Sexual Fantasies Vary by Context, Study Shows

The study, appearing in the *Archives of Sexual Behavior*, shows that fantasy content diverges sharply by context. During partnered intercourse, participants reported a higher share of “nurturant” elements—emotional closeness, affection, and care. In contrast, fantasies described during solitary masturbation emphasized “erotic” aspects, focusing on explicit arousal and often involving individuals outside the relationship. This pattern held across gender and sexual-minority groups.

Psypost

The researchers recruited 546 adults from the United States and Canada via online platforms, deliberately balancing gender- and sexual-minority participants with majority-group respondents. All participants had been in a committed sexual relationship for at least six months. Each described their most recent fantasy during solitary masturbation and during partnered sex, then completed a 50-item checklist rating erotic and nurturant content and standardized scales of relationship and sexual satisfaction. Results indicated that 56 % of solitary fantasies involved outside individuals versus 26 % focused on the partner; during partnered sex, 35 % involved only the partner, 38 % involved someone else, and the remainder combined both. Higher sexual-satisfaction scores increased the likelihood of partner-focused fantasies by 63 % and reduced outside-partner fantasies by 90 %.

Psypost

Gormezano, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Northern British Columbia, and van Anders, Canada Research Chair at Queen’s University, conclude that sexual imagination is context-dependent rather than a fixed trait. The prominence of nurturant content during partnered sex challenges assumptions that male fantasies are purely explicit and suggests that intimacy can be expressed cognitively. While higher sexual satisfaction correlates with partner-focused fantasies, the cross-sectional design precludes causal claims. The researchers stress that the results describe overall trends and that individual variation remains substantial, cautioning against pathologizing fantasies about non-partners.

Psypost

The study’s reliance on retrospective self-reports of a single recent fantasy introduces recall bias, and the cross-sectional snapshot cannot establish cause-and-effect relationships. The sample excludes individuals not in a committed relationship, limiting generalizability beyond the United States and Canada. Although some interpret fantasies about non-partners as signs of relational distress, the authors argue that such worries are often unwarranted given the prevalence of these experiences.

Psypost

• “One key takeaway from our research is that people can have different kinds of sexual fantasies in different situations,” — Sari M. van Anders, Canada Research Chair

Psypost

• “We were especially struck by how much nurturance showed up in sexual fantasies during partnered sex,” — Aki M. Gormezano & Sari M. van Anders

Psypost

• “Our findings identify broad patterns across participants, but sexual fantasies vary considerably from person to person—whom they are about, how erotic or nurturant they are, and how they differ across situations.” — Aki M. Gormezano & Sari M. van Anders

Psypost

• “Future studies that track fantasies closer to when they happen, such as daily diary studies, could provide an even clearer picture,” — Aki M. Gormezano & Sari M. van Anders

Psypost

The team plans longitudinal, diary-based studies to capture fantasies in real time and to broaden cultural and relational diversity, aiming to clarify causal pathways and refine context-dependent models of sexuality.

Psypost