Is successful sexual aging culture-specific? A network analytic assessment in four countries

BACKGROUND: Despite the findings that older adults in post-industrial countries value sexual vitality and sexual expression more than previous generations, cross-cultural research in positive sexual aging has been very limited. Building on a new (non-normative) process-based concept, the Successful Sexual Aging Model, and its recent three-dimensional operationalization, the current study aimed to provide systematic evidence about cultural differences in positive sexual aging. METHODS: Using data from four countries - Croatia (n = 201), Germany (n = 895), Portugal (n = 191) and Japan (n = 391) - collected from older partnered individuals aged ≥65 years in quota-based national online panels (the Portuguese convenience-based community sample was an exception), we used a novel social network analytic approach to assess similarities and differences in the structure of successful sexual aging (SSA). RESULTS: Although the basic composition of SSA was confirmed across the countries, most structural links connecting the three psychosocial processes (acceptance, adaptation and opportunities) that were proposed to underlie SSA were culture specific. Emerging patterns of differences did not indicate a marked distinctiveness of SSA in Japan, when compared with the European countries. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings represent an initial step toward exploring cultural differences in positive sexual aging.