Sexual diversity in urban Norwegians
The Journal of Sex Research
New York
Nov 2002
Authors:
Authors:
Authors:
Volume:
Issue:
Pagination:
ISSN:
Subject Terms:
Bente Traeen
Hein Stigum
Dagfinn Sorensen
39
4
249-258
00224499
Homosexuality
Love
Behavior
Geographic Names: Norway
Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to describe homosexual and heterosexual experiences in
terms of sexual fantasies, sexual attraction, sexual conduct, and falling in love in an urban
Norwegian population. In 1997, a random sample of 5, 000 persons (18-49 years) was
drawn from the population register in Oslo to participate in a sexual behavior survey. Data
collection was carried out by means of postal questionnaires and 45% responded. The
results indicated that exclusive homosexuality was rare in the population. One exception
was the prevalence of homosexual fantasies in women. Compared to respondents who
had had exclusively heterosexual contact, respondents reporting bisexual contacts had a
significantly higher number of lifetime sex partners, higher frequency of anal and oral sex
and masturbation, and lower age at orgasm and masturbation debut. What significantly
separated the groups of exclusive heterosexuals, bisexuals, and exclusive homosexuals
were attitudes towards various expressions of sexuality and number of lifetime sex
partners. Copyright Society for the Scientific Study of Sex Nov 2002
Full Text:
The purpose of this study is to describe homosexual and heterosexual experiences in
terms of sexual fantasies, sexual attraction, sexual conduct, and falling in love in an urban
Norwegian population. In 1997, a random sample of 5,000 persons (18-49 years) was
drawn from the population register in Oslo to participate in a sexual behavior survey. Data
collection was carried out by means of postal questionnaires and 45% responded. The
results indicated that exclusive homosexuality was rare in the population. One exception
was the prevalence of homosexual fantasies in women. Compared to respondents who
had had exclusively heterosexual contact, respondents reporting bisexual contacts had a
significantly higher number of lifetime sex partners, higher frequency of anal and oral sex
and masturbation, and lower age at orgasm and masturbation debut. What significantly
separated the groups of exclusive heterosexuals, bisexuals, and exclusive homosexuals
were attitudes towards various expressions of sexuality and number of lifetime sex
partners.
This research was supported by the Ministry of Social and Health Affaires, the Norwegian
Research Council, and Wyeth Lederle Norway.
Address correspondence to Bente Traeen, Department of Psychology, University of
Tromso, 9037 Tromso, Norway; e-mail: bentet@psyk.uit.no.
Expressions of sexuality have been shown to vary according to historical period, as well as
between and within different societies and cultures. Culture shapes sexual beings, and
what is perceived as normal, natural, true, good, bad, right, or wrong is connected to
culture-specific norms, rules, values, and expectancies. No two cultures have exactly the
same expressions of homosexuality. For instance, the least homosexual behavior is
observed in countries with the least acceptance of homosexuality (Sandfort, 1998). During
the past decades there has been a growing social acceptance of homosexuality in
Norway, as reflected by recent legislation. In 1993, the Norwegian parliament granted
lesbian and homosexual couples the same rights and responsibilities that heterosexual
couples automatically receive through marriage, except the right to adopt children and to
be married in the church.
Between 1987 and 1997, the number of Norwegians who reported ever having sexual
contact with a person of the same gender increased from 4% to 5% among men, and from
3% to 6% among women (Stigum, Tren, & Magnus, 2000). However, the prevalence of
homosexual behavior is likely to be higher in larger cities than in a country as a whole
(Sandfort, 1998; Wellings, Wadsworth, and Johnson, 1994). Practicing homosexuality is
probably easier in urban than in rural areas, in the sense that the social control of sexuality
is less strict and visible in a big city. Also, there are more places in a city for homosexual
people to meet and socialize. Life in a city is likely to allow for greater anonymity and as
such allow for sexual diversity (Wellings et al., 1994). This does not exclude the existence
of pockets of the urban population with unrealized homosexual desires. However, to
explore this possibility further, sexual behavior surveys in representative samples of the
population are necessary.
Gagnon and Simon (1977) have claimed that sexual behavior surveys are important in
providing an empirical framework for recognition of sexual diversity. The term diversity
here refers to a broad spectrum of sexual expressions, and no more value is attached to
the one or the other. Thus sexual diversity can be expressed through specific behaviors,
attitudes, feelings, and preferences, including the choice of gender of the person being
sexually engaged with. Gender of the sex partner is, however, closely connected to the
concept of sexual orientation, which is commonly perceived as a stable part of personality,
including not only sexual feelings and behaviors but also feelings of love, commitment, and
other relational aspects (Sell, 1997). Sexual diversity may thus be confused with sexual
orientation. In population surveys, it is often the prevalence of same-gender and oppositegender sexual contact that is measured, rather than sexual orientation. Some people
report exclusively heterosexual contacts, others exclusively homosexual contacts, and still
others bisexual contacts. The reporting may be indicative of sexual orientation, but the
extent to which sexual behavior in itself can be used to define sexual orientation remains
uncertain (Sell, 1997). As shown in several general population studies on sexual behavior,
the number of people reporting exclusively homosexual contact is small (Sandfort, 1998).
In his extensive analysis of homosexual and bisexual behavior in European countries,
Sandfort (1998) concludes that most people with homosexual experience have also had
heterosexual experience in some form at some point in their lives. A form of bisexuality
prevalent in early adulthood may represent a traditional phase in which preferences are
tested through experimentation with different lifestyles and relationships (Wellings et al.,
1994). The question in the present study is not when or how often a particular individual
has chosen the same or opposite sex as the objects) of his or her sexual attention; rather,
this study aims to explore the extent to which people report exclusively or mostly to have
had sexual feelings for and/or have had sex with persons of the same gender and opposite
gender.
Sandfort (1998) concluded that little is known about respondents who report homosexual
experience in population studies. Stokes, Variable, and McKirnan (1997) also concluded
that little is known about what distinguishes exclusively homosexual persons from bisexual
persons. This study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge in these areas. In past
decades it has become more and more common to regard the choice of same-gender sex
partners as part of a broad spectrum of sexual expressions (Wellings et al., 1994). The
present study aims to investigate sexual diversity in groups of the urban Norwegian
population. The terms exclusively homosexual, exclusively heterosexual, and bisexual will
be used in the text to describe subgroups of the population. However, this is not
necessarily equivalent to sexual orientation. To avoid the theoretically problematic concept
of sexual orientation and at the same time broaden the concept of sexual experience, the
gender-relative part of the expression of sexual diversity is operationalized as four different
aspects of gender preference: sexual fantasies about, having sexual conduct with, and
falling in love with.
The purpose of this study is thus to explore sexual diversity in urban Norwegians. One
guiding question is what is the prevalence of sexual experience in terms of having sexual
fantasies about, feeling sexual attraction toward, having sex with, and falling in love with
persons of the same gender? Another question is what is the relationship between these
four different aspects of sexual diversity, and are they influenced by the same factors
related to social background, attitudes, and lifestyles?
METHODS
Study Sample
In November 1997, the Central Bureau of Statistics drew a random sample of 5,000
persons aged 18-49 years residing in Norway's capital, Oslo, from the national population
register to participate in a survey on sexual behavior, the use of contraception, and
lifestyle (Central Bureau of Statistics, 1997). Data was obtained by postal, anonymous,
self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire contained questions referring to social
background, lifestyle, leisure-time activities, alcohol consumption, type and amount of
sexual experience, use of STD protection and birth control, beliefs about the use of oral
contraception (OC), and attitudes toward sexuality. Most of the questions were of a
multiple-choice type. Several of the questions were identical to those used in recent
studies of sexual behavior in Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom (Johnson,
Wadsworth, Wellings, & Field, 1994; Kontula & Haavio-Mannila, 1995; Lewin, Fugl-Meyer,
Helmius, Lalos, & Mansson, 1997). One reminder was sent to all individuals during the
ensuing two weeks.
Of the original study sample, 199 individuals did not receive the questionnaire because
they were dead, had moved permanently out of the city, or lived in institutions. Of the
4,801 persons in the remaining sample, 2,135 answered the questionnaire, giving a
response rate of 44.5%. The response rate was lower among men than among women,
lowest among 18- to 24-year-olds, and highest among 30- to 34-year-olds. The response
rate was 60.6% among persons with university education, compared to 30.7% among
persons with 9 years or less of formal education.
Statistical Analyses
In the statistical analyses of the data, SPSS 10.0 was employed. In addition to contingency
table analysis, discriminant analysis and exploratory factor analysis were applied to
analyze the different problems under study.
Factor analysis is frequently used to study underlying structure or basic dimensions of a
set of variables (Kim & Mueller, 1978). Furthermore, factor analysis is a method of
condensing a larger set of observed variables into a smaller number of conceptual
variables, designated factors, or dimensions. These factors or dimensions have
themselves not been directly observed. The factor loadings for each variable indicate the
strength of association with each of the factors. The results of the analysis were reported
in terms of a varimax rotated factor matrix.
To explore the differences in lifestyle, attitudes, and behavior between heterosexuals,
homosexuals, and bisexuals, discriminant analyses were performed on six groups of
respondents: men and women with exclusively heterosexual experiences, men and
women with exclusively homosexual experiences, and men and women with bisexual
experiences. The variables were entered stepwise into the analysis by Wilk's lambda
method; that is, at each step the variable that resulted in the smallest Wilk's lambda for the
discriminant function was selected for entry (Klecka, 1980). A lambda of 1 occurs when the
mean of the discriminant scores is the same in all groups and there is no between-groups
variability. Wilk's lambda provides a test of the null hypothesis that the population means
are equal. The larger lambda is, the less discriminating power is present.
In discriminant analysis certain assumptions about the data must be met. First, each group
must be a sample from a multivariate normal population. Second, the population
covariance matrices must be equal. Discriminant analysis assumes that the variables are
jointly normally distributed. If some of the variables in the analysis have markedly
nonnormal distributions, as is the case in this study, one must take into account that the
multivariate normality assumption may be violated. To test for equality of the group
covariance matrices, we performed Box's M test.
Variables
Sexual diversity. The questions on sexual diversity in this survey were adopted from the
Swedish Sexual Behaviour Survey (MAnsson, 1997). Homosexual experiences were
assessed in terms of fantasies, attraction, behavior, and love. The questions were
developed as a version of the Kinsey Scale of Sexual Orientation (Kinsey, Pomeroy, &
Martin, 1948; Sell, 1997) and read as follows: (a) "When you think about the persons you
have had sexual fantasies about, which gender have they had?"; (b) "When you think
about the persons you have been sexually attracted to, which gender have they had?", (c)
"When you think about the persons you have had sex with, which gender have they had?";
and (d) "When you think about the persons you have been in love with, which gender have
they been?" For each of these questions the response categories were I = always women;
2 = most often women, sometimes men; 3 = equally often men and women; 4 = most often
men, sometimes women; and 5 = always men. We created a new variable with the
categories I = exclusively opposite gender, 2 = bisexual, and 3 = exclusively homosexual.
Lifestyle. According to Gullestad (1989), Norwegian lifestyles are influenced by
international trends. At the same time they are strongly connected to our country's history
and living conditions. Apart from cooking and dressing, Norwegians tend to emphasize
creating a personal home decoration. The symbolic value of these elements is high, and
many put a lot of emotional effort and money into them. As Norwegians generally have a
tendency to compare themselves to others of the same social status and situation as
themselves, the following question was asked to measure lifestyle in this survey: "Do you
think you spend more money than most people do on any of the following articles?" The
respondents could make a mark for 26 different activities; a mark was interpreted as a yes,
and no mark was interpreted as a no. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in eight
factors. However, as two of these factors were difficult to interpret, a six-factor solution
was chosen. A varimax rotated principal component analysis resulted in the following
dimensions of lifestyle (n = 2,135):
1. Factor 1-Restaurants (Eigenvalue 2.3, variance 8.7%, Cronbach's alpha = 0.65): dining
at restaurants (factor score 0.70); pubs, bars, cafes (factor score 0.67); clothes (factor
score 0.48); travelling (factor score 0.47); cinema (factor score 0.38).
2. Factor 2-House and Home (Eigenvalue 2.1, variance 7.9%, Cronbach's alpha = 0.57):
house and home (factor score 0.64); permanent partner (factor score 0.55); motors, cars,
equipment (factor score 0.53); computers, electronic equipment (factor score 0.51);
cooking at home (factor score 0.49); boats (factor score 0.37).
3. Factor 3-Art and Culture (Eigenvalue 2.0, variance 7.7%, Cronbach's alpha = 0.54):
theatre (factor score 0.73); opera (factor score 0.69); arts (factor score 0.53); books (factor
score 0.46); quality wines (factor score 0.37).
4. Factor 4-Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll (Eigenvalue 2.0, variance 7.5%, Cronbach's
alpha = 0.52): illegal drugs (factor score 0.61); dance, disco (factor score 0.61), alcohol
(factor score 0.55); casual partners (factor score 0.51); music (factor score 0.38).
5. Factor 5-Beauty and Health (Eigenvalue 1.7, variance 6.4%, Cronbach's alpha = 0.44):
cosmetics and hygiene products (factor score 0.62); healthy products (factor score 0.62);
healthy food (factor score 0.53).
6. Factor 6-Physical Activity (Eigenvalue 1.4, variance 5.5%, Cronbach's alpha = 0.53):
outdoor leisure time activities (factor score 0.76); physical exercise or activities and
equipment (factor score 0.73).
Attitudes toward expressions of sexuality. As an introduction to the eight questions on
attitudes towards various expressions of sexuality, the respondents read the following text:
"The expressions of sexuality are shown to vary, and people become sexually stimulated
by different things. Below follows some descriptions of certain things one may become
sexually aroused by. We want to know what you think about each of these things: Is there
something you may want to do yourself, something you do not want to do yourself but can
accept that others do-for instance your partner-or is it something you think is absolutely
unacceptable?" The response categories were "would want to do it myself"; "would not
want to do it myself, but would accept it if my partner wanted to"; "would not want to do it
myself and cannot accept my partner doing it, but I accept that others functions this way";
and "unacceptable." In this study a varimax rotated principal component analysis resulted
in the following two attitude dimensions (n = 1,993):
1. Factor ]-Socially Acceptable Expressions of Sexuality (Eigenvalue 2.1, variance 26.2%,
Cronbach's alpha = 0.65): being positive toward becoming sexually stimulated by persons
of the same gender (factor score 0.68; 21% of the respondents claimed this was
unacceptable to them), dominance and submission (factor score 0.68; 22% of the
respondents claimed this was unacceptable to them), cross-dressing (factor score 0.67;
25% of the respondents claimed this was unacceptable to them), and shoes and
underwear (factor score 0.66; 25% of the respondents claimed this was unacceptable to
them).
2. Factor 2-Socially Unacceptable Expressions of Sexuality (Eigenvalue 2.0, variance 25.
1 %, Cronbach's alpha = 0.63): being positive toward becoming sexually stimulated by violence (factor score 0.78; 89% of the respondents claimed this was unacceptable to them),
flashing of the naked body (factor score 0.70; 69% of the respondents claimed this was
unacceptable to them), pain (factor score 0.61: 53% of the respondents claimed this was
unacceptable to them), and spying on what others do sexually (factor score 0.58; 51% of
the respon-dents claimed this was unacceptable to them).
RESULTS
Table 1 shows the percentage of the respondents who reported experience with the four
different aspects of sexual diversity, by gender. A total of 92.5% reported to have been in
love with only persons of the opposite gender, 90.9% had had sex with only the opposite
gender, 87.9% reported to have felt sexually attracted to only the opposite gender, and
75.9% had fantasized about having sex with only the opposite gender. More women than
men reported never to have had bisexual fantasies or felt homosexual attraction, but there
was no gender difference in bisexual contact and love. More men than women reported
exclusively homosexual experiences. Very few respondents reported experiences equally
often with partners of the same and opposite genders.
[IMAGE TABLE] Captioned as: Table 1.
[IMAGE TABLE] Captioned as: Table 2
With one exception, there was no statistically significant difference in the reporting on the
four different aspects of sexual diversity, by age group or by level of education. The
exception was the bivariate relationship between age and sexual conduct. Bisexual
experience increased from 4.8% among the 18- to 24-year-olds to 11.1% among the 40- to
44-- year-olds, and decreased to 7.4% in the age group of 45 to 49 years. Although not
statistically significant, people with low education were more likely to report homosexual
experience than were people with high education.
To see if the four different measures of sexual diversity were overlapping, we performed a
correlation analysis. All correlations were high. The strongest correlation was found
between the gender of persons having had sex with and the gender of persons having
been sexually attracted to (Pearson's r = 0.85), and the least strong correlation was
between the gender of persons having had sexual fantasies about and the gender of
persons having been in love with (Pearson's r = 0.74).
When comparing groups of respondents who had experienced exclusively heterosexual
conduct, bisexual conduct, and exclusively homosexual conduct on various behavioral
measures, some differences emerged (Table 2). Compared to respondents who had had
exclusively heterosexual contact, respondents reporting exclusively homosexual contact
had a statistically significant longer time interval since the most recent intercourse, a
higher frequency of anal sex (males) and masturbation during the past 30 days, and a
lower age at orgasm debut. Note that the mean estimates for exclusively homosexual
contact are calculated on the basis of 22 to 26 men and six to eight women. The estimates
thus express mainly male, and not female, behavior.
Compared to respondents classified as exclusively heterosexual, those classified as
bisexual reported a higher number of lifetime partners and partners during the past 12
months, longer time since most recent intercourse, higher monthly frequency of
masturbation and oral and anal sex, lower age of masturbation and orgasm debut, and a
higher number of sexual activities performed during the most recent intercourse. When
comparing respondents in the homosexual and bisexual group, only one statistically
significant difference emerged. Those classified as bisexuals reported a higher median
number of lifetime partners than did those classified as homosexuals. However, some in
the homosexual group reported very high numbers, so their mean was higher. A
cumulative plot was performed, and this plot showed that the highest number of lifetime
partners was among the homosexuals. Also, the standard deviation was higher in the
homosexual than in the bisexual group, indicating greater variation among those in the
group of exclusive homosexuals. It is interesting to note that the median number of lifetime
partners of bisexuals is almost exactly double that of the exclusively heterosexual or
homosexual groups. This seems to underpin Woody Allen's words that "by being bisexual
you double your chances for Saturday night."
To explore the differences in attitudes, lifestyle, and sexual behavior between respondents
classified as heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual, discriminant analyses were
performed for each of the outcome variables. The results from these analyses in terms of
Wilk's lambda of the functions, the group centroids, and the standardized canonical
discriminant function coefficients of the variables included in the model are presented in
Table 3. The standardized canonical discriminant function coefficients show the relative
association between the discriminating variables and the discriminant functions. Except for
the analysis on sexual conduct among men, two statistically significant discriminant
functions were identified (see Wilk's lambda). Among women, the second discriminant
factor of the four outcome variables was not statistically significant.
In all four analyses, the first discriminant function was dominated by variables on attitudes
towards expressions of sexuality (in men and women), frequency of anal intercourse (in
men), and dimensions of lifestyle (in men). For this reason the first discriminant function
was called attitudes & lifestyle. As can be seen from the magnitude of the standardized
canonical discriminant coefficients across the four different analyses, the second
discriminant function was dominated by the variable on number of lifetime partners. In
accordance with this finding, the discriminant function was called sexual history. However,
this latter function carries much less weight and its importance should not be
overemphasized. Box's test of equality of covariance matrices was performed to test the
null hypothesis of equal population covariance matrices in each discriminant analysis. All
tests were statistically significant, leading us to reject the null hypothesis.
To focus more on the group differences, the group centroids were studied. Group
centroids are the mean discriminant scores for each group on the respective functions.
The centroids summarize the group locations in space defined by the discriminant
functions. This is visualized in Figure 1, where the group centroids are plotted on a graph
defined by the two discriminant functions in each of the four analyses. Note that the axes
do not have exactly the same definition in all eight cases.
For all four outcome variables, heterosexual men and women grouped in the direction of
the negative pole but close to the point of intersection between the two function lines on
the attitudes & lifestyle function, and close to the point of intersection between the two
functions on the sexual history function. In terms of love, fantasies, sex, and attraction,
exclusively homosexual men (denoted gay men in Figure 1) grouped close to the positive
pole on both functions. Exclusively homosexual women (denoted lesbians in Figure 1)
grouped close to the positive pole on the attitudes & lifestyle function, and to the negative
pole on the sexual history function for all aspects of sexual diversity (except sexual
fantasies where lesbians grouped close to the positive pole on function 2). In terms of love,
sex, and attraction, bisexual men and women tended to group close to the positive pole on
the attitude and lifestyle function. However, bisexual men grouped on the negative pole on
the sexual history function and bisexual women grouped close to zero. As indicated by
Wilk's lambda for function 2, little between-groups variability on sexual conduct, attraction,
and love existed among the groups of women.
DISCUSSION
The results from our study show that the great majority of the respondents claim they have
exclusively heterosexual experiences, but a small group of people who have collected
various types of homosexual experiences also exist parallel to this majority. Our results
have shown that except for homosexual fantasies in women, homosexual experiences in
terms of love, attraction, and actual contact is rare in the population. Exclusive
homosexual experiences appear to be even more rare than bisexual experiences. Before
discussing these findings in detail, a comment on response bias and generalizability is
appropriate since the low response rate may pose a problem for comparison with other
studies if nonresponses are selective.
[IMAGE TABLE] Captioned as: Table 3.
[IMAGE CHART] Captioned as: Figure 1.
Sexual behavior studies among representative samples of 10,000 Norwegians were
performed in 1987, 1992, and 1997. The response rate in this study was lower than in the
sexual behavior surveys in 1987 (63%) and in 1992 (48%), but higher that that in 1997
(38%; Stigum, Magnus, Harris, Samuelsen, & Bakketeig, 1997; Stigum et al., 2000). The
previous studies in 1987 and 1992 indicate that response bias is not a major problem in
this kind of sexual survey (Stigum, 1997; Stigum et al., 1997; Stigum, Magnus, Veierod, &
Bakketeig, 1995). In the 1992 study, a subsample survey to assess response bias was
performed. A short questionnaire asking whether the recipient had responded to the
original survey was sent to 2,000 of the original 10,000 subjects. The majority of subjects
gave reasons for not responding that were generally unrelated to differences in sexual
behavior. The 1992 survey also kept track of the date the questionnaires were received.
The distribution fell into two easily distinguishable parts: before and after reminders were
sent. Several measures of sexual behavior were the same in the two groups. The
underlying interpretation was that the three groups-response before reminders, response
after reminders, and nonresponse-represented increasing magnitude of "unwillingness to
respond." In this terminology, a bias occurs if the variable of interest is associated with
unwillingness to respond. If the two first groups are similar with respect to the variables of
interest, then we expect responders and nonresponders also to be similar. A Danish
survey on sexual behavior also found similar patterns for the group that responded before
and the group that responded after a reminder (Melbye & Biggar, 1992). Comparison with
other studies on sexual behavior in Norway, Sweden, and Finland also suggests that
nonresponse is close to random with respect to sexual behavior (Kontula & Haavio-Mannila, 1995; Lewin et al., 1997; Stigum et al.. 1997). The findings from this survey show
no dramatic deviance from these studies, for instance with regard to the proportion having
experience of sexual intercourse and use of condoms. That the majority of the
respondents had medium or higher education is most likely due to the fact that the majority
of Oslo's population has medium or higher education (Central Bureau of Statistics, 1997).
In Oslo, 9.4% of the population has lower education, 47.7% has medium education, and
42.6% has higher education. To further explore the generalizability of our results, we used
unpublished data from subsamples of the 1987 to 1997 National Institute for Public
Health's sexual behavior surveys as comparison. Of persons 18 to 49 years old with
residence in Oslo, the following percentages reported homosexual experience: 7.1% in
1987 (7.5% men, 6.6% women, n = 550, p > 0.05), 11.7% in 1992 (15.1% men, 9.3%
women, n = 480, p < 0.05) and 10.2% in 1997 (8.1% men, 11.6% women, n = 512, p >
0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the reporting between the three
surveys (p < 0.05).1 In our Oslo study, 9.1% reported homosexual conduct (10.3% of the
men, 7.8% of the women).
Some remarks on the possibility of information bias shall also be made. How
homosexuality is viewed socially is likely to influence the responses to the questions we
asked (Wellings et al., 1994). People with homosexual experiences may have been less
willing to participate in the survey. Furthermore, since homosexuality in Norway still must
be characterized as being socially stigmatized, it is likely to be underreported rather than
overreported. However, it is likely that attitudes towards homosexuality have become more
liberal in the wake of the AIDS epidemic. Accordingly, the percentage reporting
homosexual experience is higher in the 1990s than in the 1980s (Stigum et al., 2000).
However, we still do not know how large the underreporting is at present. By comparing
with the other sexual behavior surveys, however, we may assume that if underreporting
exists, it seems fairly similar in many countries, and irrespective of whether data were
collected by postal questionnaires or by personal interviews.
On this basis it is concluded that although the low response rate creates the possibility of
selection bias, the 1992 subsample survey, the studies comparing responses given before
and after reminder, and comparison with measures of homosexual experience in other
Norwegian sexual behavior surveys point to nonresponse being nonselective. However, an
information bias in terms of underreporting may exist.
In terms of gender of persons having been in love with, had fantasies about, had sex with,
and felt attracted to, the reporting on exclusive homosexuality was rare, and less
frequently reported by women than by men. This has also been found in other studies
(Sandfort, 1998; Wellings et al., 1994). The gender differences may be explained by the
fact that female sexuality is generally more strictly controlled and sanctioned than male
sexuality is (Sandfort, 1998). However, in this material nearly one in three women reported
having had homosexual fantasies. This is similar to the findings from Sweden (Mansson,
1997). One proposed explanation for the high prevalence among women has been that the
fantasy reflects a common fantasy among heterosexual men about two women and one
man (Mansson, 1997; Stoltenberg, 1990). This so-called menage a trios can be regarded
as part of the heterosexual script. A sexual script names the actors and charts what is
appropriate behavior and in what circumstances this behavior may occur (Gagnon &
Simon, 1977). Within this script, the homosexual behavior takes place with the
(heterosexual) women as actors and the man as a participant observer. The homosexual
conduct may thus also be performed to increase the pleasure of the heterosexual man
(Mansson, 1997). The opposite scenario with two men and an observing woman is likely to
represent a deviation from the valid heterosexual script. This is supported by the fact that
in this material more men (25.1%) than women (3.7%) claim they would accept that their
partner was sexually attracted to a person of the same gender.
It is also likely that the gender differences observed in this study reflect underlying gender
differences in homophobia. It is commonly viewed that men in Western societies are more
afraid of homosexual stigmatization (e.g., when expressing physical affection toward other
men, exposing nakedness in the company of other men, and so forth) than are women
(Schmidt, Klusmann, Zeitzschel, & Large, 1994). Women are commonly socialized into
greater comfort about expressing affection toward others and becoming intimate in
nonsexual contexts, both physically and verbally, regardless of the other person's gender.
Because women have a higher level of intimacy in relations with same-sex persons, one
might think that sexual feelings could more easily enter into the relationships, in terms of
fantasies if not in terms of actual sexual contacts. The latter might be attributed to the
hypothesis that the social control of sexuality is less strict upon fantasies and attraction
than upon behavior.
In this study, age was statistically significantly related only to having had sex with a person
of the same gender: The percentage who had had homosexual conduct was lowest among
the young and highest among those 40 to 44 years old. In their study from the United
Kingdom, Wellings et al. (1994) concluded that the age differences they observed seemed
to reflect a general liberalizing effect of the early 1960s following the deliberalization of the
law against same-sex sexuality. Homosexual experience was thus found to be more a
cohort effect than an age effect (Wellings et al., 1994). The results from this study support
this conclusion.
Although not statistically significant, respondents in this study with low education were
more likely to report homosexual experience than were people with high education. In the
literature, it seems it is most commonly found that the prevalence of homosexual behavior
is highest in the group with high education. One explanation has been that the tolerance
and acceptance for homosexuality increases with social status (Wellings et al., 1994).
However, the nature and direction of this relationship is poorly understood (Sandfort,
1998), and the opposite trend is also reported, or the difference between the various
education groups is not statistically significant.
Even though prevalences of homosexual experiences may be influenced by how
homosexuality is viewed socially, the association between such experiences and
predictors may not suffer negative influences. Homosexual experiences in terms of love,
fantasies, attraction, and contact were connected to and influenced by lifestyle factors and
attitudes toward sexual expressions. Excluding vaginal intercourse, persons who have had
bisexual or exclusively homosexual experiences appear to be more sexually active than
persons exclusively heterosexual do.
We found a decline in the percentage of respondents who reported homosexual
experiences, from fantasies to attraction to sex and lastly to love. In people's perception of
the world, love may be interpreted as signifying a more stable emotional state than the
more situational, physically oriented, and sexually explicit categories of attraction towards,
fantasies about, and sexual contact with. At the same time the correlation between the four
aspects of sexual diversity was very high. The high degree of correlation between sexual
attraction, fantasies, love, and sexual experience is of interest in the context of social and
cultural influences on sexual orientation. It may be that that the stigmatization of
homosexuality would discourage activity and inhibit behavior but not attraction, fantasies,
or love. In the U.K. no major discordance between preference and experience was found.
As in the English study (Wellings et al., 1994), there is no support in our study for the
theory that large proportions of the population harbor unrealized fantasies about samegender sex.
In our study the highest numbers of lifetime partners were found in the homosexual group.
This has also been reported in other studies (Stokes et al., 1997), and may be explained
by contextual or subcultural factors such as acceptance for having causal and anonymous
partners versus lovers. Furthermore, a common finding in sexual behavior studies is a
broad repertoire of sexual acts amongst those with same-gender partners (Wellings et al.,
1994). This finding was partly confirmed in our study. It seems that persons who have had
bisexual contact have a broader sexual repertoire than those who are exclusively
homosexual or heterosexual. The reasons for this difference may be multiple and include
psychological, physiological, and social factors.
Lifestyle may be defined as the distinctive pattern of personal and social behavior
characteristic of an individual or a group (Veal, 1993). Anal intercourse is traditionally
associated with male homosexuality, and may also be interpreted as part of a gay
(subcultural) lifestyle. In this study, lifestyles connected to beauty and health, physical
activity, and art and culture were also shown to differ between groups of heterosexual
men, bisexual men, and homosexual men. It is likely that there is greater tolerance and
acceptance for expressing homosexuality in some environments-ne of these being
intellectual and creative environments-than in others. It may be that the ideology about
equality is more deeply anchored in these groups of the population than in others (Trien &
Hovland, 1998). The Nordic sexual culture is characterized by an ideology of equality
between individuals and groups of individuals (Lewin, 1979). This implies that ideally, men
and women as well as homosexuals and heterosexuals have the same rights to express
their sexuality, and the same duties. There is, however, a discrepancy between the real
and the ideal. This is shown to be the case in sports, where the social climate in several
areas seems rather homophobic (Griffin, 1992; Eng, 1997; Kolnes, 2000; Fasting, 2000).
Homosexual men may thus avoid participation in lifestyles connected to sports.
Lifestyles are shown to be connected to social background factors and to attitudes (Aaro,
1986). Furthermore, attitudes toward sexuality may be regarded as profoundly connected
to an individual's values, opinions, and personality (Lewin & Helmius, 1983). Attitudes
toward what may be termed the socially acceptable expressions of sexuality was the most
significant variable separating groups of exclusively heterosexual, bisexual, and
exclusively homosexual men and women on sexual diversity. However, this does not
necessarily imply that attitudes are the cause of experience-seeking. It may just as well be
that an attitudinal change may take place following experiences (Bem, 1970).
The plotting of the group centroids gives an image of distinct systems of attitudes and
lifestyles, and sexual history, between exclusive heterosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians, and
gay men. The mapping of groups shows the distance between these systems. Of
particular interest is how the exclusive heterosexuals are different from the other groups
on attitudes and lifestyle, and how gay men and lesbians position themselves in different
compartments on the sexual history axis. This may indicate that gay men and lesbian
women accumulate sexual experiences according to different patterns, and a high partner
turnover represents a male rather than a female pattern. In sum, however, it is attitudes
toward various expressions of sexuality which seem most important in separating groups
of persons with and without homosexual experience.
1 It should be noted that homosexual experience in 1987 and in 1992 was measured by
the question "Have you ever had any kind of sexual contact with a person of the same
gender?", with response categories yes and no. In 1997 it was measured the same way as
in this study and recoded to a dichotomous variable in the analysis above.
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Manuscript accepted February 18. 2002