T
he survey posed two questions to
gauge how students’ perceptions
of their peers’ sexual behavior dif-
fered from reality. Indeed, our findings show
that while the majority of students think
that students on campus are having sex once
or twice a week or less, the reality involves
less frequent sex. Of the respondents, 39.8%
indicated not having sex at all this semes-
ter, while 25.1% indicated once or twice per
month or less and 23.6% said once or twice
per week.
Overall, for the 2020 fall semester, 60.2%
of respondents indicated that they’ve had sex
this semester. This is down by 5% from The
Statement’s 2018 Sex Survey. While there is
no exact way to know why this is, we pre-
sume that the COVID-19 pandemic has made
it more difficult — and thus less likely — for
students to engage in sex frequently. This is
supported by the free response answers to
the question, “How has the COVID-19 pan-
demic affected your sexual activity?” where-
in there were many responses indicating less
sex due to stress from the pandemic, safety
protocols or less opportunities to meet sex-
ual partners.
In conclusion, this year’s sex survey was
especially interesting given the unique con-
text of our times. We’re curious to see how
trends will change when the data is com-
pared to next year’s survey, given the hopes
that the circumstances regarding pandemic
will have improved. Until then, folks.
Reasons for having sex
Generally, what are reasons you have sex?
Eric Lau and Naitian Zhou / Daily Data Team
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
For pleasure
Out of love
To feel wanted
Curiosity
It's expected in a relationship
Because of pressure
Other
The most popular response we received
for why our respondents have sex is for
pleasure, with 59.7% of people selecting this
option. Other popular responses included
40.1% of respondents saying they have sex
out of love, and 24% answering that they
have sex to feel wanted. What we found no-
table here was the 8.8% of people who an-
swered that they have sex because they feel
it is expected in a relationship. It should also
be taken into consideration that this question
was offered in a “check all that apply format,”
meaning that it is likely certain options have
significant overlap with one another.
How often have you masturbated?
"For the most part, I enjoy having sex."
Alex Cotignola / Daily Data Team
Woman
Man
Non-binary
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Never
Once or twice per month
Once or twice a week
3-4 times a week
5-6 times a week
7+ times a week
Never
Once or twice per month
Once or twice a week
3-4 times a week
5-6 times a week
7+ times a week
What most struck us about this data was
the disparity between women and men, as
well as women and non-binary people, in
how often they masturbate. Women seem to
masturbate less than both men and non-bina-
ry, with the majority of women masturbating
once or twice per week or less. The major-
ity of men and non-binary people masturbate
once or twice per week or more.
Do you enjoy sex?
"For the most part, I enjoy having sex."
Eric Lau / Daily Data Team
Woman
Man
Non-binary
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Strongly agree
Agree
Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Somewhat disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Strongly agree
Agree
Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Somewhat disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Here we see that while women are more
likely to answer “agree” to enjoying having
sex, they fall behind in the “strongly agree”
category. We’re not sure if or what exactly
this indicates, considering the subjective
scale (i.e. what is the quantifiable difference
between “agree” and “strongly agree”), but
some reasons for the discrepancy could in-
clude the pleasure gap present in some het-
erosexual relationships or the societal double
standards associated with gender and sex.
Reality vs Expectations
How often people have sex and how often they think other
students have sex.
Naitian Zhou / Daily Data Team
12
2
1
1
787
533
475
147
46
13
286
159
169
79
13
6
13
2
7
7
4
2
Never
Once or twice per month or less
Once or twice per week
3-4 times per week
5-6 times per week
7+ times per week
Never
7+ times per week
Reality
Expectation
The 2020
The 2020
sex survey
sex survey
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 — 13
statement