Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 1

Cultural Views about Recreational Sex:

Gender and Church Attendance Differences

M. Lynne Perritt Bryant

University of Arkansas
 Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 2

Cultural Views about Recreational Sex: Gender and Church Attendance Differences

Recreational sex, casual sex, hook up. Each of these terms may have slightly different meanings

yet all imply some sort of sexual behavior outside of a traditional long-term relationship such as marriage.

Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. Views about recreational sex vary around the world and

by culture. For example, in some countries that practice a strict interpretation of Sharia law a woman

found guilty of non-marital sexual relations or adultery may be flogged or stoned to death. In March 2016

the British online newspaper, Sunday Express, reported that an Indonesian woman who was found guilty

of non-marital sex was publically whipped by Sharia police until she passed out (Smith, O.). On the

opposite extreme, some cultures seem to embrace, even applaud, casual sex. Within the American music

industry, some of the highest paid, top-selling artists profit from sexually explicit lyrics and sexually

charged performances (Addison, 2015; Theodore, 2015). These two cultural views of sex represent

opposite extremes. But what of those who lie somewhere in between? What factors influence opinions

about sexuality? What differences exists among cultures and gender?

Some research has shown a link between spirituality and conservative views of sex (Beckwith &

Morrow, 2005); similarly, research by Katz and Schneider found a strong association between religiosity

and sexual behavior (2013). Additionally, Reiber and Garcia discussed the influence gender differences,

evolution, and pleuritic ignorance may have on college students sexual beliefs and behaviors (2010). In

Sexual Hookup Culture: A Review, Garcia, Reiber, Massey and Merriwether addressed the use of

alcohol and popular media as they relate to hooking up, friends with benefits, and cultural shifts in dating

(2012). Other researchers have found relationships between pornography consumption and premarital sex

(Wright, 2015).

The previous research indicates that ones self-perceived religiosity is related to sexual opinions

and behaviors (Katz & Schneider) and some research has found slight differences between males view

about casual sex and females views about casual sex (Reiber & Garcia). This study seeks to determine

whether gender and church attendance are related to ones views about recreational sex. Based on past

research, male and female participants were expected to have differing cultural views about recreational
 Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 3

sex and adults who attended church regularly would have significantly different views about recreational

sex than those who rarely or never attended church.

Method

Participants

Participants were asked by graduate students at the University of Arkansas to complete a survey

for a course at the university. The 373 participants were friends, family, and other university students; all

participants were adults. Completion of the survey was voluntary and no identifying information was

collected. Not all participants completed every part of the survey. For the purpose of this research only

data from the Recreational Sex Survey was analyzed. Two of the remaining 197 surveys were discarded

because the participants did not answer all of the questions; this reduced the sample size to 195. Of these,

81 (42%) were males and 114 (59%) were female. The original project was approved by IRB.

Instruments

Data was collected based on convenience sampling. Graduate students asked adult volunteers to

complete a four part survey. The survey included a section with 13 demographic variables and three

measurement instruments, each instrument containing three scales. The instruments measured three types

of Agression, three types of Motivation to Learn, and three types of views on Recreational Sex.

Participants were not required to complete every section or answer every question.

For the purpose of this research only complete Recreational Sex Surveys were used. The

Recreational Sex Survey was designed to collect data about the participants attitudes towards

recreational sex and to determine how participants think their peers perceive recreational sex. The survey

defined recreational sex as sexual experiences engaged in by consensual partners that are not out of

obligation, for procreation, or in a forced manner. The Recreational Sex Survey consisted of 20

questions to be answered by selecting one of the following options for each sentence: Strongly Agree,

Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree. Four of the questions related directly to Cultural Views of

Recreational Sex (Sex5, Sex6, Sex9, Sex10). The data collected from these four questions, along with the

corresponding gender and church attendance demographic information was analyzed to determine
 Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 4

whether males and females differ in their cultural views of recreational sex and whether church

attendance is related to cultural views about recreational sex.

Procedure

After the graduate students collected surveys, the resulting data was organized into an Excel

spreadsheet. The original 373 datasets were reduced to the 197 that included data from the Recreational

Sex Survey. At this point, all information except for the data from the four questions specifically related

to cultural views on recreational sex (Sex5, Sex6, Sex9, and Sex10) and the corresponding gender and

church attendance demographics were discarded. The answers on the Sex Survey translated to a

numerical scale. Strongly Agree = 1; Agree = 2; Disagree = 3; and Strongly Disagree = 4. The answers to

Sex9 and Sex10 had to be recoded so that for all four questions a lower score represented a more

permissive view of recreational sex and a higher score represented a more conservative view of

recreational sex.

The original survey offered three possible answers to the question, Do you attend church? 1 =

Weekly, 2 = Occasionally, and 3 = Rarely/Never. For this study, these three groups were changed into

two groups. Weekly and Occasionally became one Attends Church group; Rarely / Never was not

changed. After recoding and regrouping, the data were filtered by gender and church attendance, then

analyzed using non-directional independent T-Tests.

Results

The highest possible rating on the Recreational Sex Survey scale, a 4, represented more

conservative views and the lowest possible rating, a 1, represented more permissive views. Among the

197 Recreational Sex Survey participants the mean cultural views of recreational sex score was 2.719 (SD

= .810). Based on existing research, I expected that the views of females would differ from those of

males. I also expected to find a difference in the views of church goers and non-church goers. As such, a

series of non-directional independent T-Tests were conducted, each at an alpha level of .10. The initial

data that was used in T-test calculations are summarized in Table 1.

 Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 5

The two main tests compared data by gender and by church attendance. The first test compared

the results by gender. The sample size was 195 (81 males, 114 females). The average score for males,

2.682 (SD = .822) was slightly lower than the mean female score 2.746 (SD = .802). The next text

compared male and female church goers to males and females who rarely or never attend church. Since

one male and two females did not answer the church attendance question, their data were not included in

these calculations, resulting in a sample size of 192 (132 church attenders, 60 non-attenders). The church

attenders average score was 2.795 (SD = .826) and non-attenders average was 2.567 (SD = .751). Three

other sets of data were compared: females/church or no church, males/church or no church, and males/no

church with females/church.

While initial results indicated that females held more conservative cultural views on recreational

sex than did males a two-tailed independent T-test at alpha level .10 showed there was no significant

difference between male and female views; t(193) = -0.54, p > .10. However, there was a significant

difference between the views of those who attend church and those who do not; t(190) = 1.82, p< .10.

Among females only, the T-test showed no significant difference between church attendees and non-

attendees; t(110) = 1.46, p> .10. No significant difference was found between male church goers and male

non-church goers; t(78) = 1.49, p> .10. And no significant difference was found in the last test, which

compared females who attend church with males who do not attend church; t(96) = 1.62, p> .10. Within

this population at an alpha level of .10 the only significant difference in cultural views about recreational

sex was found between the church verses no church groups that were not separated by gender.

Discussion/Conclusions

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in cultural views of recreational sex

existed based on gender or church attendance. Based on my review of literature and previous studies, I

expected to find differences, especially between those who attended church and those who did not. This

study appeared to support the idea that religiosity, of which church attendance is a component, is one
 Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 6

variable that is related to cultural views about recreational sex. When the alpha level was changed from

.10 to .20, significant differences appeared in all of the tests except for the one based solely on gender.

Compared to published studies our sample size was small and our survey less in depth (only four

questions related specifically to the topic); these factors may have masked some differences in opinions.

Due to the fact that our participants were mostly friends, family, and acquaintances of graduate students at

the University of Arkansas, it is quite possible that our population was more homogeneous than those in

other studies. Recommendations for future study would include a survey designed solely for measuring

cultural views about recreational sex, larger sample sizes, and random sampling.

.
 Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 7

References

Addison, T. (2015, April). Top 25 richest female singers of 2015. Richest Lifestyle. Retrieved from

http://www.richestlifestyle.com/richest-female-singers/

Beckwith, H. D., & Morrow, J. A. (2005). Sexual attitudes of college students: The impact of religiosity

and spirituality. College Student Journal, 39(2), 357-366.

Garcia, J. R., Reiber, C., Massey, S. G., & Merriwether, A. M. (2012). Sexual hookup culture: A review.

Review Of General Psychology, 16(2), 161-176. doi:10.1037/a0027911

Katz, J., & Schneider, M. E. (2013). Casual hook up sex during the first year of college: Prospective

associations with attitudes about sex and love relationships. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 42(8),

1451-1462. doi:10.1007/s10508-013-0078-0

Reiber, C., & Garcia, J. R. (2010). Hooking up: Gender differences, evolution, and pluralistic ignorance.

Evolutionary Psychology, 8(3), 390-404. doi:10.1177/147470491000800307

Smith, O. (2016, March). Woman whipped by Sharia police until she passes out for having sex at Brit

tourist-hotspot. Sunday Express, Retrieved from

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/655388/Woman-whipped-Indonesia-Sharia-police-passes-

out-sex-Brit-tourist-hotspot

Theodore, A. (2015, Summer). Top 10 highest paid male singers of 2015. Career Addict. Retrieved from

http://www.careeraddict.com/top-10-highest-paid-male-singers-of-2015

Wright, P. (2015). Americans attitudes toward premarital sex and pornography consumption: A national

panel analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44:8997

 Cultural Views about Recreational Sex 8

Table 1

n mean sd
Males 81 2.682 0.822
Females 114 2.746 0.802
Church 132 2.795 0.826
No church 60 2.567 0.751
Female - church 75 2.827 0.808
Female - no church 37 2.595 0.763
Male - church 57 2.754 0.851
Male - no church 23 2.522 0.526