Female Orgasm Scale

Abstract

The Female Orgasm Scale (FOS) is a psychometric instrument developed by Alexandra McIntyre-Smith and William A. Fisher to measure two core dimensions of female sexual experience: the consistency of female orgasm during various partnered sexual activities, and the individual’s overall satisfaction with the frequency and quality of these orgasmic experiences. The scale is concise, comprising seven items. Five items use an 11-point percentage scale to quantify orgasmic frequency during specific sexual acts (e.g., intercourse, manual stimulation, oral stimulation), while the remaining two items employ a 7-point Likert scale to assess subjective satisfaction. The FOS was developed through a rigorous, iterative process involving three studies and extensive psychometric analysis to ensure strong reliability and validity.

Keywords

Female Orgasm Scale, Orgasm Consistency, Sexual Satisfaction, Psychometrics, Sexual Function, Clitoral Stimulation.

Authors

Alexandra McIntyre-Smith, William A. Fisher.

[quads id=5]

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Female Orgasm Scale (FOS) is to provide a reliable and comprehensive self-report measure for quantifying the consistency of a woman achieving orgasm across a specified range of partnered sexual activities. This differentiation allows researchers and clinicians to assess which types of stimulation—such as intercourse only, intercourse with additional direct clitoral stimulation, or manual/oral stimulation—are most effective for the respondent.

A secondary, but equally important, objective is to assess the respondent’s perceived satisfaction regarding both the number and the quality of orgasms experienced during sexual activity with a partner. This dual focus ensures the measure captures both the behavioral frequency and the subjective emotional evaluation related to orgasmic experience.

Construct

The FOS measures the psychological construct of Orgasm Consistency and Satisfaction. This construct is defined as the regularity with which a woman experiences orgasm during various partnered activities, coupled with her subjective evaluation of those outcomes. The scale is structured to address common behavioral variations in female sexual response.

The scale development process involved the refinement of an initial 17-item pool down to a final seven items, based on strict psychometric guidelines. The final items were retained because they demonstrated robust empirical performance and strong conceptual overlap with the core construct, minimizing issues like range restriction and poor item-total correlations.

Validity

Evidence for the convergent validity of the Female Orgasm Scale is robust. The total FOS score exhibited a high correlation (r = .71) with the Orgasm subscale of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI; Rosen et al., 2000), confirming that the FOS measures a construct highly related to established measures of sexual function.

Furthermore, the scale demonstrated discriminant validity. The FOS total score, its subscales, and individual items showed no significant correlation with the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSD; Crowne & Marlowe, 1964) or with measures of depression and anxiety (Henry & Crawford, 2005). This evidence suggests that the FOS is largely free from common response biases and measures a sexual function construct distinct from general affective distress.

Reliability

The Female Orgasm Scale demonstrated consistently good internal consistency across all three development studies, with Cronbach’s alpha (α) values ranging from .84 to .86 for the total scale. Subscale reliability was also satisfactory: the Orgasm from Clitoral Stimulation subscale achieved an α of .81–.82, and the Satisfaction with Orgasm subscale ranged from α = .72–.90.

The temporal stability of the measure was assessed using four-week test-retest reliability, which was found to be excellent for the total scale (r = .82) and good for both subscales (r = .62–.78). Corrected item-total correlations further supported the scale’s internal structure, ranging from r = .41 to .77 for the total scale, indicating that each item contributes meaningfully to the overall score.

Factor Analysis

Scale development relied heavily on individual item analyses and Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) conducted iteratively over three studies. An initial pool of 17 items was reduced after the first EFA due to poor empirical performance, leading to the deletion of nine items and the introduction of five new ones. A subsequent EFA on the 13-item pool resulted in further refinement.

The final seven items were retained based on strict guidelines designed to maximize psychometric performance. Criteria for deletion included low standard deviations indicative of range restriction, poor inter-item correlations (r < .30), poor corrected item-total correlations (r < .30), high cross-loadings on non-target factors (> .35), and poor communalities (< .30). This rigorous factor analysis approach ensured the final scale was unidimensional or captured distinct, highly related subcomponents of the intended construct.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychometric scale.

Format: Seven items administered typically via survey format (Internet or paper-and-pencil).

Language Available: English (Original).

Population Group: Adult women.

Age Group: 17–49 years.

Population Details: Development samples consisted of three cohorts of heterosexually active female undergraduate students (M age = 18.83–19.24). The scale is most appropriate for use with this population, and future validation studies are needed for broader application.

Test Methodology: The scale offers a global overview of a woman’s orgasm experience without a specific temporal constraint, though researchers may impose one. Completion time is short (2 to 5 minutes). Scoring involves a necessary weighting procedure to equate the 11-point percentage items (1–5) with the 7-point satisfaction items (6–7): Items 1–5 (scored 0–10) are multiplied by 7, and Items 6–7 (scored 1–7) are multiplied by 10. Higher total scores indicate greater orgasm consistency and satisfaction. Subscale scores (Orgasm from Clitoral Stimulation: Items 2–5; Satisfaction with Orgasm: Items 6–7) can be calculated without weighting within the subscale.

Keywords

Sexual health, Orgasm consistency, Sexual function, Female sexuality, Psychometric testing, Satisfaction, Clitoral stimulation.

[quads id=5]

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Alexandra McIntyre-Smith) or [email protected] (William A. Fisher)

Correspondence Address: Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed by Alexandra McIntyre-Smith and William A. Fisher at the University of Western Ontario. Specific information regarding fees or copyright permissions is not detailed in the source material; interested parties should contact the corresponding authors directly. The development and primary validation studies were conducted in the early 2000s (as evidenced by references to the 2000 FSFI publication).

Reference’s

Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence. New York: Wiley.

Henry, J. D., & Crawford, J. R. (2005). The short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): Construct validity and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44, 227–239.

Netemeyer, R. G., Bearden, W. O., & Sharma, S. (2003). Scaling procedures: Issues and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Rosen, R., Brown, C., Heiman, J., Leiblum, S., Meston, C., Shabsigh, R., et al. (2000). The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): A multidimensional self-report instrument for the assessment of female sexual function. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 26, 191–208.

Streiner, D. L., & Norman, G. R. (2008). Health measurement scales: A practical guide to their development and use (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

[quads id=5]

Items of the Female Orgasm Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. How often do you have an orgasm from vaginal penetration only (no direct clitoral stimulation) during intercourse with a partner? Please indicate what percentage of the time:

   0% □ 10% □ 20% □ 30% □ 40% □ 50% □ 60% □ 70% □ 80% □ 90% □ 100% □

   OR □ Does not apply to me (i.e., I do not have sexual interactions involving vaginal penetration only during intercourse with a partner)

2. How often do you have an orgasm from intercourse with a partner that includes both vaginal penetration and direct clitoral stimulation? Please indicate what percentage of the time:

   0% □ 10% □ 20% □ 30% □ 40% □ 50% □ 60% □ 70% □ 80% □ 90% □ 100% □

   OR □ Does not apply to me (i.e., I do not have sexual interactions involving vaginal penetration and simultaneous clitoral stimulation)

3. How often do you have an orgasm from HAND/MANUAL stimulation of your genitals/clitoris by a partner? Please indicate what percentage of the time:

   0% □ 10% □ 20% □ 30% □ 40% □ 50% □ 60% □ 70% □ 80% □ 90% □ 100% □

   OR □ Does not apply to me (i.e., I do not have sexual interactions involving manual stimulation of the genitals/clitoris with a partner)

4. How often do you have an orgasm when you yourself manipulate or rub your own genitals/clitoris when you are with a partner? Please indicate what percentage of the time:

   0% □ 10% □ 20% □ 30% □ 40% □ 50% □ 60% □ 70% □ 80% □ 90% □ 100% □

   OR □ Does not apply to me (i.e., I do not have sexual interactions where I self-manipulate my own genitals/clitoris when I am with a partner)

5. How often do you have an orgasm from ORAL stimulation of your genital/clitoris by a partner? Please indicate what percentage of the time:

   0% □ 10% □ 20% □ 30% □ 40% □ 50% □ 60% □ 70% □ 80% □ 90% □ 100% □

   OR □ Does not apply to me (i.e., I do not have sexual interactions involving oral stimulation of the genitals/clitoris with a partner)

6. In general, how satisfied . . . unsatisfied are you with the number of orgasms that you have during sexual activity with a partner?

   Very Satisfied □ Moderately Satisfied □ Slightly Satisfied □ Neither Satisfied nor Unsatisfied □ Slightly Unsatisfied □ Moderately Unsatisfied □ Very Unsatisfied □

7. In general, how satisfied . . . unsatisfied are you with the quality or experience of orgasm that you have during sexual activity with a partner?

   Very Satisfied □ Moderately Satisfied □ Slightly Satisfied □ Neither Satisfied nor Unsatisfied □ Slightly Unsatisfied □ Moderately Unsatisfied □ Very Unsatisfied □