Women who believe their sex drive changes can better cope with low libido
Women
who
believe
that
their
sex
drive
will
change
over
time
are
better
able
to
handle
difficulties
with
sexual
desire,
according
to
a
study
from
the
University
of
Waterloo.
Siobhan
Sutherland,
a
PhD
candidate,
and
Uzma
S.
Rehman,
a
professor
of
psychology
at
Waterloo,
conducted
the
research.
They
sought
to
determine
how
a
woman’s
belief
about
sexual
desire
as
either
changing
or
unchanging
over
time
affects
her
ability
to
cope
with
desire
difficulties,
such
as
problems
getting
in
the
mood
or
maintaining
arousal.
Their
findings
suggest
that
women
who
see
their
sexual
desire
as
variable
and
rate
themselves
as
likely
to
have
problems
with
it
are
less
likely
to
behave
negatively
by
ignoring
or
avoiding
the
sexual
problem.
Conversely,
they
also
found
that
women
who
believe
that
desire
is
unchanging
are
less
likely
to
try
to
overcome
sexual-desire
problems
when
they
arise.
The
participants
did
not
have
a
diagnosis
of
any
clinical
sexual
dysfunction.
“Women
who
believe
that
sexual
desire
levels
remain
the
same
may
feel
that
challenges
with
sexual
desire,
such
as
low
sex
drive,
are
impossible
to
overcome
and
therefore
they
try
to
avoid
or
ignore
the
problem,”
said
Sutherland,
the
study’s
lead
author
and
a
recipient
of
the
prestigious
Vanier
Canada
Graduate
Scholarship.
In
two
online
studies,
the
researchers
randomly
assigned
readings
designed
to
result
in
different
beliefs
about
sexual
desire.
The
participants
were
then
asked
to
indicate
how
true
it
is
that
they
have
experienced
or
are
likely
to
experience
a
problem
with
sexual
desire.
They
then
completed
a
test
to
measure
how
they
handle
desire
problems.
“Our
findings
suggest
that
holding
a
belief
that
sexual
desire
changes
over
time
may
protect
women
against
responding
helplessly
to
their
sexual
problems,”
said
Sutherland.
“Gaining
a
better
understanding
of
how
women’s
beliefs
affect
their
coping
with
sexual
desire
challenges
can
help
to
refine
psychological
interventions
for
women’s
problems
with
sexual
desire.“
The
researchers
surveyed
780
women
of
mixed
ages
and
ethnicities
in
the
U.S.
The
findings
appear
in
the
Journal
of
Sex
and
Marital
Therapy.