more likely to engage in infidelities.
Just as power activates one’s own interest in sex, it can also cause biased perceptions of others’ sexual interest. In this experiment, participants were randomly assigned to a position of power or a position of equality with an opposite-sex partner.
Those assigned to a position of power not only overperceived their peers’ sexual interest in them, but also acted in a more sexualized manner toward their peers (touching them, smiling, and looking at them). The authors note that power, along with misperceptions of sexual interest, can lead to sexual harassment.
References:
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Brassard, A., Dupuy, E., Bergeron, S., & Shaver, P.R. (2015). Attachment insecurities and women’s sexual function and satisfaction: the mediating roles of sexual self-esteem, sexual anxiety, and sexual assertiveness. Journal of Sex Research, 52(1), 110-119. https://doi.org/
da Conceição Pinto, M., & Neto, F. (2012). Satisfaction with sex life among middle-aged adults. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology, 4(1), 463-470. Recovered from
Kunstman, J.W., & Maner, J.K. (2011). Sexual overperception: Power, mating motives, and biases in social judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 100, pp. 282-294. https://doi.org/
Lammers, J., & Stoker, J.I. (2019). Power Affects Sexual Assertiveness and Sexual Esteem Equally in Women and Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 48, pp. 645-652. https://doi.org/
Lammers, J., Stoker, J.I., Jordan, J., Pollmann, M., & Stapel, D.A. (2011). Power increases infidelity among men and women. Psychological Science, 22(9), 1191-1197. https://doi.org/
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