Would You Say You "Had Sex" If . . . ?
Abstract
CONTEXT: The current public debate regarding whether oral sex constitutes having "had sex" or sexual relations has reflected a lack of empirical data on how Americans as a population define these terms. OBJECTIVE: To determine which interactions individuals would consider as having "had sex." METHODS: A question was included in a survey conducted in 1991 that explored sexual behaviors and attitudes among a random stratified sample of 599 students representative of the undergraduate population of a state university in the Midwest. PARTICIPANTS: The participants originated from 29 states, including all 4 US Census Bureau geographic regions. Approximately 79% classified themselves as politically moderate to conservative. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Percentage of respondents who believed the interaction described constituted having "had sex." RESULTS: Individual attitudes varied regarding behaviors defined as having "had sex": 59% (95% confidence interval, 54%-63%) of respondents indicated that oral-genital contact did not constitute having "had sex" with a partner. Nineteen percent responded similarly regarding penile-anal intercourse. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the view that Americans hold widely divergent opinions about what behaviors do and do not constitute having "had sex."
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Differences between the sexes and potential changes over time in the interpretation of the survey questions may have affected the study's findings.
“As such, differences between the sexes and potential changes over time in the interpretation of the survey questions may have affected our findings.”
From Trends in Frequency of Sexual Activity and Number of Sexual Partners Among Adults Aged 18 to 44 Years in the US, 2000-2018 (2020) · cites this paper as [38]
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Owen, J. J., Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., & Fincham, F. D. (2010) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-008-9414-1 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Ueda, P., Mercer, C. H., Ghaznavi, C., & Herbenick, D. (2020) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3833 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
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Dodge, B., Reece, M., Cole, S. L., & Sandfort, T. G. M. (2004) · Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224490409552241 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Wells, B. E. (2017) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-016-0798-z · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Eisenberg, M. (2001) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1023/a:1011958816438 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Extramarital Sex and Marital Dissolution: Does Identity of the Extramarital Partner Matter?
Labrecque, L. T., & Whisman, M. A. (2020) · Family Process · doi:10.1111/famp.12472 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sanders, S. A.
- Affiliations
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sanders, Stephanie A.
- Venue
- JAMA
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 1999-01-20
- Volume
- 281
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 275
- ISSN
- 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
- 0098-7484
- OpenAlex
- W2145402504
- Cited by
- 506
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 62.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- JAMA (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01hd020263-03, 5r01da005056-05)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA05056)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD20263)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
- Keywords
- oral sex, sexual behavior, sexual attitudes, oral-genital contact, anal sex, sexual identity, undergraduate students, public opinion
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Coitus, Data Collection, Female, Humans, Male, Terminology as Topic, Public Opinion, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Abstinence, United States
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