Achievement of and Failure to Achieve Orgasm in Sexual Relationship: Exploring Iranian Women’s Experiences

Introduction: Female orgasm is a subjective phenomenon that has been wrongly introduced to people and therapists in the halo of exaggeration and perfectionism made by sexual films. This study was conducted to explore the Iranian women's experience of achievement of or failure to achieve orgasm and its consequences in sexual relationship. Method: This qualitative study was conducted using content analysis method. Individual in-depth interviews with 20 married women were continued until data saturation. Sampling was performed using purposive sampling in the environment of two public clinics in Tehran. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis method. Trustworthiness of data was achieved through Lincoln and Guba criteria. Results: The results of data analysis were categorized into 3 categories, 8 subcategories, and 46 codes. The main categories include feeling of success to achieve orgasm, feeling of failure to achieve orgasm, and husband companionship. Successful orgasm in Iranian women led to the feeling of successfulness with pleasant emotions such as relief, excitement, or love and positive outcomes such as relaxation, intimacy, freshness, and vitality. Women's descriptions of orgasm were mainly psychological and emotional. Failure to achieve orgasm led to the feeling of failure with physical and psychological symptoms such as pain, nervousness, aggressiveness, and negative consequences such as being jealous of husband’s orgasm and regret for getting married. Conclusion: To prevent and treat orgasm disorders in women, it should be noted that successful female orgasm can mainly be accompanied with pleasant emotional states and physical changes may beunclear or intangible, while failure to achieve orgasm in women can lead to vague physical or psychological symptoms. Couples training for sexual talk with spouse, as well as more interaction and companionship between wife and husband have effective roles in achieving female orgasm.