Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Online Sexual Activity Experiences Among College Students: A Four-Country Comparison

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare male and female college students in four countries (Canada, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S.) on their lifetime experiences (prevalence) and frequency of recent experiences with six types of online sexual activities (OSA): sexual information, sexual entertainment, sexual contacts, sexual minority communities, sexual products, and sex work. Participants (N = 2690; M age, 24.65 years; 53.4 % women, 46.6 % men) were recruited from a university in each of the countries to complete an online survey that included background and demographic questions, and questions about OSA. Most participants reported experience with accessing sexual information (89.8 %) and sexual entertainment (76.5 %) online. Almost half (48.5 %) reported browsing for sexual products, and a substantial minority reported having engaged in cybersex (30.8 %). Very few participants (1.1 %) paid for online sexual services or received payment (0.5 %). In general, participants showed relatively infrequent experience with all types of OSA within the last 3 months. Men showed both higher prevalence and frequency of use of sexually stimulating material online than did women. However, this gender gap was smaller than in previous studies. Country and gender by country effects were (with one exception) either very small or non-existent, suggesting that, overall, students in the four countries were similar in their OSA experiences. Results are discussed in light of an emerging global net generation and globalized sexual culture.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albright, J. (2008). Sex in America online: An exploration of sex, marital status, and sexual identity in Internet sex seeking and its impacts. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 175–186.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ballester-Arnal, R., Castro-Calvo, J., Gil-Llario, M. D., & Giménez-García, C. (2013). Relationship status as an influence on cybersex activity: Cybersex, youth, and steady partner. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 40, 444–456. doi:10.1080/0092623X.2013.772549.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., Catanese, K. R., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Is there a gender difference in strength of sex drive? Theoretical views, conceptual distinctions, and a review of relevant evidence. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 242–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boies, S. C. (2002). University students’ uses of and reactions to online sexual information and entertainment: Links to online and offline sexual behaviour. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 11, 77–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhi, E. R., Daley, E. M., Oberne, A., Smith, S. A., Schneider, T., & Fuhrmann, H. J. (2010). Quality and accuracy of sexual health information web sites visited by young people. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 206–208. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.01.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Byers, E. S. (1996). How well does the traditional sexual script explain sexual coercion? Review of a program of research. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 8, 7–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers, E. S., & Shaughnessy, K. (2014). Attitudes toward online sexual activities. Cyberpsychology. doi:10.5817/CP2014-1-10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, L. J., Menzies, K. S., & O’Grady, W. L. (2004). The impact of computer variables on the viewing and sending of sexually explicit material on the Internet: Testing Cooper’s “Triple-A engine”. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 13, 157–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, A., Månsson, S.-A., Daneback, K., Tikkanen, R., & Ross, M. (2003). Predicting the future of Internet sex: Online sexual activities in Sweden. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 18, 277–291. doi:10.1080/1468199031000153919.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, A., Morahan-Martin, J., Mathy, R. M., & Maheu, M. (2002). Toward an increased understanding of user demographics in online sexual activities. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 28, 105–129. doi:10.1080/00926230252851861.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, S., & Kendall, T. D. (2011). Prostitution 2.0: The changing face of sex work. Journal of Urban Economics, 69, 273–287. doi:10.1016/j.jue.2010.12.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneback, K., Cooper, A., & Månsson, S.-A. (2005). An Internet study of cybersex participants. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 321–328. doi:10.1007/s10508-005-3120-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Daneback, K., Månsson, S.-A., & Ross, M. W. (2007). Using the Internet to find offline sex partners. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10, 100–107. doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneback, K., Månsson, S.-A., & Ross, M. (2011). Online sex shops: Purchasing sexual merchandise on the Internet. International Journal of Sexual Health, 23, 102–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daneback, K., Månsson, S.-A., Ross, M. W., & Markham, C. M. (2012). The Internet as a source of information about sexuality. Sex Education, 12, 583–598. doi:10.1080/14681811.2011.627739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Döring, N. (2009). The Internet’s impact on sexuality: A critical review of 15 years of research. Computers in Human Behavior, 25, 1089–1101. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2009.04.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Döring, N. (2012). Internet sexuality. In Z. Yan (Ed.), Encyclopedia of cyber behavior (pp. 807–827). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Eleuteri, S., Tripodi, F., Petruccelli, I., Rossi, R., & Simonelli, C. (2014). Questionnaires and scales for the evaluation of the online sexual activities: A review of 20 years of research. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace,. doi:10.5817/CP2014-1-2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esmer, Y. R., & Pettersson, T. (2007). Measuring and mapping cultures: 25 years of comparative value surveys. Leiden: Brill.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Goodson, P., McCormick, D., & Evans, A. (2001). Searching for sexually explicit materials on the Internet: An exploratory study of college students’ behavior and attitudes. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30, 101–118. doi:10.1023/A:1002724116437.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, C. (2001). Imagining new narratives of youth: Youth research, the “new Europe” and global youth culture. Childhood, 8, 147–166. doi:10.1177/0907568201008002002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grov, C., Breslow, A. S., Newcomb, M. E., Rosenberger, J. G., & Bauermeister, J. A. (2014). Gay and bisexual men’s use of the Internet: Research from the 1990s through 2013. Journal of Sex Research, 51, 390–409. doi:10.1080/00224499.2013.871626.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Grov, C., Gillespie, B. J., Royce, T., & Lever, J. (2011). Perceived consequences of casual online sexual activities on heterosexual relationships: A U.S. online survey. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 429–439. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9598-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Helsper, E. J. (2010). Gendered Internet use across generations and life stages. Communication Research, 37, 352–374. doi:10.1177/0093650209356439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillier, L., & Harrison, L. (2007). Building realities less limited than their own: Young people practising same-sex attraction on the Internet. Sexualities, 10, 82–100. doi:10.1177/1363460707072956.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R., & Baker, W. E. (2000). Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review, 65, 19–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R., & Welzel, C. (2005). Modernization, cultural change, and democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kunnuji, M. (2011). Risk-bearing sexuality within the context of internet use among young people in Lagos metropolis. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3, 111–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lever, J., Grov, C., Royce, T., & Gillespie, B. J. (2008). Searching for love in all the “write” places: Exploring Internet personals use by sexual orientation, gender, and age. International Journal of Sexual Health, 20, 233–246. doi:10.1080/19317610802411532.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lunney, G. H. (1970). Using analysis of variance with a dichotomous dependent variable: An empirical study. Journal of Educational Measurement, 7, 263–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, P. L., & Gardner, R. C. (2000). Type I error rate comparisons of post hoc procedures for i j chi square tables. Educational Psychological Measurement, 60, 735–754. doi:10.1177/00131640021970871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minichiello, V., Scott, J., & Callander, D. (2013). New pleasures and old dangers: Reinventing male sex work. Journal of Sex Research, 50, 263–275. doi:10.1080/00224499.2012.760189.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mondin, A. (2014). Fair-trade porn + niche markets + feminist audience. Porn Studies, 1, 189–192. doi:10.1080/23268743.2014.888251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mustanski, B. S., Newcomb, M. E., Du Bois, S. N., Garcia, S. C., & Grov, C. (2011). HIV in young men who have sex with men: A review of epidemiology, risk, and protective factors, and interventions. Journal of Sex Research, 48, 218–253. doi:10.1080/00224499.2011.558645.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nip, J. Y. M. (2004). The relationship between online and offline communities: The case of the queer sisters. Media, Culture and Society, 26, 409–428. doi:10.1177/0163443704042262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, J. L., & Hyde, J. S. (2010). A meta-analytic review of research on gender differences in sexuality, 1993-2007. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 21–38. doi:10.1037/a0017504.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Podlas, K. (2000). Mistresses of their domain: How female entrepreneurs in cyberporn are initiating a gender power shift. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 3, 847–854. doi:10.1089/10949310050191827.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schauer, T. (2005). Women’s porno: The heterosexual female gaze in porn sites “for women”. Sexuality and Culture, 9, 42–64. doi:10.1007/s12119-005-1007-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, A. (2005). A model of sexual constraint and sexual emancipation. Sociological Perspectives, 48, 225–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaughnessy, K., & Byers, E. S. (2013). Seeing the forest with the trees: Cybersex as a case study of single-item versus multi-item measures of sexual behaviour. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 45, 220–229. doi:10.1037/a0031331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaughnessy, K., & Byers, E. S. (2014). Contextualizing cybersex experience: Heterosexually identified men and women’s desire for and experiences with cybersex with three types of partners. Computers in Human Behavior, 32, 178–185. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.12.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaughnessy, K., Byers, E. S., Clowater, S. L., & Kalinowski, A. (2014). Self-appraisals of arousal-oriented online sexual activities in university and community samples. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 1187–1197. doi:10.1007/s10508-013-0115-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaughnessy, K., Byers, E. S., & Walsh, L. (2011). Online sexual activity experience of heterosexual students: Gender similarities and differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 419–427. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9629-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, L., & Daneback, K. (2013). Adolescents’ use of the Internet for sex education: A thematic and critical review of the literature. International Journal of Sexual Health, 25, 305–319. doi:10.1080/19317611.2013.823899.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. D., & Grov, C. (2011). In the company of men: Inside the lives of male prostitutes. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Velezmoro, R., Negy, C., & Livia, J. (2012). Online sexual activity: Cross-national comparison between United States and Peruvian college students. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 1015–1025. doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9862-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, B. E., & Twenge, J. M. (2005). Changes in young people’s sexual behavior and attitudes, 1943–1999: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 9, 249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiederman, M. W. (1999). Volunteer bias in sexuality research using college student samples. Journal of Sex Research, 36, 59–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiederman, M. W. (2005). The gendered nature of sexual scripts. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 13, 496–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, L., & Zheng, Y. (2014). Online sexual activity in mainland China: Relationship to sexual sensation seeking and sociosexuality. Computers in Human Behavior, 36, 323–329. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.03.062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the following individuals who helped with this study: Linda Agyemang, Susan Voyer, and Sarah Vannier. Finally, a special thanks to our participants. Without them, this study would not have been possible.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Media and Communication Science, Ilmenau University of Technology, Ehrenbergstraße 29, 98693, Ilmenau, Germany

    Nicola Döring

  2. Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden

    Kristian Daneback

  3. School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Krystelle Shaughnessy

  4. Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of CUNY, The Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training, New York, NY, USA

    Christian Grov

  5. Department of Psychology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada

    E. Sandra Byers

Authors
  1. Nicola Döring
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kristian Daneback
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Krystelle Shaughnessy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Christian Grov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. E. Sandra Byers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicola Döring.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Items and operational definitions of the online sexual activity (OSA) prevalence and frequency measure
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Döring, N., Daneback, K., Shaughnessy, K. et al. Online Sexual Activity Experiences Among College Students: A Four-Country Comparison. Arch Sex Behav 46, 1641–1652 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0656-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0656-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation