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