Religious Group Differences in Sexual Attitudes

As a student enrolled in a particularly large state university, I am consistently exposed to numerous individuals who hold different belief and value systems that guide their lives on a daily basis. One of the most fundamental systems that people adopt is a religious belief, varying widely from the Atheist to the Buddhist to the Christian, and these beliefs have the potential to have a profound impact on many of the key elements of a human experience, one of the most important being the sexual experience. Researchers have long sought out relationships between factors of different religious beliefs and practices and their effect on the individual’s approach to sexuality, finding varying results (Ahrold 619).

In a study conducted at the University of Texas, researchers asked 1413 students to fill out a questionnaire analyzing the “religious group differences in sexual attitudes and sexual fantasy”, as well as the differences of attitudes and fantasies across different domains of religion, such as spirituality, fundamentalism, intrinsic religiosity, and paranormal beliefs (Ahrold 621). After conducting the study and using statistical techniques to analyze the results, the researchers were left with a plethora of data that pertained to many different subsets of religion and sexuality. One of the results I found important to sexuality today was stated “In men, compared to women, there was a less significant effect of both religious group and individual differences in measures of religiosity”, illustrating that the variation of religious factors could be less accountable for the sexuality of males (628). In contrast, women had a wider variation and exhibited many contrasts, such as “significant differences between religious and non-re...

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...ity. I also wish to question these participants about the differences between forms of religious sub factors, such as spirituality and intrinsic qualities, in order to gain insight on their relation to sexual cognitions and behaviors. Lastly, I intend to ask questions concerning the relation between religious affiliations in sexual behaviors versus sexual cognitions. I am expecting generally reserved, yet informative answers due to the sensitive nature of the interview topic. I will find participants through a convenience sample, interviewing only those who are comfortable responding the questions.

Works Cited

Ahrold, Tierney K. Farmer, Melissa Trapnell, Paul D. Meston, Cindy M. “The Relationship

Among Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Fantasy, and Religiosity.” Archives of Sexual Behavior

40.3 (2011): 619-630. Web. 31 Jan. 2012.