Like Tying a Shoe? The Perceptions of Sexual Compliance in a Finnish Population-based Sample

The perceived consequences of sexual compliance, that is consensually engaging in partnered sexual activity despite a lack of sexual desire, remain underexplored. The current population-based study elucidates participants’ perceptions of compliance by asking their preference of either complying to sex with their current partner or experiencing a hypothetical event. The events had different valences; negative (e.g., losing a friendship), neutral (e.g., tying a shoe), and positive (e.g., receiving a genuine compliment). The sample consisted of 1,105 Finnish participants, and data were analyzed using t-tests. Women were more likely to choose the hypothetical event over compliance than men. On a group level, women considered sexual compliance to be comparable to tying a shoe, and men would rather comply to sex than receive a genuine compliment. The results indicate that most people view sexual compliance as comparable to every-day events.