Partial Impulse Erogeneity as a Function of Fixation and Object Relations

The psychoanalytic theory of adult erogeneity is analyzed with respect to differential sexual and foreplay activities. Psychosexual fixation within any of the basic stages of oral, anal, or phallic development was hypothesized to correlate negatively with adult erogeneity in that respective area. The overall investment in sexuality across the erogenous areas was expected to be a function of the general level of development within the object relations domain, so that the less narcissistic and more other-oriented a person is, the more investment is to be expected in interpersonal sexuality. Utilizing recently developed psychometric instruments measuring these analytic constructs, self-report erogeneity data from 56 women were analyzed and compared with fixation and object relations variables. Results confirmed the object relations hypothesis. A comparison of the intercorrelations of the erogeneity and fixation variables showed that although the pattern is in line with the hypothesis, statistical significance was achieved for anality only. Implications of the findings and of the relatively small statistical effect sizes are discussed.