Straight college students report greater sexual satisfaction
Heterosexual undergraduate students report higher sexual satisfaction than their gay, lesbian and bisexual peers, a survey has shown.
US researchers Lacey J. Ritter and Hannah R. Morris published their findings in a study entitled Who’s Getting The Best Sex? A Comparison by Sexual Orientation.
497 individuals were questioned regarding their sexual orientation, sexual satisfaction, political ideology, religious affiliation, and relationship status, among other factors.
Participants rated their sexual satisfaction along a 10 point scale. Lesbian, gay and bisexual participants reported an average score of 7.06 for sexual satisfaction. Heterosexual participant, however, reported an an average of 7.81.
The study’s abstract states: ‘Results revealed that sexual minority undergraduates reported lower sexual satisfaction than heterosexual undergraduates.
This difference persisted when controlling for sex, race, education, and SES.’
Minority stress may affect sexual satisfaction
Ritter and Morris attributed the lower levels of satisfaction among sexual minorities to ‘minority stress, including internalized homophobia and sexual identity discrimination experiences’.
‘Minority stress’ refers to disproportionately high levels of stress faced by stigmatized minority groups.
The researchers also acknowledged the limitations of their study.
‘The sample size of the study is quite small, since we focused on college students, so generalizing to larger groups was difficult,’ Ritter and Morris said to PsyPost.
‘We would like to see how larger populations of students feel about their sexual satisfaction, and how this changes over time for these students.
‘Understanding differences in sexual satisfaction for this population is important, as it can have implications for their relationship outcomes and health behaviors, both during their college years and beyond.’
Also on Gay Star News:
46% of bi women have been raped in their lifetime, says UN report
