University Student Beliefs about Sex: Men vs. Women.
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Analysis of survey data from 326 undergraduates at a large southeastern university revealed significant differences between men and women in their sexual beliefs. Specifically, men were more likely to think that oral is not sex; that cybersex is not cheating, that men can't tell if a woman is faking orgasm and that frequency drops in marriage. Meanwhile, women tended to believe that oral is sex, that cybersex is cheating, that faking orgasm does occur and that frequency stays high in marriage. Little wonder there is frustration and disappointment between men and men as they include sexuality into their relationship. Implications and limitations of the data are suggested. ********** That men view differently from women is well established in US culture. Bill Clinton revealed this difference when he said, Because I could in answer to why he became sexually involved with Monica Lewinski. Her reaction to his answer was outrage. She reported that their relationship had meaning beyond stains on a dress and that Clinton had emotional feelings for her. This example illustrates that men and women sometimes view sexuality differently. How extensive is this difference? That men and women differ in sexual behavior is well established in the literature. In national data, based on interviews with 3,432 adults, men reported thinking about more often than women (54% vs. 19% respectively reported thinking about several times a day), having more sexual partners than women (5% vs. 2% respectively reported having had five or more sexual partners in the last year), and having orgasm during intercourse more often than women (75% vs. 29%) (Michael et al., 1994, 102, 128, 156). In regard to sexual values, O'Reilly et al. (2006) found that undergraduate men were three times more hedonistic (35% vs. 13%) than women. The current study sought to identify how men and women differed in their views of various sexual beliefs. Data and Analysis The data consisted of 326 undergraduates enrolled at a large southeastern university who voluntarily completed an anonymous 74 item questionnaire designed to assess beliefs about men, women, relationships and sexuality. This study focused on gender differences in beliefs held by university students about sexuality. Among the 326 respondents, 30% were men; 70% were women. The median age was 19 with a range of 17 to 58. Racial identification included 83.1% white, 12.6% African-American, and 4.3% who self identified as other. A typical profile of the respondents is that they were experienced in dating (had been in an average of 2 serious relationships) and currently dating an average of three times a month (usually the same person). Data analysis consisted of recoding Likert responses (1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = Neither agree nor disagree, 4 = Agree and 5 = Strongly Agree) to disagree/agree categories and assessing male/female differences in common beliefs about sex. These beliefs included is not sex and Cybersex is not considered cheating on your partner. Responses were cross-classified with of respondent and assessed for significance using chi-square. Findings and Discussion Scoring a 1 on the Likert scale reflected strong disagreement and scoring a 5 reflected strong agreement. Following each belief, we will present the respective scores of the men and women respondents and the significance level of the difference. 1. Oral is not sex. Women scored 2.13: men scored a 2.6 (the higher the score the greater the belief that oral is not sex). US youth culture tends to believe that oral is not and studies support this view. In a study of 164 Canadian heterosexual students, less than 25% considered oral genital behavior to be having sex. However, 97% of these respondents considered a partner who had oral with someone else to be unfaithful (Randall and Byers, 2003). …Keywords:
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Passion and sexual satisfaction typically diminish in longer-term relationships, but this decline is not inevitable. We identified the attitudes and behaviors that most strongly differentiated sexually satisfied from dissatisfied men and women who had been together for at least three years (N = 38,747). Data were collected in 2006 from cohabiting and married men (M) and women (W) via an online survey on a major national U.S. news Web site. The vast majority of these participants reported being satisfied with their sex lives during their first six months together (83% W; 83% M). Satisfaction with their current sex lives was more variable, with approximately half of participants reporting overall satisfaction (55% W; 43% M) and the rest feeling neutral (18% W; 16% M) or dissatisfied (27% W; 41% M). More than one in three respondents (38% W; 32% M) claimed their sex lives were as passionate now as in the beginning. Sexual satisfaction and maintenance of passion were higher among people who had sex most frequently, received more oral sex, had more consistent orgasms, and incorporated more variety of sexual acts, mood setting, and sexual communication. We discuss implications of these findings for research and for helping people revitalize their sex lives.
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Three-hundred-and-twenty six undergraduates at a large south-eastern university completed a confidential anonymous 74-item questionnaire designed to assess beliefs about men, women, and relationships held by university students. This study focused on the data regarding gender differences in beliefs about men. Women were significantly more likely than men to believe that all men cheat on their partners at least once, that a man not call when he says he that men would rather live with a woman than marry her, that men think more about sex than women, that men care more about a woman's appearance, and that men have poorer communication skills than women. Implications and limitations of the data are suggested. ********* All men cheat, man won't call when he says he will, and would rather live together than get married are examples of beliefs commonly held about men. These beliefs permeate our culture and, in the absence of a sustained Men's Movement (Farrell, 1986) and few Men's Studies Programs, are rarely challenged. Indeed, little research has been conducted on attitudes toward men. An exception is research by Maltby and Day (2001) who identified personality correlates associated with attitudes toward men. They found, for example, that women high in femininity WERE more likely to have positive attitudes toward men. Twenty years ago Iazzo (1983) developed an Attitudes Toward Men Scale, which has been used rarely. The current study attempted to provide new research on attitudes toward men, specifically to identify gender dif ferences in beliefs commonly held about men. Data and Analysis The data consisted of 326 undergraduates enrolled at a large southeastern university who voluntarily completed an anonymous 74 item questionnaire designed to assess beliefs about men, women, and relationships held by university students. This study focused on the data regarding gender differences in beliefs about men. Among the respondents, 69.9% were women; 30.1% were men. The median age was 19 with a range of 17 to 58. Racial identification included 83.1% white, 12.6% African-American, and 4.3% who self identified as other. A typical profile of the respondents is that they were experienced in dating (had been in an average of 2 serious relationships) and currently dating an average of three times a month (usually the same person). Data analysis consisted of recoding Likert responses to 12 stereotypical items about men such as All men cheat on their partner's at least once and man not call when he says he will into the categories of agreement and disagreement. Such responses were cross-classified with sex of respondent and assessed for significance using chi-square. Findings and Discussion Analysis of the data comparing women and men on beliefs about men revealed six significant differences. 1. Men cheat. Women were significantly (p 2. Men won't call. Women were significantly (p
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Analysis of data from 1394 undergraduates at a large southeastern university were used to assess the degree to which the stereotype that are dogs (sexually-focused cheaters) is justified. Results suggest that this stereotype is unjustified since the majority of males: (1) define behaviors from kissing to anal sex as cheating: (2) predict that they will not cheat on their partners: and (3) report never having cheated on a partner. However, compared to those of the women, the frequencies with which men report are high. Approximately one-in-five males in a monogamous relationship reported having had oral sex and/or vaginal intercourse with someone else (22.2% and 19.7% respectively) and withheld this information from their partners (thus leaving the partners vulnerable to STD/HIV infection). Implications and limitations of the study are identified. ********** Ask a university female to characterize the sexual behavior of the typical college male and you may hear that are dogs, or some similar sentiment, implying that they have the reputation for being sexually focused, lying cheaters. They have no principles and are always after the next score. So goes the stereotype. But what is the reality? Compared to women, to what degree does the sexual behavior of men justify the reputation men have as dogs? What might data on college men who cheat reveal and what are the implications for educators in higher education? Previous research has provided some support for the stereotype that men are sexually focused and sometimes not very discriminating in their sexual behavior. National data on interviews with 3432 adults revealed that men reported thinking about sex more often than women (54% vs. 19% reported thinking about sex several times a day), reported having more sexual partners than women (5% vs. 2% reported having had five or more sexual partners in the previous year), and reported having orgasm during intercourse more often (75% vs. 29%) (Michael, Gagnon, Layman, and Koala. 1994). In addition, not only do men report viewing sex more casually than women (Lenton and Bryan, 2005), they are more hedonistic in their sexual values (O'Reilly, Knox, and Zusman, 2006). For example, compared to women, men are more willing to have intercourse with someone they have known for three hours, to have intercourse with two different people within a six-hour period, to have intercourse with someone they do not love, and to have intercourse with someone with whom they do not have a good relationship (Knox, Sturdivant and Zusman, 2001). Data and Analysis This study is based on data provided by 1394 undergraduates enrolled in freshmen health education classes at a large southeastern university who responded to 33 items on a questionnaire (approved by the Institutional Review Board of the university). Respondents completed the questionnaire anonymously (the researcher was not in the room when the questionnaire was completed and no identifying information or codes allowed the researcher to know the identity of the respondents). The primary purpose of the research was to compare gender differences in regard to perceptions of what constitutes cheating behavior, gender differences in predicted sexual behavior, gender differences in actual sexual behavior, and gender differences in disclosing one's infidelity. Cross-classification was conducted to determine any relationships with Chi Square utilized to assess statistical significance. The nonrandom convenience sample of 1394 undergraduates included 35.7% (545) males and 60.3% (849) females. The median age was 19. Most (59%) were first-year students with 28.4% sophomores, 9% juniors, 2.2% seniors and .5% other Regarding race, 75.4% reported that they were white (not Hispanic), 13.5% Black (not Hispanic), 1.9% Hispanic or Latino; 3.1% Asian or Pacific Islander; .2% American Indian or Alaskan Native and 2.9% other. …
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Several studies have looked at sexual behavior of Hispanics (Dantzker & Eisenman, in press; Erkut, Szalacha, Coll, & Alarcon, 2000; Espin, 2003; Fierros & Brown, 2002; Flores, 1992; Pesa & Mathews, 2000; Selik, Castro & Pappaioanou, 1988). Two recent studies of college students involved the researchers inventing their own attitude scales to measure sexual attitudes (Dantzker & Eisenman, in press) or high risk behaviors, including sexual behaviors (Fierros & Brown, 2002). In the present study, we report a factor analysis of the Dantzker & Eisenman (in press) 42 item sexual attitudes scale. Hispanic is the term most often used here, in deep south Texas, near the Mexican border, where the data were gathered. In other parts of the nation, people often prefer the word Latino. Factor analysis lets you know what you are really measuring. Dantzker and Eisenman (in press) found many sex differences on the items, including that the males were mostly more permissive about sex than the females. This is a typical sex differences found in most studies that contrast males and females (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1999). But, what about other differences, gender or otherwise? Males and females often have different attitudes about sex. Much of it can be explained by evolutionary psychology, which has shown that males and females have different reproductive strategies (Buss, 1999, Pamer & Palmer, 2002, Simpson & Kendrick, 1997). Males would like to impregnate as many partners as possible, to spread their genes into future generations. This is an unconscious desire for most (Eisemnan, 2001). Also, to get partners with good genes, men seek females who ere young, attractive, and in good health. However, since women get pregnant, the male strategy would not work for them. Women are found to seek men who have high status and power, good financial resources, and who will invest in the woman and her offspring. Thus, evolutionary psychology leads to predictions of differences between men and women in sex attitudes and behaviors. But, what about testing any specific instrument? Dantzker and Eisenman (in press) covered a great deal of territory in the items they made up for their sexual attitudes scale. A factor analysis should give us insights into what is really being measured, and also help us better to understand differences between men and women. Do men and women have different attitudes that prevent or make it very difficult for them to get along with one another?. Is there, thus, a battle of the sexes? Or, do they understand each other and have empathy for the opposite sex? The factor analysis should help us better understand sexual attitudes of college students, and also better understand any differences between the sexes. Because we only had a fairly small number of subjects for this current factor analysis study, this is considered a preliminary study. We plan to use a larger sample in subsequent research. For those not familiar with factor analysis, the study can be read without reference to the two tables, which appear after the Reference section. For those who know factor analysis, the two tables present a wealth of data that can be examined. METHOD A 42-item questionnaire was developed, to reflect a wide range of attitudes about human sexuality. The statements were reviewed by both researchers, as well as by a psychology colleague who specializes in attitudinal research and who had recently completed a study on college students' use of the Internet as it pertains to sex. It was agreed that, on its face, the statements would measure what was being sought, the students' perceptions regarding a variety of sexual activities and behaviors. The statements were set up for response on a Likert scale of one to five (one representing strongly disagree and five strongly agree). A variety of demographic questions were also included. The university's Institutional Review Board (IRB)--Human Subjects in Research, approved our research of sexual attitudes. …
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One-hundred-and-ninety seven undergraduates at a large southeastern university completed a confidential anonymous 22-item questionnaire designed to assess the qualities college want in their prospective marital partners. The data revealed that (when compared to what men want in a partner) were significantly more likely to prefer men who were considerate, dependable, and intelligent. Women are moving away from viewing potential partners exclusively in instrumental terms of ability to provide money for them, as well as subsequent children, and toward viewing men in terms of more expressive qualities such as consideration, dependability, and intelligence. Implications and limitations of the data are suggested. ********** Oklahoma Crude is a vintage film featuring the late George C. Scott and Faye Dunaway. The story takes place on top of a hill where Faye Dunaway has hired George C. Scott to protect her and her oil rig from imposing villains (led by Jack Palance) who want her property. One scene includes a drunken unshaven Scott lumbering over to the cabin where Dunaway is staying. She says to him as he gets within six inches of her face, know what you want, to which he replies, No you don't. She then says, Yes I do.... I know what men want! The scene reflects cultural assumptions about men and women. This study is not about men but about what want in a prospective marital partner. Previous researchers on what want in a future partner have found that place higher emphasis on financial and emotional stability, good parenting skills, and equal or higher education (Lewis and Oppenheimer, 2000; Ganong and Coleman, 1992). A team of researchers also noted that seek an attractive partner (Lacey, Reifman, Scott, Harris, and Fitzpatrick, 2004). Sample and Methods The sample consisted of 197 undergraduates at a large southeastern university who responded to an anonymous 22-item questionnaire designed to assess the value men and assign to various qualities. Seventy-one percent of the respondents were female; twenty-nine percent were male. The median age of the respondents was 19 (age range 17 to 48) with most (80%) reporting that they were white and 20% nonwhite. Most (95%) had never been married. In regard to current relationship, almost a quarter (24%) were not involved with anyone, 14% were dating different people, 41% were dating or emotionally involved with one person. Seventeen percent were engaged or living together and 4% were married. In order to determine whether differences existed between men and in their preferences, difference of means tests were run. We note that additional tests were made to assure that the ordinal categories (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) were capable of being treated as interval for the means tests and they were. In each case, the appropriate t-test and degrees of freedom have not been included for the sake of brevity. What is included are the means for each category of the independent variable and the appropriate significance level. Significant Findings and Discussion Analysis of the data revealed several significant differences. 1. Women want a marital partner who is considerate. Women were significantly (p That place a higher value on their potential marital partner being considerate is not surprising. Men as considerate partners may be more likely to favor an egalitarian relationship. Geary, Vigil and Byrd-Craven (2004) reviewed Buss's research findings which showed that women rated a prospective husband who was kind, understanding, and intelligent more highly than a prospective husband who was none of these but had the potential to become culturally successful (p, 31). …
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Ninety-nine undergraduates at a large southeastern university completed a confidential survey about their attitudes toward sexual intimacy. Among other findings, men were significantly more likely than women to report that they were willing to have intercourse with someone they had known for three hours, to have intercourse with two different people within a six hour period, to have intercourse with someone they did not love, and to have intercourse with someone with whom they did not have a good relationship. Sociobiological explanations of parental investment are suggested for these gender differences and implications for university faculty, counselors and students are identified. Look inside a college student's head and you'll find six parts three parts alcohol/drugs, and one part academics lamented one university professor we know. This pessimistic and disgruntled estimate reflects the belief that college students are preoccupied with sex. While genital sex is often presumed to be the referent of the term sex, this study focused on sexual intimacy- the conditions under which individuals are willing to have intercourse with someone and their definition of the term sexual intimacy. Sexual intimacy has been the subject of numerous studies including its liberalization on campus (Sherwin and Corbett, 1985), its value as an antidote to infidelity (Shaw, 1997), and its use in the treatment of maladies from multiple sclerosis (Speziale, 1997) to chronic back pain (Schlesinger, 1996). Only Gilmore et al. (1996) studied the meaning of sex and its complexity, but their sample focused on black inner city adolescents, not college students. Sample and Methods Data for the present study consisted of ninety-nine never married undergraduates at a large southeastern university who voluntarily completed an anonymous twenty item questionnaire designed to assess the respondents' conditions for having intercourse and their definitions of sexual intimacy. Among the respondents, 79% were women; 21% were men. The median age was 19. Respondents were predominately white (82%) and African-American (15%) with 1% Hispanic and 2% other. Fifty-three percent were emotionally involved with a partner while forty-four percent were either not dating or casually dating. Respondents were involved with their partner for an average of one year (12 months) with a range of from one month to six years and four months (76 months). Findings & Discussion Analysis of the data revealed some significant differences. 1. Sex differences in attitudes toward sexual intimacy. Men were significantly (p [is less than]. 01) more likely than women to report that they were willing to have intercourse with someone they had known for three hours, to have intercourse with two different people within a six hour period, to have intercourse with someone they did not love, and to have intercourse with someone with whom they did not have a good relationship. Previous researchers using national samples have documented that men are more hedonistic than women in their willingness to have intercourse devoid of relationship considerations (Michael et al., 1994). Researchers using smaller non representative samples have reached similar conclusions. Townsend and Levy (1990) studied 382 respondents and found that men decide on the basis of physical attractiveness alone whether they want to have intercourse with a particular person. In contrast, women consider a number of factors in making a decision to have intercourse including affection (Does he love commitment (Is he interested in a continued relationship with me?), and socioeconomic resources (Does he have money?). Sociobiologists have emphasized that women decide to have intercourse with a man in terms of his potential for investing in her subsequent offspring and are more likely to have sex with men who demonstrate such investment (Ellis and Symons, 1990). …
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ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency to which heterosexual women engage in a range of sexual activities, such as sexual fantasizing and engaging in cybersex, and to examine women's level of satisfaction with their sex lives. In addition, we explored the role of age in women's sexual activities and satisfaction levels. A total of 4,470 heterosexual Dutch women participated in this study, ranging in age from 18 to 82. Results indicated that, on average, women were quite satisfied with their sex lives and engaged, on a regular basis, in several sexual activities. A minority of women engaged in extradyadic sex and cybersex. With age, women were especially less likely to have sex with a partner and, when having sex, to engage in oral sex. Older women also felt less satisfied with the quality of their sex lives. Results and their implications are discussed.
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The purpose of this study was to identify the need for sex education in middle school students Research subjects were 194 students who attended at I seminary in B city. The period of data collection was from July to August, 2001. Research instrument was composed of 61 structured items 17 items related to demographics and sex, 44 items related to the need of sex education. Data were collected through the self-report method by the researcher and one trained assistant. The instrument developed by the researchers was employed to measure the need of sex education and it's Cronbach's = 0.9349 in this research. Data were analyzed by frequency, percentage factor analysis and t-test using SPSS WIN Program. The findings of this study are summarized as follows : 1. The highest score among characteristics of sex was 'less interest about sex(42.6%)', 39.0% of subjects got information about sex from friends or elders. 52.3% of subjects consulted friends or elders about sex problems. The number of sex education lessons was 1-2 times in school during last semester (61.0%). Education by the school nurse was 35.9% to students. 43.1% of subjects announced moderate satisfaction on sex education. 2. The mean score of the need for sex education was (lowest value 1, highest 4). The most wanted sex education factor was 'chastity and sexual responsibility()' and followed by 'family and marriage ()' and 'considerations of sex()'. Meanwhile, the lowest wanted sex education factor is 'physiological characteristics of male ()', followed by 'sexual behavior ()'. The most wanted sex education item was 'the meaning of family ()' and followed by 'the cautions to prevention from sexual abuse ()' and sexual activity and responsibility()'. Meanwhile, the lowest wanted sex education item is 'masturbation ()', followed by 'circumcision()'. 3. There is no significant difference between boys and girls in mean score about the need for sex education(t=-.715, p=.476). Sex education factor that girl-students wanted was 'physiological characteristics of female'. Sex education factor that boy-students wanted was 'family and marriage'. Sex education items that girl-students wanted were 'cautions during menstruation', the relation of ovulation and pregnancy', caution to prevention from sexual abuse' and sexual behavior and responsibility'. Sex education items that boy-students wanted were 'the meaning of family', 'the importance of marriage', 'male's sex organs', 'a wet dream', 'the method to resolve sexual curiosity', 'sexual intercourse' and 'the connection with the other sex'. In conclusion, the mean score of the need for sex education is medium. The route to attain knowledge about sex and sexual problem is through consulting friends and elders. Therefore, it is necessary to give sex education that is suitable to the subject's needs and methods. Also, it is necessary to give differently strong point about sex education between female and male students.
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Six-hundred-twenty never married university students completed an anonymous confidential questionnaire designed to assess their attitude and behavior toward a partner's infidelity. Over two-thirds (69.1%) reported that they would end a relationship with a partner who cheated on them and almost half (45%) said that they had done so. There were no significant differences by sex of respondent, year in school, or age with regard to those who would or had ended a relationship with a cheating partner. However, persons who were in love, who had been emotionally abused and who had been physically abused were significantly more likely to have ended a relationship with a partner who had cheated on them. Implications for university faculty, therapists, and students are suggested. ********** The Lewinsky/Clinton Presidential scandal focused U.S. society on the issue of infidelity (Peterson, 1998). Such infidelity is not foreign to spouses or to undergraduate university students. Twenty-three percent of U.S. adult husbands and 12 percent of U.S. adult wives report having had sex with someone to whom they were not married (Wiederman, 1997). Thirty-eight percent of the undergraduate respondents in Sheppard's et al (1995) study reported that they had been unfaithful (kissing, petting, sexual intercourse, spending time with another, becoming emotionally close to another) in their current relationship. The study reported here focused on whether university undergraduates would end the relationship with someone who cheated on them and whether they had actually done so. Data The data consisted of 620 never married undergraduates from five first year level sociology courses at East Carolina University who voluntarily completed an anonymous questionnaire designed to assess the respondent's attitudes and behavior toward infidelity. Among the respondents, 63% were women; 37% were men. Eighty-percent were first year students and sophomores; twenty percent were juniors and seniors. The median age was 19. Respondents were predominately white (87%) and African-American (8.5%) with 1% Hispanic and 3.6% other. About half (51.7%) were casually dating while the other half (48.3%) were involved in a reciprocal love relationship. Ten months was the median number of months respondents reported dating their current partner. Items 23 and 24 on the 24 item questionnaire were, respectively, I would end a relationship with someone who cheated on me and I have ended a relationship with someone who cheated on me. Respondents were asked to respond on a continuum-Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. The category Neither Agree nor Disagree was also an option. Responses to Strongly Agree and Agree were combined as were responses to Strongly Disagree and Disagree. Individuals who circled Neither Agree nor Disagree were eliminated from the analysis. Five-hundred-and-eleven respondents acknowledged an agree or disagree position on ending a hypothetical relationship of a partner who cheated on them. Five-hundred and six respondents reported that they had or had not ended a relationship with someone who had cheated on them. Findings and Discussion Over two-thirds (69.4%) of the respondents reported that they would end a relationship with someone who cheated on them. There were no significant differences in sex (women vs men), year in school, or age of respondent with regard to expressed intent to end a relationship with a cheating partner. These findings are consistent with research by Sheppard et al. (1995) who found no significant differences between women and men undergraduates (197) on whether they were currently in a relationship with a partner who had been unfaithful. Previous research has also suggested that reaction to cheating is influenced by whether the nature of such cheating is emotional or sexual. Harris and Christenfeld (1996) found that women are more troubled by emotion al and men are more troubled by sexual infidelity whereas Hupka and Bank (1996) found that both men and women are troubled more by emotional than sexual infidelity. …
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