Data from the Multigenerational Experiences With and Attitudes About Casual Sex Survey (2010 - 2014)

The charts below are excerpts from the far larger, ongoing Multigenerational Experiences With and Attitudes About Casual Sex Survey I have been collecting responses to since 2010. The data below reflects responses given as of 6/8/2014. It is a broad, international survey, with the age of respondents varying from as young as 16 to over 90 years old, representing a diverse array of genders, orientations, and other kinds of identity⁠ . It includes both people who have taken part in casual sex⁠ and those who never have. At the current time, over 10,000 people have responded. Tables 4 and 5 are from a follow-up survey of fewer respondents (1,865 responses).You will see with each excerpt in the images below how many people responded to each question.

If you're interested in taking part yourself, you can find that survey here, and the follow-up here. You are welcome to cite data listed on this page within fair use, and with a proper citation and link to this URL.

This research is for a book, so data may or may not be released as a whole online, and if so, will not likely be released for some time. It also should not be considered complete, as the survey is still running and the data has not been evaluated yet by an outside source. I am not currently releasing all of the data to anyone, but if you would like to use or ask about some limited portion of it, feel free to contact me for information or permissions.

This data is listed here as a part of Casual...Cool? Making Choices About Casual Sex. To go back to that piece, click here!

Table 1:

sm_cs_1

Your sexual experiences/partnerships have been: (10,662 responses)

ONLY casual: 5%
Both casual and non-casual: 79%
ONLY non-casual: 16%

Table 2:

Attitudes About Casual Sex Before/Without Particiating In It

If you have had casual sex, were your ideas about casual sex before having it (6,484 responses):

Only negative: 1%
Mostly negative: 7%
Somewhat negative: 15%
Neutral: 24%
Somewhat positive: 14%
Mostly positive: 21%
Only positive: 4%
N/A: 13%

Table 3:

sm_cs_4

If you have had casual sex, are your ideas about casual sex after participating in it (6,484 responses):

Only negative: >1%
Mostly negative: 4%
Somewhat negative: 10%
Neutral: 17%
Somewhat positive: 17%
Mostly positive: 35%
Only positive: 4%
N/A: 13%

Table 4:

sm_cs_noncas

Overall, how would you describe your NON-CASUAL sexual experiences?(1,661 responses):

Very Positive: 21%
Mostly positive: 51%
Somewhat positive: 12%
Neutral/varied: 9%
Somewhat negative: 3%
Mostly negative: 1%
Very negative: >1%
I have not had any non-casual sex: 2%

Table 5:

sm_cs_cas

Overall, how would you describe your CASUAL sexual experiences?(1,661 responses):

Very Positive: 13%
Mostly positive: 43%
Somewhat positive: 14%
Neutral/varied: 9%
Somewhat negative: 4%
Mostly negative: 3%
Very negative: 2%
I have not had any casual sex experiences: 12%

Table 6:

sm_cs_7_pt1 sm_cs_7_pt2

Which of the following has usually been positive, neutral or negative for you in casual sex (6,484 responses):

Feeling free and/or uninhibited: 65% positive/ 16% neutral / 3% negative / 16% N/A
Not having a commitment or obligation: 57% positive/ 23% neutral / 7% negative / 14% N/A
Knowing if it/the partner⁠ wasn't a good fit, I could easily walk away: 63% positive/ 18% neutral / 2% negative / 16% N/A
Knowing if it/I wasn't a good fit, a partner could easily walk away: 40% positive/ 29% neutral / 15% negative / 16% N/A
The feeling of taking a risk: 43% positive/ 28% neutral / 13% negative / 16% N/A
Being able to explore a sexual fantasy⁠ : 52% positive/ 22% neutral / 3% negative / 24% N/A
Feeling like I was breaking the rules: 40% positive/ 30% neutral / 6% negative / 24% N/A
Feeling adventurous: 70% positive/ 12% neutral / 1% negative / 16% N/A
Being able to have partners on the down-low: 26% positive/ 21% neutral / 5% negative / 47% N/A
Being able to explore something sexual⁠ without worrying a partner would ask for it again: 31% positive/ 30% neutral / 3% negative / 36% N/A
Feeling in control: 41% positive/ 31% neutral / 3% negative / 24% N/A
Feeling out⁠ of control: 21% positive/ 29% neutral / 21% negative / 29% N/A
Exploring a persona/part of my identity I didn't feel I could otherwise: 42% positive/ 24% neutral / 2% negative / 32% N/A
Being able to choose to be by myself after sex: 43% positive/ 26% neutral / 5% negative / 26% N/A