Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watarts.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watarts!csgro From: csgro@watarts.UUCP (Carlo Sgro) Newsgroups: net.singles Subject: Virginity Survey Results III (Results) Message-ID: <8339@watarts.UUCP> Date: Mon, 18-Mar-85 15:49:45 EST Article-I.D.: watarts.8339 Posted: Mon Mar 18 15:49:45 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 19-Mar-85 03:48:06 EST Reply-To: csgro@watarts.UUCP (Carlo Sgro) Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 238 THE SURVEY: The survey covered twelve basic subject areas. They were: 1) sex of the respondent, 2) age of the respondent, 3) present relationship, 4) past relationships, 5) occurrence of sexual intercourse, 6) reasons for waiting to have sexual intercourse, 7) age at first sexual intercourse, 8) educational level at first sexual intercourse, 9) location of first sexual intercourse, 10) subjective evaluation of first sexual intercourse for self and partner, 11) desire to change time of first sexual intercourse, and 12) desire to change circumstances of first sexual intercourse. The responses to each will be dealt with in the following section. Sex: The responses were predominantly made by males. Of the 52 responses, 48 were male and four were female. Age: The age range of the respondents was from 17 to 40. The mean age was 25.48 with a standard deviation of 4.81. The median age was 23.5. Present Relationship: Twenty-eight of the respondents (54%) were not currently in a serious relationship. Seven (13%) were married, three (6%) were engaged, and 12 (23%) were in a serious relationship. It was felt that the definition of a "serious relationship" should be made by the respondent. Two others (4%) were separated or in the process of getting a divorce. Past Relationships: Forty-one of the respondents (79%) had been in a serious relationship at some point in their lives. Of those, 10 (19% of the respondents; 24% of those who had been in a serious relationship) had been married. Eleven respondents had not been in a serious relationship. Sexual Intercourse: Thirty-seven of the respondents (71%) had had sexual intercourse in the past. This group will be referred to as "non-virgins". Fifteen of the respondents (29%) had not had sexual intercourse. This group will be referred to as "virgins". It should be noted that both of these terms are used merely for convenience and are not assumed to have any judgemental connotations attached to them. Reasons: The "reasons for not having sexual intercourse" question (number 6) was originally only asked of the virgin group. Five options were given (see Appendix A). The respondent was asked to choose a subset of the options, ranked if possible. A base of six points was divided between the options for each respondent. If only one option was chosen, that option was allocated the entire six points. If two options were chosen, the six points were split 3 and 3 (if no rankings were given) or 4 and 2 (if rankings were given). If three options were chosen, then the six points were split 2/2/2 (if no rankings were given) or 3/2/1 (if rankings were given). No respondents chose more than three options. The results are summarized in Table 2. The non-virgin group was asked the question in the form of a follow-up question asked through Electronic Mail. As a result, nine respondents did not provide an answer for this question. The format of the options in the question was changed in the addition of another option ("e) you didn't think that you were ready"). The follow-up question is provided in Appendix C. The results are summarized in Table 3. Table 2 Reasons for Not Having Sexual Intercourse (Virgins) Weighted Weighted Absolute Absolute Response Value Percentage Value Percentage A 15 17 5 19 B 6 7 1 4 C 12 13 5 19 D 31 34 9 33 E 26 29 7 26 Table 3 Reasons for Not Having Sexual Intercourse (Non-Virgins) Weighted Weighted Absolute Absolute Response Value Percentage Value Percentage A 4 2 2 4 B 20 12 6 12 C 12 8 5 10 D 87 52 21 43 E 30 18 11 22 F 15 9 4 8 Age At First Sexual Intercourse: The age range for occurrence of first sexual intercourse was from 14 to 30. The mean age was 19.68 with a standard deviation of 3.79 years. The median age was 18. Educational Level At First Sexual Intercourse: This question was asked in order to determine the social milieu in which the respondent first experienced sexual intercourse, under the assumption that the university environment is a much more conducive one for sexual relations than the parental environment experienced when one is attending high school. Twelve respondents (32%) were in high school, 14 (38%) were in an undergraduate degree program, and six (16%) were in a graduate-level program. Of the remaining five respondents, four (11%) were working and 1 (3%) was taking a year off from an undergraduate degree program. Location of First Sexual Intercourse: A series of seven options was given. Of the four "Other" responses, three were described as being "outdoor" while the other was "at a friend's house". Since, by a misprint, option "e)" was undefined in the survey, the summary in Table 5 will place "outdoors" in the "e)" position and leave "h) Other" to be the "at a friend's house" response. Subjective Evaluation of First Sexual Intercourse for Self and Partner: The respondents were asked to rate the experience as positive or negative. Several respondents also added "double positive" and "neutral" responses. For the subjective evaluations for self, five responses (14%) were double positive, 22 (59%) were positive, six (16%) were neutral, and four (11%) were negative. Grouping the categories together, 27 experiences (73%) could be classified as being better than neutral while 10 (27%) could be classified as non-positive. For the subjective evaluations for partner, one response (3%) was double positive, 28 (76%) were positive, 6 (16%) were neutral, and two (5%) were negative. Grouping the categories together, 29 (78%) were better than neutral while 8 (22%) were non-positive. Desire To Change Time of First Sexual Intercourse: Four options were presented to the respondent. Seventeen of the respondents (46%) expressed a wish to have had their first experience of sexual intercourse earlier in their life while 19 (51%) were satisfied with the time. No respondents wished that they had waited later. Two half-votes were given to desires to wait until marriage. These were equated to one single vote (2%). Desire To Change Circumstances of First Sexual Intercourse: This question was worded more strongly than the preceding one. Thus, the "earlier" responses of the previous question did not form a subset of the "Yes" responses for this question. There were ten "Yes" responses (27%) and 27 "No" responses (73%) to this question. Appendix A: The Survey > VIRGINITY POLL > >1) What sex are you? > >2) How old are you? > >3) Are you > a) married? > b) engaged? > c) not engaged but in a serious relationship? > d) not in a serious relationship? > >4) Have you ever been: > a) in a serious relationship? > b) married? > >5) Have you ever had sexual intercourse? > >6) If you haven't had sexual intercourse, is the > reason that you haven't because > a) you believe that it is wrong outside of > marriage. > b) you believe that it is wrong if two people > are not strongly in love. > c) it is too risky (i.e. pregnancy). > d) you haven't had the opportunity. > e) other (specify). > rating if more than one is checked> > >7a) If you have had sexual intercourse, how old and > in what stage of your education were you when > you first had sexual intercourse? > > b) What circumstances was it under? > a) At own or partner's place when parents > were gone. > b) At own or partner's place when parents > were there. > c) At own or partner's place; didn't live > with parents. > d) At a party or other social gathering (specify). > f) In a car. > g) In a motel room. > h) Other (specify). > > c) Was it a positive or negative experience for you? > > d) Was it a positive or negative experience for your > partner? > > e) Do you wish that you had started > a) earlier? > b) when you did? > c) later? > d) upon marriage? > > f) If you could go back and change the occurrence of > your first sexual intercourse, would you have? > Why or why not? > >8) Other comments. > >9) Do you want me to post a summary to the net? > Appendix C: The Followup Question > >6b) If you have had sexual intercourse, is the reason > that you waited until you did because > a) you believed that it is wrong outside of > marriage. > b) you believed that it is wrong if two people > are not strongly in love. > c) it is too risky (i.e. pregnancy). > d) you hadn't had the opportunity. > e) you didn't think that you were ready. > f) other (specify). > more than one is checked>