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Sexual Infidelity in China: Prevalence and Gender-Specific Correlates

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Abstract

The nature of extra-relational sex in societies with rapidly changing sexual mores and widespread commercial sex remains under-explored. The 2006 Sexuality Survey of China provides a national probability survey with data on 3,567 people 18–49 years old who were in a marital (89%) or dating/cohabiting (11%) relationship. In attitudes, extramarital sex was completely unacceptable to 74% of women and 60% of men and either somewhat or completely unacceptable to 95% of women and men. Most (77%) women wanted severe punishment of men’s short-term commercial sex and women’s jealousy was equally elevated by their primary partner’s episodes of commercial and non-commercial sex. Nevertheless, the prevalence of infidelity during the last 12 months was 4.5% (women’s non-commercial sex), 11.0% (men’s non-commercial), and 5.5% (men’s commercial), with each percent matching or exceeding the median for other countries. In multivariate equations for non-commercial infidelity, men’s infidelity was significantly more responsive to sexual dissatisfaction with his primary partner while women’s was more responsive to deficits in love. In commercial sex, men were uninfluenced by primary partner deficits in love, sexual satisfaction or oral sex–pursuing, it would seem, simply a greater variety of sexual partners. In a “trading up” pattern, women partnered with low income men had elevated infidelity. The minority of women reporting early masturbation and premarital sex were just as likely as men with these backgrounds to have elevated infidelity. The Chinese patterns provide ample material for deliberations on gender similarities and differences in extra-relational sex.

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Notes

  1. Based on comparisons to elapsed seconds per interview item in a year 2000 version of this survey, interviews were judged as “fake” when seconds/item dropped below 7 and these seconds were more than two SDs below the predicted elapsed times in a median regression using age, education, urban residence, and regular web use. This criterion eliminated 10% of completed interviews (with eliminated interviews concentrated in September when student interviewers were rushing to return to school). An additional set of analyses eliminated all observations by the five most problematic interviewers, even when elapsed seconds for a specific observation were in a non-problematic range. This set of analyses produced results that were similar to those reported in this article.

  2. By variable, the exogenous predictors were as follows: Love: partner had extra sexual partner during relationship, was ever hit by the participant, and education; participant’s health; Sexual dissatisfaction: partner had extra sexual partner during relationship, education, height, and travel; participant’s history of drunkenness and health; Opportunity (surveillance relaxed): partner’s frequent social activities and travel; participant’s education, history of drunkenness, and health. For each of the exogenous equations, the F value ranged from 10.1 to 36.3.

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Acknowledgments

For suggestions on earlier drafts, we thank Ye Luo, William Jankowiak, Edward O. Laumann, and Martin K. Whyte. The University of California Berkeley Demography Center and its Director, Michael Hout, provided a supportive home for the analysis. Financial support for data collection and analysis included Important National Science & Technology Specific Projects of Chinese Government (2008ZX10102), The Ford Foundation, Beijing (1065-0331, 1070-0226), and NICHD (HD056670-01, Gail Henderson, PI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Department, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Na Zhang & Yingying Huang

  2. Sociology Department, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    William L. Parish

  3. Institute of Sexuality & Gender, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Yingying Huang & Suiming Pan

  4. 2826 Garber St., Berkeley, CA, 94705, USA

    William L. Parish

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  1. Na Zhang
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Correspondence to William L. Parish.

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Zhang, N., Parish, W.L., Huang, Y. et al. Sexual Infidelity in China: Prevalence and Gender-Specific Correlates. Arch Sex Behav 41, 861–873 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9930-x

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