Cognitive Motivations for Women Faking Orgasm in Heterosexual and Queer Identities

Research on the psychosocial phenomenon of women faking orgasms has only focused on a heterosexual population. Our study sought to include responses from both queer and heterosexual women to understand if motivations to fake orgasm and partnered orgasm frequency differ by sexual orientation. Undergraduate participants (N=103) were given possible motivations to fake orgasm and rated them on a scale from 1(Never) to 5(Always) in relation to their personal motivations to fake orgasm. The percentage of time participants faked orgasm and reached orgasm during partnered sex was also collected. A chi-square analysis was used to assess the relationship between sexual orientation and cognitive motivations to fake orgasm. There was a significant relationship between the motivation “Because your partner expects you to have an orgasm during sexual interactions?” and sexual orientation X2(4,103)= 11 .80, p= 0 .019. Descriptive statistics were used to examine counts of the highest motivations to fake orgasm and the average of reached and faked orgasms. Analyses revealed that the highest motivation for women to fake orgasm was “To make your partner happy”, with 70% of women reporting (Almost Always) or (Always). Additionally, heterosexual women were almost 10% more likely to fake orgasm (M=46 .75) than their queer counterparts (M=37 .96) . Results of this study add to the understanding of women’s sexuality, but further research is needed on faking orgasms and the potential for group differences.