CSIRO PUBLISHING
Sexual Health, 2014, 11, 397–405 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SH14099
Attitudes toward sex and relationships: the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships Richard O. de Visser A,I, Paul B. Badcock B,C, Judy M. Simpson D, Andrew E. Grulich E, Anthony M. A. Smith B,H, Juliet RichtersF and Chris RisselG A
School of Psychology, Pevensey 1, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9QH, UK. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia. C Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, 35 Poplar Road, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia. D Sydney School of Public Health, Edward Ford Building (A27), University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. E The Kirby Institute, Wallace Wurth Building, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. F School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. G Sydney School of Public Health, Charles Perkins Centre (D17), University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. H Deceased. I Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] B
Abstract. Background: Attitudes towards sex and relationships influence laws about what is and is not permissible and social sanctions against behaviours considered unacceptable. They are an important focus for research given their links to sexual behaviour. The aim of the present study was to describe attitudes towards sex and relationships, to identify correlates of scores on a scale of sexual liberalism and to examine responses to jealousy-evoking scenarios among Australian adults. Methods: Computer-assisted landline and mobile telephone interviews were completed by a population-representative sample of 20 094 men and women aged 16–69 years. The overall participation rate among eligible people was 66.2%. Respondents expressed their agreement with 11 attitude statements, five of which formed a valid scale of liberalism, and also responded to a jealousy-evoking scenario. Results: There was general agreement that premarital sex was acceptable (87%), that sex was important for wellbeing (83%) and that sex outside a committed relationship was unacceptable (83%). Respondents were accepting of homosexual behaviour and abortion and few believed that sex education encouraged earlier sexual activity. More liberal attitudes were associated with: being female; speaking English at home; homosexual or bisexual identity; not being religious; greater education; and higher incomes. Respondents who expressed more liberal attitudes had more diverse patterns of sexual experience. Predicted sex differences were found in response to the jealousyevoking scenario — men were more jealous of a partner having sex with someone else and women were more jealous of a partner forming an emotional attachment — but responses varied with age. Conclusion: Sexual attitudes of Australians largely support a permissive but monogamous paradigm. Since 2002, there has been a shift to less tolerance of sex outside a committed relationship, but greater acceptance of homosexual behaviour. Additional keywords: abortion, Australia, extradyadic sex, homosexuality, jealousy, pornography. Received 6 June 2014, accepted 23 August 2014, published online 7 November 2014
Introduction A society’s attitudes towards sex are important because they influence regulation and laws about what is and is not permissible and may therefore affect provision of sexual health services, use of such services and stigmatisation.1–5 Individuals’ attitudes may also be shaped by policy and laws. Journal compilation CSIRO 2014
Attitudes are important for public health, because they are key components of many influential models of behaviour change and health promotion; changing attitudes is one way to try to change people’s behaviour.6–9 For example, there is considerable evidence that attitudes predict earlier initiation of sexual activity among adolescents.10 Changes in attitudes www.publish.csiro.au/journals/sh
398
Sexual Health
towards some aspects of sexuality have occurred in recent decades.11–13 A cross-temporal meta-analysis of 530 studies involving over 250 000 respondents indicated that, during the second half of the 20th century, changes in attitudes towards sexuality were followed by changes in behaviour. The changes in behaviour were also followed by changes in attitudes, such that more liberal attitudes and behaviour appeared to be mutually reinforcing (especially among women).14 Attitudes towards aspects of sexuality differ for men and women. A recent meta-analysis and data from large-scale studies of population-representative samples reveal that men express greater approval of casual sex and premarital sex, but less approval of male homosexual behaviour.12,15–17 Comparisons of these data with the findings of an earlier meta-analysis suggest that the effect sizes for most sex differences in attitudes have become smaller, indicating that women’s and men’s attitudes are becoming more similar.15,18 Studies of population-representative surveys indicate that older people tend to have less permissive attitudes towards sexuality.12,14,16,17 However, the observed age effects are not always uniform. For example, data from the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) indicate that younger people were less accepting than older adults of non-exclusivity in marriage.12 Other important demographic correlates of sexual liberalism include greater education and higher socioeconomic status.12,14,16 The First Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR1) was the largest population-representative study of Australians’ attitudes towards various aspects of sexuality.19 It revealed broad agreement that sex is important to wellbeing, that premarital sex is acceptable and that having an affair is unacceptable.19 Few people felt that abortion or male or female homosexual activity is always wrong. Demographic correlates of scores on a scale of sexual permissiveness were similar to those reported in other studies: being male, identifying as bisexual or homosexual, speaking English at home, having greater education, having higher-status occupations and receiving higher incomes.19 Religious people who attended services more frequently had less permissive attitudes, but the attitudes of less observant religious people were not significantly different from those of non-religious people.20 In addition, people with more permissive attitudes reported more diverse patterns of sexual experience.19 As noted above, ASHR1 revealed that most people believe that having an affair is unacceptable.12,19 Sexual infidelity is a commonly stated reason for relationship dissolution21 and jealousy is considered an acceptable response to a partner’s infidelity. Evolutionary models posit that relationship jealousy is a hard-wired, sexually dimorphic phenomenon; men tend to be more worried about a female partner’s sexual infidelity because this could result in his providing resources to support a rival’s child; and women tend to be more worried about emotional infidelity because this may be followed by her partner diverting resources to support another woman’s offspring.22,23 However, the presence and size of sex differences varies between and within cultures (e.g. the differences tend to be greater among younger people), which has led some to propose Social Cognitive models of jealousy that emphasise the importance
R. O. de Visser et al.
of attitudes in shaping individuals’ responses to jealousyevoking scenarios.23 ASHR1 assessed a relatively limited range of attitudes. Additional items were added to the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR2) to assess beliefs about pornography24 and about the effects of sex education on young people’s sexuality.25,26 Given the observed links between sexual attitudes and sexual behaviour and the possibility of linked behaviour change,1–14 the aim of the analyses reported here was to describe attitudes towards sex among a representative sample of Australian adults, to identify correlates of sexual liberalism and to identify changes in attitudes over the 11-year period between ASHR1 and ASHR2. Methods The methodology used in ASHR2 is described elsewhere in this issue.27 Briefly, between October 2012 and November 2013, computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 20 094 Australian residents aged 16–69 years from all states and territories. Ethical approval was obtained from the researchers’ host universities. Respondents were selected using dual-frame modified random digit dialling (RDD), combining directory-assisted landline-based RDD with RDD of mobile telephones. The overall participation rate among eligible people was 66.2%. To maximise the number of interviews with people who had engaged in less-common and/or more-risky behaviours, all respondents who had no sexual partners in the previous year, who had more than one partner in the previous year or who reported homosexual experience ever completed a long form of the survey instrument, which collected detailed data on their sexual attitudes, relationships and behaviours. Of the large proportion of respondents who reported one partner in the previous year and no homosexual experience, 20% were randomly selected to complete the long-form interview and the other 80% completed a short-form interview. As a consequence, 8577 completed the long-form interview and 11 517 completed the short-form interview. Answers to questions that occurred only in the long-form interview are reported after weighting to reflect the sample as a whole. Respondents used a five-point scale (Strongly agree/Agree/ Neither/Disagree/Strongly disagree) to indicate the extent of their agreement with 11 statements, seven of which were used in ASHR1 (Box 1; Table 1).19,20 These questions were only asked of people who completed a long-form interview. Factor analysis with varimax rotation of responses to the 11 attitude statements revealed two factors, containing five and three items respectively. Based on the interpretability of the first factor, responses to the five items were used to form a valid scale of sexual liberalism with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s a = 0.81): ‘Sex before marriage is acceptable’; ‘Abortion is always wrong’; ‘Sex between two adult women is always wrong’; ‘Sex between two adult men is always wrong’; and ‘Sexual health education for adolescents increases the likelihood of early sexual activity’. Respondents were also asked: ‘What would upset or distress you more: imagining
Attitudes towards sex
Sexual Health
399
Box 1. Ascertainment of attitudes towards sex and relationships
I’m now going to read several statements and I’d like you to tell me whether you: . . . (Interviewer reads out responses 1 to 5 with numbers)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 8. 9.
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know Refused
Statements Sex before marriage is acceptable. An active sex life is important for my sense of wellbeing. If two people had oral sex, but not intercourse, you would still consider that they had had sex together. Having an affair when in a committed relationship is always wrong. Abortion is always wrong. Sex between two adult women is always wrong. Sex between two adult men is always wrong. Pornography degrades the women shown in it. Pornography degrades the men shown in it. Pornography can improve sexual relations among adults. Sexual health education for adolescents increases the likelihood of early sexual activity. What would upset or distress you more: imagining your partner. . .
1. . . .forming a deep emotional attachment to another person? 2. . . .having sexual intercourse with another person?
Table 1. Agreement with sexual attitude statements among men and women Data exclude results for 158 people who did not respond to all statements. Unless indicated otherwise, data show percentage responses in each group. P-values are for comparisons of women versus men Statement Agree Sex before marriage is acceptable An active sex life is important for my sense of wellbeing If two people had oral sex, but not intercourse, I would still consider that they had sex Having an affair when in a committed relationship is always wrong Abortion is always wrong Sex between two adult women is always wrong Sex between two adult men is always wrong Pornography degrades the women shown in it Pornography degrades the men shown in it Pornography can improve sexual relations among adults Sexual health education for adolescents increases the likelihood of early sexual activity
your partner forming a deep emotional attachment to another person, or having sexual intercourse with another person?’ (Box 1).23
Men (n = 9947) Neither Disagree
Agree
Women (n = 9989) Neither Disagree
P-value
87.1 86.8 68.3
4.2 6.5 5.8
8.7 6.7 25.9
86.3 78.8 68.2
4.5 9.3 6.8
9.2 11.9 25.0
0.69
Sexual Health, 2014, 11, 397–405 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SH14099
Attitudes toward sex and relationships: the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships Richard O. de Visser A,I, Paul B. Badcock B,C, Judy M. Simpson D, Andrew E. Grulich E, Anthony M. A. Smith B,H, Juliet RichtersF and Chris RisselG A
School of Psychology, Pevensey 1, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9QH, UK. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia. C Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, 35 Poplar Road, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia. D Sydney School of Public Health, Edward Ford Building (A27), University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. E The Kirby Institute, Wallace Wurth Building, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. F School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. G Sydney School of Public Health, Charles Perkins Centre (D17), University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. H Deceased. I Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] B
Abstract. Background: Attitudes towards sex and relationships influence laws about what is and is not permissible and social sanctions against behaviours considered unacceptable. They are an important focus for research given their links to sexual behaviour. The aim of the present study was to describe attitudes towards sex and relationships, to identify correlates of scores on a scale of sexual liberalism and to examine responses to jealousy-evoking scenarios among Australian adults. Methods: Computer-assisted landline and mobile telephone interviews were completed by a population-representative sample of 20 094 men and women aged 16–69 years. The overall participation rate among eligible people was 66.2%. Respondents expressed their agreement with 11 attitude statements, five of which formed a valid scale of liberalism, and also responded to a jealousy-evoking scenario. Results: There was general agreement that premarital sex was acceptable (87%), that sex was important for wellbeing (83%) and that sex outside a committed relationship was unacceptable (83%). Respondents were accepting of homosexual behaviour and abortion and few believed that sex education encouraged earlier sexual activity. More liberal attitudes were associated with: being female; speaking English at home; homosexual or bisexual identity; not being religious; greater education; and higher incomes. Respondents who expressed more liberal attitudes had more diverse patterns of sexual experience. Predicted sex differences were found in response to the jealousyevoking scenario — men were more jealous of a partner having sex with someone else and women were more jealous of a partner forming an emotional attachment — but responses varied with age. Conclusion: Sexual attitudes of Australians largely support a permissive but monogamous paradigm. Since 2002, there has been a shift to less tolerance of sex outside a committed relationship, but greater acceptance of homosexual behaviour. Additional keywords: abortion, Australia, extradyadic sex, homosexuality, jealousy, pornography. Received 6 June 2014, accepted 23 August 2014, published online 7 November 2014
Introduction A society’s attitudes towards sex are important because they influence regulation and laws about what is and is not permissible and may therefore affect provision of sexual health services, use of such services and stigmatisation.1–5 Individuals’ attitudes may also be shaped by policy and laws. Journal compilation CSIRO 2014
Attitudes are important for public health, because they are key components of many influential models of behaviour change and health promotion; changing attitudes is one way to try to change people’s behaviour.6–9 For example, there is considerable evidence that attitudes predict earlier initiation of sexual activity among adolescents.10 Changes in attitudes www.publish.csiro.au/journals/sh
398
Sexual Health
towards some aspects of sexuality have occurred in recent decades.11–13 A cross-temporal meta-analysis of 530 studies involving over 250 000 respondents indicated that, during the second half of the 20th century, changes in attitudes towards sexuality were followed by changes in behaviour. The changes in behaviour were also followed by changes in attitudes, such that more liberal attitudes and behaviour appeared to be mutually reinforcing (especially among women).14 Attitudes towards aspects of sexuality differ for men and women. A recent meta-analysis and data from large-scale studies of population-representative samples reveal that men express greater approval of casual sex and premarital sex, but less approval of male homosexual behaviour.12,15–17 Comparisons of these data with the findings of an earlier meta-analysis suggest that the effect sizes for most sex differences in attitudes have become smaller, indicating that women’s and men’s attitudes are becoming more similar.15,18 Studies of population-representative surveys indicate that older people tend to have less permissive attitudes towards sexuality.12,14,16,17 However, the observed age effects are not always uniform. For example, data from the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) indicate that younger people were less accepting than older adults of non-exclusivity in marriage.12 Other important demographic correlates of sexual liberalism include greater education and higher socioeconomic status.12,14,16 The First Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR1) was the largest population-representative study of Australians’ attitudes towards various aspects of sexuality.19 It revealed broad agreement that sex is important to wellbeing, that premarital sex is acceptable and that having an affair is unacceptable.19 Few people felt that abortion or male or female homosexual activity is always wrong. Demographic correlates of scores on a scale of sexual permissiveness were similar to those reported in other studies: being male, identifying as bisexual or homosexual, speaking English at home, having greater education, having higher-status occupations and receiving higher incomes.19 Religious people who attended services more frequently had less permissive attitudes, but the attitudes of less observant religious people were not significantly different from those of non-religious people.20 In addition, people with more permissive attitudes reported more diverse patterns of sexual experience.19 As noted above, ASHR1 revealed that most people believe that having an affair is unacceptable.12,19 Sexual infidelity is a commonly stated reason for relationship dissolution21 and jealousy is considered an acceptable response to a partner’s infidelity. Evolutionary models posit that relationship jealousy is a hard-wired, sexually dimorphic phenomenon; men tend to be more worried about a female partner’s sexual infidelity because this could result in his providing resources to support a rival’s child; and women tend to be more worried about emotional infidelity because this may be followed by her partner diverting resources to support another woman’s offspring.22,23 However, the presence and size of sex differences varies between and within cultures (e.g. the differences tend to be greater among younger people), which has led some to propose Social Cognitive models of jealousy that emphasise the importance
R. O. de Visser et al.
of attitudes in shaping individuals’ responses to jealousyevoking scenarios.23 ASHR1 assessed a relatively limited range of attitudes. Additional items were added to the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR2) to assess beliefs about pornography24 and about the effects of sex education on young people’s sexuality.25,26 Given the observed links between sexual attitudes and sexual behaviour and the possibility of linked behaviour change,1–14 the aim of the analyses reported here was to describe attitudes towards sex among a representative sample of Australian adults, to identify correlates of sexual liberalism and to identify changes in attitudes over the 11-year period between ASHR1 and ASHR2. Methods The methodology used in ASHR2 is described elsewhere in this issue.27 Briefly, between October 2012 and November 2013, computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 20 094 Australian residents aged 16–69 years from all states and territories. Ethical approval was obtained from the researchers’ host universities. Respondents were selected using dual-frame modified random digit dialling (RDD), combining directory-assisted landline-based RDD with RDD of mobile telephones. The overall participation rate among eligible people was 66.2%. To maximise the number of interviews with people who had engaged in less-common and/or more-risky behaviours, all respondents who had no sexual partners in the previous year, who had more than one partner in the previous year or who reported homosexual experience ever completed a long form of the survey instrument, which collected detailed data on their sexual attitudes, relationships and behaviours. Of the large proportion of respondents who reported one partner in the previous year and no homosexual experience, 20% were randomly selected to complete the long-form interview and the other 80% completed a short-form interview. As a consequence, 8577 completed the long-form interview and 11 517 completed the short-form interview. Answers to questions that occurred only in the long-form interview are reported after weighting to reflect the sample as a whole. Respondents used a five-point scale (Strongly agree/Agree/ Neither/Disagree/Strongly disagree) to indicate the extent of their agreement with 11 statements, seven of which were used in ASHR1 (Box 1; Table 1).19,20 These questions were only asked of people who completed a long-form interview. Factor analysis with varimax rotation of responses to the 11 attitude statements revealed two factors, containing five and three items respectively. Based on the interpretability of the first factor, responses to the five items were used to form a valid scale of sexual liberalism with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s a = 0.81): ‘Sex before marriage is acceptable’; ‘Abortion is always wrong’; ‘Sex between two adult women is always wrong’; ‘Sex between two adult men is always wrong’; and ‘Sexual health education for adolescents increases the likelihood of early sexual activity’. Respondents were also asked: ‘What would upset or distress you more: imagining
Attitudes towards sex
Sexual Health
399
Box 1. Ascertainment of attitudes towards sex and relationships
I’m now going to read several statements and I’d like you to tell me whether you: . . . (Interviewer reads out responses 1 to 5 with numbers)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 8. 9.
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know Refused
Statements Sex before marriage is acceptable. An active sex life is important for my sense of wellbeing. If two people had oral sex, but not intercourse, you would still consider that they had had sex together. Having an affair when in a committed relationship is always wrong. Abortion is always wrong. Sex between two adult women is always wrong. Sex between two adult men is always wrong. Pornography degrades the women shown in it. Pornography degrades the men shown in it. Pornography can improve sexual relations among adults. Sexual health education for adolescents increases the likelihood of early sexual activity. What would upset or distress you more: imagining your partner. . .
1. . . .forming a deep emotional attachment to another person? 2. . . .having sexual intercourse with another person?
Table 1. Agreement with sexual attitude statements among men and women Data exclude results for 158 people who did not respond to all statements. Unless indicated otherwise, data show percentage responses in each group. P-values are for comparisons of women versus men Statement Agree Sex before marriage is acceptable An active sex life is important for my sense of wellbeing If two people had oral sex, but not intercourse, I would still consider that they had sex Having an affair when in a committed relationship is always wrong Abortion is always wrong Sex between two adult women is always wrong Sex between two adult men is always wrong Pornography degrades the women shown in it Pornography degrades the men shown in it Pornography can improve sexual relations among adults Sexual health education for adolescents increases the likelihood of early sexual activity
your partner forming a deep emotional attachment to another person, or having sexual intercourse with another person?’ (Box 1).23
Men (n = 9947) Neither Disagree
Agree
Women (n = 9989) Neither Disagree
P-value
87.1 86.8 68.3
4.2 6.5 5.8
8.7 6.7 25.9
86.3 78.8 68.2
4.5 9.3 6.8
9.2 11.9 25.0
0.69
