Oral-Genital Contact and the Meaning of “Had Sex”: The Role of Social Desirability

Abstract

Previous studies have found that a large proportion of college students do not consider oral-genital contact as having “had sex.” In all studies, the questions posed were hypothetical. In the present study, university students were asked about their own personal sexual experiences. From a large pool of participants, two subgroups were identified: those who responded “No” to having “had sex” but responded “Yes” to having had oral-genital contact (No–Yes), and those who responded “Yes” to having had both sex and oral-genital contact (Yes–Yes). None of the participants in these two subgroups self-reported vaginal or anal intercourse. The No–Yes group was significantly higher in social desirability (p