It appears to be reasonable to assume that, in general, people are not completely altruistic, but to a greater or lesser extent also exhibit self-interest and care about their own sexual enjoyment. Family economics assumes that dissonant preferences of self-interested household members lead to an intra-household bargaining situation (Agarwal 1997; Komura 2013; Lundberg and Pollak 1996; Yakita 2018). This approach can also be applied to sexual preferences. Partners may solve the problem of dissonant sexual preferences by bargaining over their sexual activities. Personality has an influence on a person’s bargaining strength and, hence, on whether he or she can achieve a favorable bargaining outcome. Assertiveness is likely to be associated with a more favorable bargaining outcome for the person while a high willingness to compromise may rather result in a less favorable outcome. In particular, personality may have an influence on the person’s threat point. A more sociable person with better communication skills may have better opportunities to find a new partner in case of a disagreement.
This gives us insights into the role of information sharing in sexual relationships
If partners reach a common understanding and agreement on their sexual relationship, commitment problems arise. The common understanding and agreement on the sexual relationship are based on promises partners make to each other. Continue reading “Implications for the link between Big Five personality traits and sex”