Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1977, 45,819-825.
@ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1977
CORRELATES OF FEMALES' SEXUAL FANTASIES JERRI J. BROWN A N D DARRELL H. H A R T University of Utah
Summry.-The intent of the study was to obtain data on the incidence of female sexual fantasy and on the relationship of background, personality, and attitudinal factors to the quantity of sexual fantasies. The participants were 102 university women students between the ages of 19 and 45 yr. An original Female Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire, a short form of the Attitude Toward Women Scale, the 16 PF, and the background variables of age, sexual experience, marital status, and religion provided data for the analysis. Conclusions were that 99% of the women engaged in sexual fantasy at least occasionally and that age, sexual experience, anxiety, independence, and liberal attitudes toward women are all related to frequency of sexual fantasy.
The impetus of the women's movement has stimulated interest in the study of female sexuality (Koedt, 1970; Sherfey, 1973; Hite, 1976). Fantasy as a facet of females' sexual activity, however, has not'been a major component of past prominent studies of sexual behavior. Kinsey, et al. (1953) referred to sexual fantasies but primarily as they related to masturbation or as they reflected differences between the fantasies reported by heterosexual and homosexual women. Hunt (1974), in a more recent study of sexual behavior, included a small section on masturbatory fantasies and a brief mention of sadomasochistic fantasies. Masters and Johnson (1966) did not explore female sexual fantasies. Hite ( 1976), in a questionnaire study of the sexual attitudes and activities of women, included one question on sexual fantasies on each form of her questionnaire but presented few results in relation to sexual fantasies. Of the major reports on female sexuality, DeMartino ( 1974) gave some attention to fantasy in his study of 327 women of high intelligence. He noted that 39% of his participants had fantasized at one or more times during intercourse and that 70% had fantasized some time during masturbation. The relationship of fantasy to specific sexual behaviors has also been noted in the more limited research reports of Shainess and Greenwald ( 197 1) , Hariton and Singer ( 1974), and Sullivan ( 1976). Daydreaming and sexual fantasy were discussed briefly by Singer and McCraven ( 1961), Singer and Antrobus ( 1963), and Wagman (1967), but the sexual items in the various surveys number fewer than 25 and were limited in scope and content. It was the purpose of this study to expand information about female sexual fantasies. Two basic questions were: ( 1 ) What is the proportion of women 'Correspondence regarding reprints should be directed to D. H. Hart, Graduate School of Education, Depanrnenc of Educational Psychology, Milton Bennion Hall, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112.
820
J. J. BROWN
&
D. H. HART
at this university who experience sexual fantasies? ( 2 ) What is the relationship of various background, personality, and attitudinal factors to the quantity of sexual fantasies these women experience? The variables under consideration were age, marital status, sexual experience, religion, anxiety, independence, emotionality, introversion, and liberal attitudes toward women's roles. The study contributes additional data in research on sexual fantasy in that it surveys a very wide range of sexual fantasy not just coital or masturbatory. It includes information about a wide age range of women, late teens to middle age, and it samples "normal" women from a large metropolitan university rather than women from a special population, e.g., women in psychotherapy, women with high intelligence.
METHOD Participants One hundred and two women students who were enrolled at a large western state university were the participants. The mean age was 28.1 yr., with a range from 19 to 45 yr. The women were equally distributed over four pre-selected age groups. They were identified from a sample of 400 women, 100 from each age group, who had been randomly selected from the entire population of university women students. The 102 participants were the first 25 women within each age group who could be contacted by telephone and who agreed to' be participants in a confidential investigation concerning the psychology of women. The participants were not informed of the exact nature of the research until they received the questionnaires at a designated research office. Only three women, two in the youngest age group and one in the oldest, refused to participate when they learned the study dealt with sexual matters. Of the 400 randomly selected potential participants, 165 indicated that they had no time to participate in any research study, 92 were willing to participate but could not do so during the research hours, 38 agreed to participate but did not show up, 3 backed out because of the nature of the study, and 102 accepted and actually completed the questionnaires. Instruments An objective checklist of sexual fantasy activity, the Female Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire, was devised for use in this study. The instrument has 71 different items representing a wide variety of sexual content. Item examples are: "I have fantasized seducing a man." "I have fantasized that I am being overpowered or forced to surrender." "I have fantasized 'petting' with a woman." The participant is asked to choose between one of three responses: "Never," i.e., never had this fantasy in the last 12 mo.; "Occasionally," i.e., had this fantasy 1 to 5 times in the last 12 mo.; "Frequently," i.e., had this fantasy six or more times in the last 12 mo. 'To obtain information about the quantity of different types of sexual
CORRELATES OF FEMALES' SEXUAL FANTASIES
82 1
fantasies experienced by women, each item response was scored "zero" for never, "one" for occasionally, and "two" for frequently. The range of possible quantity scores was 0 to 142 with a high score representing more reported sexual fantasies than a low score. Because this system of scoring did not represent an exact number of fantasies experienced, the score was interpreted as representative of the quantity of different sexual fantasies rather than a precise statement of frequency. The score does not consider the woman who might have only one fantasy many times over. The short-form version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale which was developed by Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp (1973) was used in this study to examine differences in attitudes toward women's rights and roles concerning vocational, educational, and intellectual activities as well as social and sexual behavior. The correlation between the original longer version of the scale (Spence & Helmreich, 1972) and the shortened form is .97 (Spence, et a[., 1973). On both scales a high score represents a liberal attitude toward the rights and roles of women in contemporary society and a low score represents a conservative or traditional attitude. Finally, the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF) was administered. Four of the second-stratum, higher-order personality factors were selected as relevant personality dimensions: Adjustment vs Anxiety, Introversion vs Extraversion, Tenderminded Emotionality vs Alert Poise, and Subduedness vs Independence. RESULTS Of the 102 women sampled, 99% reported having one or more sexual fantasies during the specified 12-mo. period. The mean sexual fantasy quantity score for all women was 25.84, the standard deviation 17.84, and the range 0 to 85. For this college group the average number of different kinds of sexual fantasies was 21. For purposes of comparing ages, the sample was divided into four age groups: 19 to 21 yr. ( N = 26), 22 to 25 yr. ( N = 25), 26 to 35 yr. ( N = 25 ). and 36 to 45 yr. ( N = 26). Mean scores on quantity of sexual fantasy for each age group are presented in Table 1. One-way analysis of variance yielded a significant difference across the age groups on quantity of sexual TABLE 1
MEANS,STANDARD DEVIATIONS, AND ANALYSISOF VARIANCE OF QUANTITYSCORES OF SEXUALFANTASY ACROSSFOURAGEGROUPS 19-21
Yr. n = 26
M
SD
Age Groups Yr. 2 6 3 5 Yr. n = 25 n=25 M SD M SD
22-25
F 3 6 - 4 5 Yr. n = 26
M
SD
P
J. J. BROWN
822
&
D. H. HART
fantasy. Women between the ages of 22 and 35 yr. reported the highest quantity of sexual fantasy, with younger women (19 to 21 yr.) reporting the next most, and older women (36 to 45 yr.) reporting the fewest sexual fantasies. Three background variables wete explored: sexual experience, marital status, and the orientation of the religion to which the woman subscribed. As noted in Table 2 women who wete sexually experienced reported significantly more sexual fantasies than women who were virgins ( t = 4.09, p < .001). N o differences in quantity of sexual fantasies were found between women of different marital status or between women whose religions differ on the authoritarian-nonauthoritarian dimension. TABLE 2 MEAN,STANDARD DEVIATION AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITY OF SEXUAL FANTASYFOR SEXUAL EXPERIENCE, MARITALSTATUSAND RELIGION Quantity of Sexual Fantasy M SD Experience Virgin Non-virgin Marital Status Married Not Married Religion Authoritarian Non-authoritarian
P
f
Sexual
16.97 29.67
11.99 18.77
4.09
25.58 26.00
16.33 18.80
.11
23.55 29.47
17.59 18.31
1.57
@ Perceptual and Motor Skills 1977
CORRELATES OF FEMALES' SEXUAL FANTASIES JERRI J. BROWN A N D DARRELL H. H A R T University of Utah
Summry.-The intent of the study was to obtain data on the incidence of female sexual fantasy and on the relationship of background, personality, and attitudinal factors to the quantity of sexual fantasies. The participants were 102 university women students between the ages of 19 and 45 yr. An original Female Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire, a short form of the Attitude Toward Women Scale, the 16 PF, and the background variables of age, sexual experience, marital status, and religion provided data for the analysis. Conclusions were that 99% of the women engaged in sexual fantasy at least occasionally and that age, sexual experience, anxiety, independence, and liberal attitudes toward women are all related to frequency of sexual fantasy.
The impetus of the women's movement has stimulated interest in the study of female sexuality (Koedt, 1970; Sherfey, 1973; Hite, 1976). Fantasy as a facet of females' sexual activity, however, has not'been a major component of past prominent studies of sexual behavior. Kinsey, et al. (1953) referred to sexual fantasies but primarily as they related to masturbation or as they reflected differences between the fantasies reported by heterosexual and homosexual women. Hunt (1974), in a more recent study of sexual behavior, included a small section on masturbatory fantasies and a brief mention of sadomasochistic fantasies. Masters and Johnson (1966) did not explore female sexual fantasies. Hite ( 1976), in a questionnaire study of the sexual attitudes and activities of women, included one question on sexual fantasies on each form of her questionnaire but presented few results in relation to sexual fantasies. Of the major reports on female sexuality, DeMartino ( 1974) gave some attention to fantasy in his study of 327 women of high intelligence. He noted that 39% of his participants had fantasized at one or more times during intercourse and that 70% had fantasized some time during masturbation. The relationship of fantasy to specific sexual behaviors has also been noted in the more limited research reports of Shainess and Greenwald ( 197 1) , Hariton and Singer ( 1974), and Sullivan ( 1976). Daydreaming and sexual fantasy were discussed briefly by Singer and McCraven ( 1961), Singer and Antrobus ( 1963), and Wagman (1967), but the sexual items in the various surveys number fewer than 25 and were limited in scope and content. It was the purpose of this study to expand information about female sexual fantasies. Two basic questions were: ( 1 ) What is the proportion of women 'Correspondence regarding reprints should be directed to D. H. Hart, Graduate School of Education, Depanrnenc of Educational Psychology, Milton Bennion Hall, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112.
820
J. J. BROWN
&
D. H. HART
at this university who experience sexual fantasies? ( 2 ) What is the relationship of various background, personality, and attitudinal factors to the quantity of sexual fantasies these women experience? The variables under consideration were age, marital status, sexual experience, religion, anxiety, independence, emotionality, introversion, and liberal attitudes toward women's roles. The study contributes additional data in research on sexual fantasy in that it surveys a very wide range of sexual fantasy not just coital or masturbatory. It includes information about a wide age range of women, late teens to middle age, and it samples "normal" women from a large metropolitan university rather than women from a special population, e.g., women in psychotherapy, women with high intelligence.
METHOD Participants One hundred and two women students who were enrolled at a large western state university were the participants. The mean age was 28.1 yr., with a range from 19 to 45 yr. The women were equally distributed over four pre-selected age groups. They were identified from a sample of 400 women, 100 from each age group, who had been randomly selected from the entire population of university women students. The 102 participants were the first 25 women within each age group who could be contacted by telephone and who agreed to' be participants in a confidential investigation concerning the psychology of women. The participants were not informed of the exact nature of the research until they received the questionnaires at a designated research office. Only three women, two in the youngest age group and one in the oldest, refused to participate when they learned the study dealt with sexual matters. Of the 400 randomly selected potential participants, 165 indicated that they had no time to participate in any research study, 92 were willing to participate but could not do so during the research hours, 38 agreed to participate but did not show up, 3 backed out because of the nature of the study, and 102 accepted and actually completed the questionnaires. Instruments An objective checklist of sexual fantasy activity, the Female Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire, was devised for use in this study. The instrument has 71 different items representing a wide variety of sexual content. Item examples are: "I have fantasized seducing a man." "I have fantasized that I am being overpowered or forced to surrender." "I have fantasized 'petting' with a woman." The participant is asked to choose between one of three responses: "Never," i.e., never had this fantasy in the last 12 mo.; "Occasionally," i.e., had this fantasy 1 to 5 times in the last 12 mo.; "Frequently," i.e., had this fantasy six or more times in the last 12 mo. 'To obtain information about the quantity of different types of sexual
CORRELATES OF FEMALES' SEXUAL FANTASIES
82 1
fantasies experienced by women, each item response was scored "zero" for never, "one" for occasionally, and "two" for frequently. The range of possible quantity scores was 0 to 142 with a high score representing more reported sexual fantasies than a low score. Because this system of scoring did not represent an exact number of fantasies experienced, the score was interpreted as representative of the quantity of different sexual fantasies rather than a precise statement of frequency. The score does not consider the woman who might have only one fantasy many times over. The short-form version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale which was developed by Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp (1973) was used in this study to examine differences in attitudes toward women's rights and roles concerning vocational, educational, and intellectual activities as well as social and sexual behavior. The correlation between the original longer version of the scale (Spence & Helmreich, 1972) and the shortened form is .97 (Spence, et a[., 1973). On both scales a high score represents a liberal attitude toward the rights and roles of women in contemporary society and a low score represents a conservative or traditional attitude. Finally, the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF) was administered. Four of the second-stratum, higher-order personality factors were selected as relevant personality dimensions: Adjustment vs Anxiety, Introversion vs Extraversion, Tenderminded Emotionality vs Alert Poise, and Subduedness vs Independence. RESULTS Of the 102 women sampled, 99% reported having one or more sexual fantasies during the specified 12-mo. period. The mean sexual fantasy quantity score for all women was 25.84, the standard deviation 17.84, and the range 0 to 85. For this college group the average number of different kinds of sexual fantasies was 21. For purposes of comparing ages, the sample was divided into four age groups: 19 to 21 yr. ( N = 26), 22 to 25 yr. ( N = 25), 26 to 35 yr. ( N = 25 ). and 36 to 45 yr. ( N = 26). Mean scores on quantity of sexual fantasy for each age group are presented in Table 1. One-way analysis of variance yielded a significant difference across the age groups on quantity of sexual TABLE 1
MEANS,STANDARD DEVIATIONS, AND ANALYSISOF VARIANCE OF QUANTITYSCORES OF SEXUALFANTASY ACROSSFOURAGEGROUPS 19-21
Yr. n = 26
M
SD
Age Groups Yr. 2 6 3 5 Yr. n = 25 n=25 M SD M SD
22-25
F 3 6 - 4 5 Yr. n = 26
M
SD
P
J. J. BROWN
822
&
D. H. HART
fantasy. Women between the ages of 22 and 35 yr. reported the highest quantity of sexual fantasy, with younger women (19 to 21 yr.) reporting the next most, and older women (36 to 45 yr.) reporting the fewest sexual fantasies. Three background variables wete explored: sexual experience, marital status, and the orientation of the religion to which the woman subscribed. As noted in Table 2 women who wete sexually experienced reported significantly more sexual fantasies than women who were virgins ( t = 4.09, p < .001). N o differences in quantity of sexual fantasies were found between women of different marital status or between women whose religions differ on the authoritarian-nonauthoritarian dimension. TABLE 2 MEAN,STANDARD DEVIATION AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITY OF SEXUAL FANTASYFOR SEXUAL EXPERIENCE, MARITALSTATUSAND RELIGION Quantity of Sexual Fantasy M SD Experience Virgin Non-virgin Marital Status Married Not Married Religion Authoritarian Non-authoritarian
P
f
Sexual
16.97 29.67
11.99 18.77
4.09
25.58 26.00
16.33 18.80
.11
23.55 29.47
17.59 18.31
1.57
