| We hypothesized that sexual satisfaction and psychological distress are both related to self-rated sexual attractiveness, but in different ways: on the one hand, greater sexual satisfaction is associated with greater sexual attractiveness; on the other hand, higher psychological distress is associated with basing one's sexual attractiveness primarily on body image-oriented features ("face" and "body type"). We analyzed cross-sectional household survey data from Liuzhou city in southern China with a series of regression analyses. We found: 1. Self-rated sexual attractiveness was associated more strongly with women's emotional sexual satisfaction (ESS) (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93-1.93) and especially physical sexual satisfaction (PSS) (PR 1.81, 95% CI: 1.11-2.94) than with men's ESS (PR 0.93 95% CI: 0.64-1.35) and PSS (PR 1.21, 95% CI: 0.86-1.70). For men, the associations of partner's attractiveness with ESS (PR 2.22, 95% CI: 1.85-2.67) and with PSS (PR 2.30, 95% CI: 1.70-3.09) were both stronger than the corresponding associations for women (PR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.57-1.61 for ESS and 1.33, 95% CI: 0.67-2.63 for PSS). Similarly, the associations of the feeling that one's partner takes enough care of one with ESS (PR 3.69, 95% CI: 1.77-7.70) and with PSS (PR 2.37, 95% CI: 1.13-4.95) were stronger for men than the corresponding associations for women (PR 1.59, 95% CI: 0.79-3.20 for ESS, and PR 1.44, 95% CI: 0.74-2.80 for PSS). 2.Compared to women who rated themselves as sexually attractive with their most attractive aspect a non-body- image oriented feature: (1) women who self-rated attractive but ranked "face" or "body type" as their most attractive feature had a 0.91(95% CI: 0.00-1.82) point higher psychological distress score (PDS); (2) women who self-rated unattractive but ranked a body-image aspect as their most attractive feature had a 0.79 (95% CI: 0.21-1.37) point higher PDS; and (3) women who considered themselves "not attractive in any aspect" had a 0.88 (95% CI: 0.10-1.66) point higher PDS. Our study results highlighted the health impact of self-rated sexual attractiveness. Awareness of how perceptions of one's sexual attractiveness relate to sexual wellbeing and psychological health will present additional opportunities for improving quality of life in China. |
