University students' definitions of having sex, sexual partner, and virginity loss: the influence of participant gender, sexual experience, and contextual factors.(Report)

Abstract: Does everyone mean the same thing when they talk about having sex, losing their virginity, or who they would consider to be a sexual partner? The researchers were interested in (a) determining if students differ in their definitions of these terms; (b) examining the relationship between students' own sexual experience and their labelling of behaviours comprising these terms; and (c) determining whether such factors as orgasm, dating status, the sex of the partner, and the sex of the participant influence their definitions. One hundred fifty-five undergraduate students completed five questionnaires, three of which asked them to indicate whether they would consider a list of hypothetical behaviours as involving having sex, sexual partner, and a loss of virginity, and one of which asked them to indicate whether they had engaged in a list of parallel sexual behaviours with a member of the opposite or same sex. Students reported a broader definition of sexual partner than of having sex and a broader definition of having sex than of virginity loss. Students' definitions were more likely to include scenarios involving a longer dating status, an opposite-sex partner, and the presence of orgasm. Females reported a broader definition of having sex than males and no relationship was found between students' sexual experience and their sexual definitions.

Introduction

What it means to have sex has received increasing amounts of public and research attention in recent years (Bogart, Cecil, Wagstaff, Pinkerton, & Abramson, 2000; Randall & Byers, 2003; Sanders & Reinisch, 1999). Although what it means to have sex is commonly understood as involving certain activities both in research and in everyday discourse, its meaning is often either implicitly assumed or inconsistently defined. Definitions in English and law dictionaries most often equate terms such as sex, sexual relation, and sexual act or criminal terms involving having sex such as rape, adultery, and statutory rape with sexual intercourse or, more specifically, with penetration of a vagina by a penis (Barber, 2005; Garner, 2004; UP Cambridge, 2005). Behaviours that involve genital contact other then penile-vaginal penetration are rarely included in these definitions, nor are non-penetrative behaviours that involve touching or oral contact with the genitals. This narrow definition of what constitutes having sex is in stark contrast with the popularized and assumed view within North American culture that behaviours other than penile-vaginal intercourse are included in colloquial definitions. This is evident in the commonly used terms of oral sex and anal sex to denote oral-genital contact and penile-anal penetration, respectively (Wilson & Medora, 1990).

Ambiguity surrounding the definition of having sex can also be found in the literature, in which researchers either define it exclusively as penile-vaginal intercourse or use an unspecified definition that is assumed to be shared by all respondents (Pitts & Rahman, 2001). Recent research shows that this ambiguity toward sexual terminology may also be present in the general population of Western society, especially within the younger community. University students have been found to hold different behavioural criteria for labelling an interaction as involving having sex and to vary their definitions according to contextual factors (Bogart et al., 2000; Carpenter, 2001; Sanders & Reinisch, 1999). This variability toward sexual definitions is further complicated by research that shows young people may also vary in their definition of other sexual terms such as sexual partner, virginity loss, and unfaithfulness (Carpenter, 2001; Cecil, Bogart, Wagstaff, Pinkerton, & Abramson, 2002; Randall & Byers, 2003).

Although most students agree that penile-vaginal penetration is a form of having sex, they often disagree about the inclusion of other sexual behaviours in their classifications. For example, although between 75 percent and 90 percent of students include penile-anal penetration in their definition of having sex, only about 25 percent to 50 percent of students include oral-genital contact (Bogart et al., 2000; Pitts & Rahman, 2001; Randall & Byers, 2003; Sanders & Reinisch, 1999).

Many youth do not include oral-genital contact or penile-anal penetration in their definition of sexual partner (Cecil et al., 2002; Randall & Byers, 2003). This may lead young people to believe that their behaviour is not placing them at risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI), despite the association between number of sexual partners where oral and anal contact occurs and increased infection rates (Hearst & Hulley, 1988; Pinkerton & Abramson, 1998).

Randall and Byers (2003) asked students to provide their own definitions of having sex and sexual partner from a list of 18 sexual behaviours. A larger proportion of participants included penile-vaginal, penile-anal, and genital-oral contact in their definition of sexual partner than of having sex, with the greatest difference being between students inclusion of oral-genital contact in their definition of the two terms (i.e., having sex: 21% vs. sexual partner: 65%). Similarly, although very few students included genital touching or masturbatory behaviours in their definition of having sex, respectively over half and over one-third of students included these two behaviours in their definition of sexual partner. Overall, students were found to include a greater number of behaviours in their definition of sexual partner than of having sex.

The term virginity has also been shown to have ambiguous meanings among young people. Although several researchers have examined how young people conceptualize virginity, they have often defined a loss of virginity in a way that assumes its equivalency with first sexual intercourse (e.g., penile-vaginal penetration) (Carpenter, 2001; Sanders & Reinisch, 1999). Carpenter interviewed men and women aged 18 to 35 and found that all participants viewed penile-vaginal intercourse (coitus) as constituting virginity loss, while only 25 percent and 56 percent included oral sex and penile-anal intercourse in their definitions, respectively.

Furthermore, 80 percent of participants indicated that both men and women could lose their virginity with a same-sex partner while 10 percent indicated that only men could do so. Although most of the respondents in Carpenter's (2001) study indicated that they believe virginity loss is possible with a same-sex partner, about half also indicated that there are different standards for virginity loss depending on the gender of the sexual partner.

Regarding gender differences, men consistently report a greater number of lifetime partners than women, and they also have broader definitions of having sex compared to women (Pitts & Rahman, 2001; Sanders & Reinisch, 1999). There is little reported difference between young women and men in their inclusion of penile-vaginal and penile-anal intercourse in their definition of having sex, although they may differ in the degree to which they include oral-genital contact (Berk, Abramson, & Okami, 1995). Furthermore, more male than female participants are found to include orgasm in their definition of having sex (Randall & Byers, 2003). Other factors that have an effect on what young people believe constitutes having sex include: (a) respondents' experience or lack of experience with oral sex (Bogart et al., 2000; Sanders & Reinisch, 1999), (b) whether orgasm occurred (Bogart et al., 2000), (c) whether they were the giver or receiver of the sex act (Bogart et al., 2000), and (d) the length of time a couple had dated and frequency of sexual activity (Cecil et al., 2002).

The ambiguity inherent in people's varying definitions of sexual terms raises serious concerns about the validity of self-report measures of sexual experience and sexual attitudes (Bogart et al., 2000; Carpenter, 2001; Randall & Byers, 2003), yet researchers often rely on self-report when gathering information about people's private sexual experiences (Konings, Bantebya, Carael, Bagenda, & Mertens, 1995; Schrimshaw, Rosario, Meyer-Bahlburg, & Scharf-Matlick, 2006). Accurate data collected from sexual behaviour surveys is important for assessing the prevalence rates of and attitudes toward certain sexual behaviours and for designing effective programs for the reduction of STI (Cecil et al., 2002; Pitts & Rahman, 2001, Schrimshaw et al., 2006). Considering the increased risk of STI associated with penile-anal penetration and to a lesser extent with oral-genital contact, it is a potential risk factor that many university students do not define these behaviours as having sex (Randall & Byers, 2003).

If sexual terms are not clearly defined, survey participants may use their own definitions when responding to sexual terms. Consequently, researchers may over- or underestimate the sexual experience of their respondents (Catania et al., 1996). A more complete understanding of young people's classifications of sexual terms will enable researchers and health care workers to be clearer when asking young people about their sexually risky behaviours.

The current study

In view of what has been learned from previous studies, the current study seeks to expand knowledge in the following areas:

1. Randall and Byers (2003) sought students' definitions of the terms having sex, sexual partner, and unfaithful. The current study also includes definitions for the first two terms (i.e., having sex and sexual partner) and explores an additional term: virginity loss. To our knowledge, no study has examined the influence of orgasm or the extent of sexual experience on definitions of virginity loss. Women may put less importance on orgasm than men in their definition of virginity loss, for example, or sexually-experienced women may modify their definition of virginity so as to maintain their status as a "technical" virgin.

2. In addition to the questions involving imaginary scenarios used in Randall and Byers (2003) study, the current study also asked students to report on how often they have actually engaged in sexual behaviours with both the opposite sex and same sex (Cecil et al., 2002). This may produce a more accurate representation of how students would themselves classify the sexual situations.

3. Researchers have often relied on dichotomous measures of sexual experience (i.e., comparing those who have ever engaged in a particular act to those who have not) (Bogart et al., 2000), but such measures might not be sensitive enough to differentiate between those with varying degrees of experience. The current study had students rate the amount of their sexual experience using a 4-point Likert scale: "never," "once," "few times," and "many times."

4. Excluding Carpenter's (2001) study, other known studies have not included participants experience with same-sex partners in their sexual definitions. The current study includes experience with same-sex partners in both the questions dealing with imaginary scenarios and in the questions dealing with respondents' actual experience. Students might not include some of the same behaviours in their definitions regarding the opposite sex as compared to the same sex. Further, this may vary depending on their actual sexual experience with both sexes.

5. The current study compares the behaviours students include in their definitions of having sex, sexual partner, and virginity loss, as well as the individual factors (i.e., sex of the participant and participant's actual sexual experience) and contextual factors (i.e., relational status, occurrence of orgasm, and sex of partner) that may influence possible differences between the terms. No known study has systematically done this before.

Hypotheses

The hypotheses for this study are as follows:

1. Students will vary in the sexual behaviours they include in their definitions of having sex, sexual partner, and virginity loss. Specifically:

(a) students will include a greater number of behaviours in their definition of sexual partner than of having sex, and in their definition of having sex than of virginity loss.

(b) students will be more likely to include scenarios involving penile-vaginal intercourse than penile-anal or oral-genital contact in their definitions.

(c) the inclusion of penile-vaginal intercourse will be the same across terms.

(d) the inclusion of penile-anal and oral-genital contact will be least likely in definitions of virginity loss, somewhat more likely in definitions of sexual partner, and the most likely in definitions of having sex.

2. Students' sexual experience with same- and opposite-sex partners will affect their labelling of behaviours they include in their definitions of …