Abstract
This article attempts to illuminate the understanding of swinging, or mate swapping, an increasingly common form of extramarital sexual activity. A theoretical formulation argues that swinging is a form of extramarital sexual activity which serves to define as good and acceptable a behavior that in other forms and in the past has been considered deviant or immoral. A stratified area probability sample of 579 married adults was drawn from a Midwestern community of 40,000. Areas investigated included community knowledge and perception of swinging, values of respondents with regard to participation in and acceptance of swinging, and the incidence of swinging in the community. Most respondents disapproved of mate swapping as well as other forms of extramarital sex. Over half of the respondents knew about mate swapping, although less than 7% of the sample would consider participating. Swinging was found to exist in the community, but less than 2% of the respondents had ever participated. The data analysis is descriptive and exploratory, focusing on social correlates and characteristics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartell, G. D. (1971).Group Sex Wyden, New York.
Bell, R. (1971). Swinging — The sexual exchange of married partners.Sex. Behav. 1: 70–79.
Bell, R., and Chaskes, J. B. (1970). Premarital sexual experience among coeds: 1958 and 1968.J. Marriage Family 32: 81–84.
Breedlove, W. and Breedlove, J. (1964).Swap Clubs Sherborne Press, Los Angeles.
Christensen, H. T. and Gregg, C. G. (1970). Changing sex norms in America and Scandinavia.J. Marriage Family 32: 616–627.
Cole, C. L., and Spanier, G. B. (1973). Induction into mate swapping: A review.Family Process 12: 279–290.
Cole, C. L., and Spanier, G. B. (1974). Co-marital mate sharing and family stability.J. Sex Res. 10: 21–31.
Davis, K. E. (1970). Sex on the campus: Is there a revolution?Med. Aspects Hum. Sexuality 4.
Denfeld, D. and Gordon, M. (1970). The sociology of mate-swapping: Or the family that swings together clings together.J. Sex Res. 6: 85–100.
Edmonds, V. H., Withers, G., and Dibatista, B. (1972). Adjustment, conservatism and marital conventionalization.J. Marriage Family 34: 96–103.
Galant, M., and Galant, K. (1966).Sex Rebels Publisher's Export Co., San Diego.
Galant, M., and Galant, K. (1967a).Mate-Swapping Syndrome Triumph Fact Books, Los Angeles.
Galant, M., and Galant, K. (1967b).Wife Swapping in Business Century Books, Cleveland.
Galant, M., and Galant, K. (1967c).Wife Swapping: The People Publisher's Export Co., San Diego.
Gilmartin, B. G. (1972a). Some social and personal characteristics of mate-sharing swingers. Unpublished manuscript.
Gilmartin, B. G. (1972b). The social context of co-marital sexual behavior. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa.
Kaats, G. R., and Davis, K. E. (1970). The dynamics of sexual behavior of college students.J. Marriage Family 32: 390–399.
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., and Martin, C. (1948).Sexual Behavior in the Human Male Saunders, Philadelphia.
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., Martin, C., and Gebhard, P. (1953).Sexual Behavior in the Human Female Saunders, Philadelphia.
Locke, H. J., and Wallace, K. M. (1959). Short marital adjustment and prediction tests: Their reliability and validity.Marriage Family Living 21: 251–255.
Luckey, E. B., and Nass, G. D. (1969). A comparison of sexual attitudes and behavior in an international sample.J. Marriage Family 31: 364–379.
Masters, W., and Johnson, V. (1966).Human Sexual Response. Little, Brown, Boston.
O'Neill, G. C., and O'Neill, N. (1970). Patterns in group sexual activity.J. Sex Res. 6: 101–112.
Paulson, C., and Paulson, R. (1972). Swinging in wedlock.Society 9: 28–37.
Robinson, I. E., King, K., Dudley, C. J., and Clune, F. J. (1968). Change in sexual behavior and attitudes of college students.Family Coordinator 17: 119–123.
Smith, J. R., and Smith, L. G. (1970). Co-marital sex and the sexual freedom movement.J. Sex Res. 6: 131–142.
Sorensen, R. C. (1973).Adolescent Sexuality in Contemporary America World, Cleveland.
Spanier, G. B., (1972). Romanticism and marital adjustment.J. Marriage Family 34: 481–487.
Spanier, G. B. (1973a). Whose marital adjustment? A research note.Sociol. Inquiry 43: 95–96.
Spanier, G. B. (1973b). Sexual socialization and premarital sexual behavior: An empirical investigation of the impact of formal and informal sex education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University.
Symonds, C. (1968). Pilot study in the peripheral behavior of sexual mate-swappers. Unpublished Master's thesis, University of California, Riverside.
Symonds, C. (1971). Sexual mate-swapping and the swingers.Marriage Counseling Quart. 6: 1–12.
Walshok, M. L. (1971). The emergence of middle-class deviant subcultures: The case of swingers.Soc. Probl. 18: 488–495.
Westoff, L. A., and Westoff, C. F. (1968).From Now to Zero: Fertility, Contraception and Abortion in America Little, Brown, Boston.
Zelnik, M., and Kantner, J. F. (1972a). The probability of premarital intercourse.Soc. Sci. Res. 1: 335–341.
Zelnik, M., and Kantner, J. F. (1972b). Sexuality, contraception and pregnancy among young unwed females in the United States. InDemographic and Social Aspects of Population Growth, Res. Vol. I, Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 355–374.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Spanier, G.B., Cole, C.L. Mate swapping: Perceptions, value orientations, and participation in a Midwestern community. Arch Sex Behav 4, 143–159 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541079
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541079