Sexual Dissatisfaction and Divorce: Reality or Illusion?

In recent years, the issue of sexual dissatisfaction has received considerable attention, and many have emphasized on its high prevalence among couples, as well as its impact on most divorces. The main question of this study is how much is the prevalence of sexual dissatisfaction among couples and what effect does sexual dissatisfaction have on the life and separation of couples? This research was conducted using a secondary analysis of the National Family Survey data. The population included married individuals or those who were divorced in urban areas of Iran, and the sample size was 2850 individuals. The findings indicate that sexual dissatisfaction among couples is around 9%, and it does not have a significant determining effect on the occurrence of divorce. Only 10% of individuals with sexual dissatisfaction considered the probability of separation from their spouse as high. Additionally, only about 4% of couples reported their sexual conflict with their spouse as very high and about 10% reported it as high. Examining the factors of divorce among divorced individuals revealed that factors such as addiction, family interference, lack of love, and infidelity were more important, while sexual problems were only the cause of 1.3% of divorces. Overall, sexual dissatisfaction is neither a common issue among couples nor a determining factor in the tendency towards divorce in Iran.