Table 1.
Proportions of Respondents Who Mentioned Themes in Responses to Open-ended Questions
| How own gender affects thoughts and feelings about sex |
How thoughts and feelings would differ if other gender |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | Proportion of total sample (N=187) |
Men | Women | t | Proportion of total sample (N=174) |
Men | Women | t |
| No effect | .09 | .12 | .07 | 1.28 | .13 | .12 | .13 | 1.21 |
| Emotional/Reputation Protection | .27 | .10 | .38 | 4.46*** | .16 | .15 | .17 | .26 |
| Worry about reputation | .19 | .06 | .27 | 3.77*** | .01 | .02 | .01 | .35 |
| Worry emotional well-being | .11 | .03 | .16 | 2.82** | .04 | .09 | .01 | 2.70** |
| Not worry about reputation | .01 | .01 | .00 | 1.27 | .06 | .02 | .09 | 2.05* |
| Not worry emotional well-being | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- | .06 | .02 | .09 | 2.05* |
| Control of Sexual Activity | .24 | .25 | .23 | .38 | .13 | .18 | .09 | 1.72 |
| Need to be less aggressive | .05 | .01 | .07 | 1.74 | .02 | .06 | .00 | 2.62** |
| Not supposed to initiate | .03 | .03 | .03 | .26 | .01 | .03 | .00 | 1.83 |
| Need to be more aggressive | .02 | .06 | .00 | 2.59** | .02 | .00 | .03 | 1.37 |
| Pressure to be initiator | .02 | .04 | .00 | 2.22* | .01 | .00 | .02 | 1.11 |
| Need partner’s consent | .02 | .06 | .00 | 2.59** | .01 | .00 | .01 | .78 |
| Promiscuity/Monogamy/Abstinence | .23 | .13 | .30 | 2.74** | .21 | .08 | .29 | 3.43*** |
| Sex in monogamous relationship | .09 | .03 | .12 | 2.25* | .01 | .03 | .00 | 1.82 |
| Should not have casual sex | .09 | .03 | .12 | 2.25* | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- |
| Should remain abstinent | .03 | .01 | .03 | .86 | .02 | .03 | .01 | 1.03 |
| Casual sex is okay | .01 | .03 | .01 | 1.80 | .16 | .00 | .25 | 4.66*** |
| Desire | .19 | .35 | .10 | 4.44*** | .16 | .27 | .08 | 3.44*** |
| Think about sex a lot/all the time | .10 | .25 | .00 | 6.16*** | .03 | .00 | .05 | 1.78 |
| Must stifle sexual desire/feelings | .04 | .04 | .03 | .24 | .01 | .02 | .00 | 1.28 |
| Do not think about sex much | .02 | .01 | .02 | .19 | .07 | .18 | .00 | 4.87*** |
| Physical Protection | .18 | .01 | .29 | 4.99*** | .12 | .08 | .15 | 1.42 |
| Worry about pregnancy | .14 | .00 | .23 | 4.56*** | .03 | .06 | .01 | 1.98* |
| Worry about STDs | .04 | .00 | .06 | 2.15* | .01 | .00 | .02 | 1.11 |
| Worry about rape | .02 | .00 | .03 | 1.38 | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- |
| Don’t worry about pregnancy | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- | .08 | .00 | .13 | 3.12** |
| Don’t worry about STDs | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- | .01 | .00 | .01 | .78 |
| Don’t worry about rape | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- | .01 | .00 | .01 | .78 |
| Meaning of Sex | .18 | .11 | .22 | 1.86 | .13 | .08 | .16 | 1.58 |
| Sex is emotional | .07 | .01 | .11 | 2.54* | .02 | .06 | .00 | 2.62** |
| Sex is sacred | .02 | .01 | .02 | .19 | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- |
| Sex is physical | .02 | .04 | .01 | 1.52 | .02 | .00 | .03 | 1.37 |
| Sex is recreational | .01 | .01 | .00 | 1.27 | .01 | .00 | .01 | .78 |
| Attitudes | .13 | .13 | .14 | .28 | .13 | .09 | .16 | 1.26 |
| More liberal/open | .04 | .04 | .03 | .24 | .05 | .02 | .06 | 1.52 |
| More conservative/reserved | .03 | .00 | .04 | 1.80 | .02 | .05 | .00 | 2.26* |
| Number of Partners | .08 | .03 | .11 | 2.10* | .10 | .02 | .15 | 2.92** |
| Should not have too many | .07 | .00 | .11 | 3.01** | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- |
| Okay/expected to have many | .01 | .03 | .00 | 1.80 | .09 | .00 | .15 | 3.37*** |
| Unspecified Protection | .07 | .03 | .10 | 1.78 | .11 | .18 | .07 | 2.18* |
| More protection | .07 | .03 | .10 | 1.78 | .07 | .17 | .02 | 3.73*** |
| Less protection | .00 | .00 | .00 | -- | .04 | .02 | .06 | 1.32 |
Note. -- is used where no t-test was performed because proportions were .00 for both men and women. Sample size varies because fewer participants provided codeable responses to our second question (regarding how sexual thoughts and feelings would differ if the other gender) than to our first question.
*
p<.05
**
p<.01
***
p<.001