The study tested the effects of sexual surrogacy, which I define as the desire to fulfill sexual needs with a surrogate target (e.g., celebrity crushes), on sexual satisfaction, relationship, happiness, and well-being. To examine this topic, I conducted a cross-sectional experimental study. After being asked about sexual desire toward either their current partner or a celebrity crush with a sexual desire behavior inventory, participants were asked to answer questions about their sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, happiness, and well-being. I predicted that desire toward both surrogates and interpersonal targets will predict higher levels of sexual satisfaction, happiness, and well-being but that these associations would be weaker for the surrogate group. We found that sexual desire toward a parasocial target showed comparable associations with well-being compared to the partner group, but that some differences were observed in the effects of relationship satisfaction toward each target.
","abstract_html":"<p>The study tested the effects of sexual surrogacy, which I define as the desire to fulfill sexual needs with a surrogate target (e.g., celebrity crushes), on sexual satisfaction, relationship, happiness, and well-being. To examine this topic, I conducted a cross-sectional experimental study. After being asked about sexual desire toward either their current partner or a celebrity crush with a sexual desire behavior inventory, participants were asked to answer questions about their sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, happiness, and well-being. I predicted that desire toward both surrogates and interpersonal targets will predict higher levels of sexual satisfaction, happiness, and well-being but that these associations would be weaker for the surrogate group. We found that sexual desire toward a parasocial target showed comparable associations with well-being compared to the partner group, but that some differences were observed in the effects of relationship satisfaction toward each target.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Liu-Pham, Ryan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lucas A. Keefer","Donald Sacco"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:19Z","subjects":["Social Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/805","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lucas A. Keefer","Donald Sacco"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Liu-Pham, Ryan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-03-25T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/805"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The study tested the effects of sexual surrogacy, which I define as the desire to fulfill sexual needs with a surrogate target (e.g., celebrity crushes), on sexual satisfaction, relationship, happiness, and well-being. To examine this topic, I conducted a cross-sectional experimental study. After being asked about sexual desire toward either their current partner or a celebrity crush with a sexual desire behavior inventory, participants were asked to answer questions about their sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, happiness, and well-being. I predicted that desire toward both surrogates and interpersonal targets will predict higher levels of sexual satisfaction, happiness, and well-being but that these associations would be weaker for the surrogate group. We found that sexual desire toward a parasocial target showed comparable associations with well-being compared to the partner group, but that some differences were observed in the effects of relationship satisfaction toward each target.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Effects of Sexual Surrogacy on Satisfaction, Happiness, and Well-Being"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lucas A. Keefer","Donald Sacco"],"dc:creator":["Liu-Pham, Ryan"],"dc:date.available":["2021-03-25T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The study tested the effects of sexual surrogacy, which I define as the desire to fulfill sexual needs with a surrogate target (e.g., celebrity crushes), on sexual satisfaction, relationship, happiness, and well-being. To examine this topic, I conducted a cross-sectional experimental study. After being asked about sexual desire toward either their current partner or a celebrity crush with a sexual desire behavior inventory, participants were asked to answer questions about their sexual satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, happiness, and well-being. I predicted that desire toward both surrogates and interpersonal targets will predict higher levels of sexual satisfaction, happiness, and well-being but that these associations would be weaker for the surrogate group. We found that sexual desire toward a parasocial target showed comparable associations with well-being compared to the partner group, but that some differences were observed in the effects of relationship satisfaction toward each target.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/805"],"dc:subject":["Social Psychology"],"dc:title":["The Effects of Sexual Surrogacy on Satisfaction, Happiness, and Well-Being"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:19Z"}