Is it “Sex”?: College students' interpretations of sexual behavior terminology

Abstract

Little is known regarding how respondents interpret terms that are commonly used in sexual behavior surveys. The present study assessed the impact of four factors on respondents’ judgments of whether the hypothetical actors “Jim” and “Susie “ would consider a particular behavior that they had engaged in to be “sex.” The four factors were respondent's gender, actor's gender, type of act (vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse), and who achieved orgasm (neither, Jim only, Susie only, or both). Two hundred twenty‐three undergraduates (22.2 ± 2.2 years; 65% female) were asked to read 16 scenarios featuring Jim and Susie and to judge whether each actor would consider the described behavior to be sex. Results indicated that vaginal and anal intercourse were considered sex under most circumstances. Whether oral intercourse was labeled as sex depended on the gender and viewpoint of the actor, and whether orgasm occurred. Findings suggest that items in sexual behavior surveys need to be clearly delineated to avoid subjective interpretations by respondents.