If
someone says he or she 'had sex,' one can't really define what exactly
transpired, because there is no uniform consensus on what it exactly means, a
new study found.
The study from the Kinsey Institute at
Indiana University found that no uniform consensus existed when a representative
sample of 18- to 96-year-olds was asked what the term meant to them.
Around 30 per cent of the study participants did not consider oral
sex as sex, while for 20 per cent of the participants anal sex was not sex
either.
A surprising number of older men did not consider
penile-vaginal intercourse to be sex.
More than idle gossip, the
answers to questions about sex can inform- or misinform- research, medical
advice and health education efforts.
"Researchers, doctors, parents,
sex educators should all be very careful and not assume that their own
definition of sex is shared by the person they're talking to, be it a patient, a
student, a child or study participant," said Brandon Hill, research associate at
the Kinsey Institute.
The study, conducted in conjunction with the
Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention in IU's School of Health, Physical
Education and Recreation, delves deeper into a question first examined in 1999-
in the midst of a presidential sex scandal where the definition of sex was an
issue.
Researchers from The Kinsey Institute asked college students
what 'had sex' meant to them, taking the approach, which was unique then, of
polling the students on specific behaviours. No consensus was found then,
either.
The new study examined whether more information helped
clarify matters- study participants were asked about specific sexual behaviors
and such qualifiers as whether orgasm was reached-and researchers also wanted to
involve a more representative audience, not just college students.
"Throwing the net wider, with a more representative sample, only
made it more confusing and complicated. People were even less consistent across
the board," said Hill.
The study involved responses from 486 Indiana
residents who took part in a telephone survey conducted by the Center for Survey
Research at IU.
Participants, mostly heterosexual, were asked,
"Would you say you 'had sex' with someone if the most intimate behaviour you
engaged in was ...," followed by 14 behaviourally specific items.
Responses did not differ significantly overall for men and women.
The study involved 204 men and 282 women. 95 per cent of respondents would
consider penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) having had sex, but this rate drops to
89 per cent if there is no ejaculation.
81 per cent considered
penile-anal intercourse having had sex, with the rate dropping to 77 per cent
for men in the youngest age group (18-29), 50 per cent for men in the oldest age
group (65 and up) and 67 per cent for women in the oldest age group.
71 per cent and 73 per cent considered oral contact with a partner's
genitals (OG), either performing or receiving, as having had sex.
Men in the youngest and oldest age groups were less likely to answer
'yes' compared with the middle two age groups for when they performed OG.
Significantly fewer men in the oldest age group answered 'yes' for
PVI (77 per cent). The study has been published in the international health
journal
Sexual Health.
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