Social background and social status; influence on female sexual behaviour. A ramdom sample study of 40-year-old Danish women

Abstract

Systematic and detailed studies of the relationship between sexual behaviour and social class do not exist. We have made an analysis of the sexual behaviour, experience, knowledge and attitude in 40-yr-old Danish women, related to their social background and social status, in order to clarify the influence of social factors on sexual behaviour. A random sample of 225 40-yr-old women was investigated. The participation rate was 94.2%. The method was a personal, structured interview by a female doctor. Particular sexological variables were tested for differences between high-social and low-social class. Sexual behaviour was in several ways determined by social background and actual social status, women in the high social-status group having more sexual scope, more benefit from sexual life, more tolerance and knowledge and lower frequency of sexual problems than women from the low-status group. We conclude that it is misleading if, either generalization is not made from a socially representative random sample, or if data from each respective social group are not given.