Help needed with collecting accurate anonymous on-line research about swinging

[JustAskJulie]

Good Luck Tomorrow!

[theflamekasters]

is there anyway you could post the origional survey, just to see what was asked. I was not on the board when you offered it. thanks

[rvedd001]

Thanks for the good luck wishes!!!

I need it!

I am sorry, but the survey is down and I cannot repost it due to university requirments. It would be illegal for me to do so.

Rachel

[Chicup]

Originally Posted by rvedd001

I defend my thesis tomorrow (this is where I go before a committe and discuss findings etc.), and then I can have some time to go through this thing step by step with you all and talk about what I have found.

Thanks for the update and good luck. I think I have blocked out all memory of my defense Not that it was bad, but the pressure leading up to it wasn't fun.

[sweet_tna]

Good luck, and keep us posted!

=)

[rpu3]

Good luck!

[two4youinswva]

Best of luck to you tomorrow!

We're excited to see the findings.

[cplnuswing]

Good luck on the defense! Been there, done that, it's won't be nearly as bad as you think!

[rvedd001]

Wow everyone! Thanks for all of the well wishes! The defense went great. I am currently in the act of making all of the little formatting changes and addressing the questions that my committee had in the text of my thesis.

I promised everyone that I would share the results of the survey, so let's get started shall we? I want to start by saying that I will not be posting my entire thesis on-line. I am doing this for several reasons, one of which is that it is still undergoing the finishing corrections at the moment. Another reason is the fact that that I will be looking into publishing some of this information, so I do not plan to have it posted anywhere. Let's hope that some day we see this information in print someday eh?



I would love to discuss my findings with all of you. Give me your opinions, we can toss ideas around. I will give all this info over the course of several posts over the next few days...this is a lot of info okay?


First off, let's talk about what the sample was made of:

91 (62.8%) males and 54 (37.2%) females
Average age was 44.4 years (SD = 9.7 years)
Ages ranged from 25 to 81

93.1% of participants reported their race as Caucasian, 4.1% reported their race as Hispanic, 1.4% reported their race as Asian Pacific Islander, .7% indicated their race as Latino, and .7% noted their race as Other

Most participants self-reported being married (84.1%), followed by married but separated (4.1%), engaged (3.4%), unmarried (3.4%), divorced (2.8%), and widowed (1.4%). Only a small percentage (.7%) of the sample failed to report marital status

Most of the sample reported their sexual orientation as being exclusively heterosexual (47.6%), followed by heterosexual mostly (37.9%), heterosexual somewhat more (10.3%), and equally heterosexual or lesbian/gay man (4.1%). A small portion (4.6%) of the sample reported having an exclusively lesbian or gay sexual orientation


Length of time that participant’s had been involved with their partners were as follows: 7 months to 9 years (37.2%), 10 to 18 years (29.7%), 19 to 27 years (19.3%) 28 to 36 years (11.7%), and finally, 37 to 45 years (2.1%)


Additionally, chi-square tests of independence were performed to ascertain if gender was related to relationship status and sexual orientation. In the present study, a person’s relationship status was significantly related to their gender, X2(5) = 15.37, p<.01. In the sample, the primary differences found between the genders were that more males were married than were expected to be by chance alone, whereas fewer females were married than expected by chance.

In addition, gender and sexual orientation were significantly dependent upon each other, X2(3) = 35.51, p<.001. In the current sample, males were more likely to be “exclusively heterosexual” and less likely to be “heterosexual somewhat more” than was to be expected by chance alone; conversely, females were less likely to be “exclusively heterosexual” and more likely to be “heterosexual somewhat more” than was expected by chance alone.

Length of time spent swinging ranged from 6 months to 30 years (M=6.59 years, SD=6.57 years), with most (62.0%) reporting swinging for 5 years or less.

Most (83.4%) of the sample reported open swinging, followed by soft swinging (8.3%), only a small (7.6%) portion of the sample reported practicing closed swinging.


That's all for this post,
Rachel

[socolais]

Rachel, thanks for the feedback!! Many requests for our participation promise followup but few deliver. I like your integrity.

If I remember your survey correctly, that's a lot of data to crunch and it covered probably most of the measurable aspects of swinging. What indication in the data was most surprising to you? I know as a researcher, you're not supposed to have preconcieved theories - but we're all human.

[rvedd001]

Okay, let's post some more results. I will answer your question socolias when I am done with that as it is a good one.

The primary aspect of my study was to explore the mediating role that sexual permissiveness played between gender and primary relationship commitment. Based on past research, instead of a direct relationship between gender and commitment, I hypothesized that gender caused sexual permissiveness (the mediator) which in turn caused relationship commitment.

Mediation was not found. Without getting too long-winded, mediation is established through 4 steps. All 4 steps must to met to have full mediation. My mediation failed at step 1. In the first step I addressed gender differences in commitment and found none. Other populations have be found to have gender differences in commitment whereas swingers did not.

I also looked at gender differences in sexual permissiveness. The results supported a significant difference between men and women on sexual permissiveness, indicating that men are more permissive than women. This is much like what past reseach has found with other populations.

In addition, sexual permissiveness was significantly, positively correlated with commitment, r=.22, p<.01, such that low sexual permissiveness scores, which suggest greater sexual permissiveness, were related to lower reports of commitment to one’s primary relationship. As such, the positive correlation demonstrates that individuals who have elevated permissive attitudes towards the sexual experiences of others, tend to have lower commitment to their primary relationship.


I also looked at differences in sexual permissiveness between those that are married versus unmarried. I found no significant difference.

That is all of my quantatative results thus far.

Regards,

Rachel

[Chris&Amelia]

This is all very interesting. Thank you so much for posting these findings, Rachel.

[rvedd001]

Okay, now on to some really interesting things in my opinion. For those of you that took my survey, you may remember the questions that were open-ended. These are primarily the results from that portion of it. Due to time and space I cannot list all reasons given for everything here, but I will give you the major findings.

Entering the lifestyle-

The most frequent reason given by both sexes to begin swinging was that it adds value to their sex life (Males=84.8%, Females=56.9%) as well as contributes to the relationship (Males=57.0%, Females=53.2%).

How swingers meet-

The most frequent means of meeting outside of swing clubs given by both sexes was the internet (Males=84.6%, Females=55.3%), followed by networking (Males=65.8%, Females=18.0%).

Initiation and participation in the lifestyle-

Level of excitement regarding initial entry into the swing lifestyle was assessed with a 5-point question response option ranging from “strongly unenthusiastic” to “very enthusiastic,” and 44.8% of participants reported feeling very enthusiastic followed by 29.7% feeling somewhat enthusiastic, 9.0% feeling neutral, 3.4% feeling somewhat unenthusiastic, and 12.4% feeling strongly unenthusiastic. In addition, a statistical test was run to test if level of excitment was related to gender. Level of excitement regarding entry into swinging was not significantly affected by a person’s gender; males and females reported equal levels of excitement regarding swinger initiation.

Most of the sample reported that initiation into the swing lifestyle was a decision made as a couple (53.1%), followed by themselves initiating entry
(20.7%), their partners initiating entry (12.4%), they were already in the swing lifestyle when they met their current partner (8.3%), their committed partner was already in the swing lifestyle when they met (3.4%), and finally, both partners were in the swing lifestyle when they met (2.1%).

Most of the sample reported participation in swing activities a few times a year (41.4%) or monthly (37.9%). More frequent participation in swing activities was reported with less frequency, with those swinging 3-4 times a month doing so 10.3% of the time and only 1.4% of the sample reporting swinging 7 or more times monthly. Another statistical test was run to test if participation was related to gender, amount of participation was not significantly affected by a person’s gender; males and females participated in swinging at similar rates.

Most participants self-reported participating in swing activities with their committed partner (93.1%), watching others engage in sexual activities (91.7%), using vibrators or love toys with their committed partner (73.1%), using vibrators or love toys without their committed partner (64.1%), and having oral sex with more than two individuals at once (82.8%). Other activities endorsed with less frequency include participating in fantasy or role playing situations (36.6%) and having same sex intercourse or oral sex
(46.9%).

Ok..time for another post. This one is getting really long.

Rachel

[two42lovers]

In addition, sexual permissiveness was significantly, positively correlated with commitment, r=.22, p<.01, such that low sexual permissiveness scores, which suggest greater sexual permissiveness, were related to lower reports of commitment to one’s primary relationship. As such, the positive correlation demonstrates that individuals who have elevated permissive attitudes towards the sexual experiences of others, tend to have lower commitment to their primary relationship.

This may be seen as a controversial finding. What measures did you use to define a person's "sexual permissiveness"? You state people who are sexually permissive have a lower committment to their primary relationship than people who are less sexually permissive. What measures did you use to determine they have a lower committment?

[Chicup]

Originally Posted by two42lovers

This may be seen as a controversial finding. What measures did you use to define a person's "sexual permissiveness"? You state people who are sexually permissive have a lower committment to their primary relationship than people who are less sexually permissive. What measures did you use to determine they have a lower committment?

Yea I have the same question. Since other studies have shown swingers are happier in their marriages and I think a lower divorce rate, whats the definition of commitment?