You're not alone with those sex fantasies - study
By Ian Karleff
TORONTO, July 8 (Reuters) - An awful lot of men and women
fantasize about having sex with strangers, flaunting it all in
public or being seduced by an "innocent," according to a study
done at a Canadian university.
"We found that many men and women who have had thoughts of
doing things, that if they actually did them, would be
illegal," said Cheryl Renaud, co-author of the study, published
by researchers at the University of New Brunswick in the spring
issue of The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.
In the study, 292 heterosexual undergraduate students
between the ages of 17 and 45, split almost equally between
male and female, were surveyed on their thoughts about 56
sexual fantasies.
"Everybody had positive sexual thoughts and 97 percent had
negative sexual thoughts," said Sandra Byers, a psychologist at
the University and co-author of the study.
More than 90 percent of men and women had pleasant
fantasies about having intercourse with a loved one, kissing
passionately, making love outside of the bedroom, and removing
someone's clothes.
The researchers found that although more than 20 percent of
both sexes reported fantasies about partner swapping, whipping
or spanking someone, or forcing another adult to engage in a
sexual act, men thought about these activities about twice as
often as women.
More than 45 percent of both sexes said they had fantasies
about either seducing an "innocent" or being seduced as an
"innocent," the definition of which was left to respondents.
Researchers also found that sexual fantasies were not
always positive experiences.
In terms of fantasies that elicit unpleasant emotions, over
60 percent of men and women reported disturbing thoughts of
being embarrassed by failure of sexual performance, having sex
with an anonymous stranger and being overwhelmed by the
advances of a stranger.
The researchers concluded that while it's normal for humans
to have a wide array of sexual thoughts, more research is
needed to determine the link between thought and action.
Renaud said the survey was a good sample for sexuality
research, but cautioned against generalizing the results.
((Ian Karleff, Reuters Toronto Bureau 416-941-8102 e-mail
toronto.newsroom@reuters.com))
REUTERS
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