A large Flo app survey found different links between solo orgasms, partnered orgasms and satisfaction. Read the findings and their limits for midlife.
On October 26, 2026, PsyPost reported on research examining solo and partnered sexual experiences among users of the Flo health app. The survey responses were collected between April 11 and May 5, 2024. Looking back at those responses reveals a distinction worth keeping: orgasm frequency and overall sexual satisfaction were related but did not always line up.
Respondents more often reported reaching orgasm alone than with a partner. Yet partnered orgasm frequency had a stronger relationship with overall satisfaction in the researchers’ model. These findings answer different questions rather than contradicting each other.
The study was titled “Sexual Satisfaction and Orgasm Experiences During Partnered and Solo Sex Among 27,931 Users of the Flo App.” According to PsyPost’s account, the analysis included 27,931 adult English-speaking app users. Their average age was 28.
Participants answered questions about their experiences during the previous six months. Researchers compared orgasm frequency across similar solo and partnered activities. They also asked a single question about satisfaction with the respondent’s overall sex life.
The research was a cross-sectional survey, meaning it captured participants’ accounts at one point in time. It was not an experiment in which researchers assigned activities or followed changes after an intervention.
For the statistical analysis of satisfaction, researchers focused on 19,469 respondents who had experienced partnered sex during the previous six months. That narrower group matters when reading the results: the satisfaction model was not an analysis of everyone in the full sample.
The study therefore brought together several measures. It asked about the context of orgasm and the frequency of orgasm while also measuring how respondents evaluated their sex lives overall.
When respondents compared solo and partnered experiences, their answers included:
PsyPost also reported that orgasm frequency was higher in the solo context across 13 comparisons of similar activities. The differences ranged from small to moderate.
This comparison matters because the researchers did not simply treat all solo experiences as one category. They examined similar activities in different settings. That gave the survey a more detailed view of context than a broad question about masturbation alone would provide.
Overall, 56.2% of participants were moderately or very satisfied with their sex life. Another 19.5% were moderately or very dissatisfied.
Overall orgasm frequency had a moderate positive correlation with satisfaction, reported as r = 0.38. In plain language, respondents who reported more frequent orgasms also tended to report greater satisfaction. But there were important exceptions.
Among very dissatisfied respondents, 19.5% said they reached orgasm almost every time. That percentage refers specifically to the very dissatisfied group. It shows why an orgasm report alone would not accurately describe every participant’s experience.
This is a useful reason to keep different aspects of sexual experience separate. A question about whether orgasm occurred is not the same as a question about whether the experience felt satisfying.
Among respondents with recent partnered experience, partnered orgasm frequency was the strongest positive predictor of satisfaction in the reported model. Solo orgasm frequency was not statistically significant in the final model.
Greater variety in partnered activities was also associated with higher satisfaction. Greater solo variety had a weak association with lower satisfaction. Together, the factors in that model accounted for about 16% of differences in satisfaction.
That last figure is important. Even the combined model described only part of the variation in how respondents rated their sex lives. The strongest factor within this particular model was not a complete explanation of satisfaction.
The survey was observational. It cannot establish whether partnered orgasms or greater variety caused higher satisfaction. The direction could also run the other way, with satisfaction or relationship comfort influencing sexual experiences.
The authors offered possible explanations rather than demonstrated causes. People who feel comfortable together might participate in a wider range of activities. Some respondents might turn to solo sex when partnered experiences feel unfulfilling. Neither explanation was established by the survey.
The measures also shape the findings. Retrospective self-reports depend on participants’ recollections. A single overall satisfaction question leaves little detail about which aspects of a person’s sex life informed the answer. PsyPost noted that some respondents might have judged satisfaction mainly through their partnered experiences.
The sample limits how broadly the results apply. It was mostly young, White and heterosexual. Of respondents, 38% were aged between 18 and 25. The report provides no separate results for adults aged 35 to 65, so it is not direct evidence about midlife or menopause-related sexual changes.
Participants also volunteered for a survey described as being about female orgasms. The coverage notes that volunteers may have been more comfortable discussing sex or more sexually active than women generally. A large sample does not remove that selection issue. Very large samples can also identify small statistical differences with limited everyday importance.
There is a financial relationship to note. According to PsyPost, the authors included Flo Health employees with equity in the company and consultants for Flo Health. That connection belongs alongside the study’s methods and results when evaluating the research.
The researchers positioned their work as a response to gaps in earlier studies. Prior research often examined a narrow range of partnered behaviors or grouped masturbation into one broad category. Comparing similar activities across contexts added detail to those earlier approaches.
PsyPost’s coverage also placed the findings beside earlier research. A 2018 study of heterosexual newlywed couples linked women’s partnered orgasm frequency positively with satisfaction. A 2022 study linked frequent masturbation among women with higher satisfaction.
Those findings do not require choosing between solo and partnered experiences as the better route to wellbeing. The studies involved different populations or measures. They were not direct replications of the Flo app survey.
Separate PsyPost coverage published on October 5, 2026 described research finding a closer link between orgasm and sexual satisfaction for women than for men. That comparison concerns differences between groups rather than differences between solo and partnered contexts.
Read together, these reports point toward a more careful question: what exactly was measured? Orgasm frequency during solo activity differs from frequency during partnered activity. Both differ from the broader judgement someone makes about their sex life.
The Flo survey’s finding about solo orgasm frequency should therefore not be read as evidence that solo experiences lack value. It describes how one measure related to satisfaction within one statistical model.
For readers, the most useful implication is a change in the conversation rather than a target to reach. Someone can report frequent orgasms and still feel dissatisfied. A discussion focused only on frequency may leave that dissatisfaction unexplained.
The authors’ untested suggestions included communicating preferences and reducing pressure to perform. A non-prescriptive conversation could make room for questions such as:
These questions do not require a couple to match the survey’s most common answers. They leave room for each person to describe their experience without treating either partner’s response as a verdict on the other.
Nor does the association with partnered variety create an activity checklist. The practical focus is on understanding what matters to the people involved, not adding experiences to satisfy a statistical pattern. Sexential’s discussion of mutual comfort rather than universal frequency targets offers a related way to frame that conversation.
For midlife readers, the useful takeaway is a distinction between measures rather than an age-specific explanation. Questions about sexual wellbeing beyond desire alone deserve space alongside questions about orgasm. Personal health changes or treatment decisions belong in a conversation with a qualified clinician.
There is room for an honest conversation without turning satisfaction into a score.
Orgasm counts leave unanswered questions about satisfaction, and Sexential works within that gap through evidence-aware education rather than individual assessment. For adults aged 35 to 65 who are unsure what may influence sexual function, its writing connects biology with confidence and relationship context to support a clearer understanding of changing experiences without prescribing treatment.
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