| dc.description.abstract | Orgasm is a phase of the human sexual response, and the possible discrepancies between
male and female ways to experience it are still not clear in the literature. There is a lack of
tools to adequately assess orgasm perception. This study aims to develop an instrument
and verify possible differences between males and females. We constructed the Orgasmic
Perception Questionnaire (OPQ) through different stages: first, 316 items selection was
conducted on a sample of 96 people, where items came mainly from written descriptions of
orgasm perception; second, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on 674 Italian
adults with a 63-item OPQ; finally, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on 1100
Italian adults with a 47-item OPQ. In the first study, 63 items fitted an equidistributional pattern
and were to form the 63-item OPQ used for EFA. The EFA showed that five factors out
of 47 explained 44.01% of the total variance and were named: Ecstasy, Contractions, Relaxation,
Power, and Sensations. The confirmatory factor analyses run on the 47-item OPQ
confirmed that the five-factor structure fits. Moreover, females scored higher than males
with an adequate effect size in two factors: Contractions and Sensations. In conclusion, the
OPQ could be a useful tool in both clinical settings and research studies to investigate the
perception of orgasmic experience in its totality. | es |
