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Premarital and extramarital sex, pornography, and sex education.
| Question | Source | Years | Waves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Views on extramarital sex What is your opinion about a married person having sexual relations with someone other than the marriage partner--is it always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at all? | GSS | 1973–2024 | 30 |
| Laws on distribution of pornography Which of these statements comes closest to your feelings about pornography laws?
READ FIRST THREE CATEGORIES ONLY. CIRCLE ONLY ONE CODE. | GSS | 1973–2024 | 30 |
| Saw an X-rated movie in the last year A. Have you seen an X-rated movie in the last year? | GSS | 1973–2024 | 30 |
| Whether sex before marriage is wrong sometimes, or not wrong at all? | GSS | 1972–2024 | 30 |
| Sex education in public schools Would you be for or against sex education in the public schools? | GSS | 1974–2024 | 28 |
| Wrongness of sex before marriage at ages 14 to 16 A. What if they are in their early teens, say 14 to 16 years old? In that case, do you think sex relations before marriage are always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at all? | GSS | 1986–2024 | 22 |
| Birth control for teens 14 to 16 without parental approval C. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree that methods of birth control should be available to teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 if their parents do not approve? | GSS | 1986–2024 | 22 |
| Number of sex partners in the last year As of 2024, PARTNERS has been recoded to only account for 0 to 11+ partners and has been slightly adjusted to help protect confidentiality. Please see the 2024 codebook for more information.The original PARTNERS containing data from 1988 to 2022 has been renamed PARTNERS_8822. | GSS | 1988–2024 | 21 |
| Frequency of sex in the past year About how often did you have sex during the last 12 months? | GSS | 1989–2024 | 20 |
| Whether a sexual partner was spouse or regular partner Was one of the partners your husband or wife or regular sexual partner? | GSS | 1988–2022 | 20 |
| Number of sex partners in the last year, 1988-2022 As of 2024, PARTNERS has been recoded to only account for 0 to 11+ partners and has been slightly adjusted to help protect confidentiality. Please see the 2024 codebook for more information.The original PARTNERS containing data from 1988 to 2022 has been renamed PARTNERS_8822. | GSS | 1988–2022 | 20 |
| Had sex with a close friend in the past year A. Close personal friend | GSS | 1988–2022 | 20 |
| Had sex with a casual date last year C. Casual date or pick-up | GSS | 1988–2022 | 20 |
| Had sex with some other type of partner last year E. Other (PLEASE SPECIFY) | GSS | 1988–2022 | 20 |
| Had sex with a neighbor or acquaintance in past year B. Neighbor, Co-worker, or long-term acquaintance | GSS | 1988–2022 | 20 |
| Had sex for pay or paid for sex in past year D. Person you paid or paid you for sex | GSS | 1988–2022 | 20 |
| Number of female sex partners since age 18 Now thinking about the time since your 18th birthday (including the past 12 months) how many female partners have you had sex with? | GSS | 1989–2022 | 19 |
| Number of male sex partners since age 18 Now thinking about the time since your 18th birthday (including the past 12 months) how many male partners have you had sex with? | GSS | 1989–2022 | 19 |
| Number of sex partners in the last five years Now think about the past five years--the time since February/March (1999), and including the past 12 months, how many sex partners have you had in that five year period? | GSS | 1991–2022 | 17 |
| Ever paid for sex or been paid for sex since 18 Thinking about the time since your 18th birthday, have you ever had sex with a person you paid or who paid you for sex? | GSS | 1991–2022 | 17 |
| Ever had sex outside marriage while married Have you ever had sex with someone other than your husband or wife while you were married? | GSS | 1991–2022 | 17 |
| Sexual materials lead people to commit rape C. Sexual materials lead people to commit rape | GSS | 1973–1994 | 15 |
| Sexual materials lead to breakdown of morals B. Sexual materials lead to breakdown of morals | GSS | 1973–1994 | 15 |
| Sexual materials provide outlet for bottled-up impulses D. Sexual materials provide an outlet for bottled-up impulses | GSS | 1973–1994 | 15 |
| Sexual materials provide information about sex A. Sexual materials provide information about sex | GSS | 1973–1994 | 15 |
| Adjust view of moral behavior to a changing world (2000,2004: do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, neither agree nor disagree, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with this statement?) | ANES | 1986–2024 | 14 |
| Whether last sex partner was in an ongoing relationship The last time you had sex, was it with someone you were in an on-going relationship with, or was it with someone else? Remember that by "sex" we mean only vaginal, oral, or anal sex. | GSS | 1996–2022 | 14 |
| Views on extramarital sex, alternate wording B. What about a married person having sexual relations with someone other than his or her husband or wife, is it. . . | GSS | 1991–2018 | 5 |
| Birth control information for teenagers B. Do you think birth control information should be available to teenagers who want it, or not? | GSS | 1974–1983 | 5 |
| Availability of birth control information A. In some places in the United States, it is not legal to supply birth control information. How do you feel about this--do you think birth control information should be available to anyone who wants it, or not? | GSS | 1974–1983 | 5 |
| Immoral actions by one person can corrupt society C. Immoral actions by one person can corrupt society in general. | GSS | 1988–2010 | 4 |
| Morality is a personal matter, not one standard for all D. Morality is a personal matter and society should not force everyone to follow one standard. | GSS | 1988–2010 | 4 |
| Whether premarital sex is wrong A. Do you think it is wrong or not wrong if a man and a woman have sexual relations before marriage? | GSS | 1991–2008 | 4 |
| Visited sexually explicit websites in past 30 days Q. Sexually explicit material? | GSS | 2000–2004 | 3 |
| Frequency of looking at pornography in the past year The next questions are about pornography- Internet materials or websites, books, movies, magazines, or photographs that explicitly show sex activities. About how often did you look at pornography in the last year? | GSS | 2022–2024 | 2 |
| Ever paid for sex or been paid for sex As of 2024, SEXPAID has been slightly adjusted to help protect confidentiality. Please see the 2024 codebook for more information. | GSS | 2024 | 1 |
| Bill to prohibit restrictions on contraceptive access Do you support or oppose each of the following bills before Congress? [Prohibit government restrictions on the provision of, and access to, contraceptives] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Age verification for online adult content Some states are considering the following policies. If this came up in your state, would you support or oppose the proposal? [Instituting age verification laws that require users to verify their age to access adult content on the web, particularly pornography.] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Sexual advance came from close friend or family member Were any of these adults close friends or family members of yours at the time they experienced this sexual advance? | GSS | 2008 | 1 |
| Sexual contact with first religious leader A. Did you have sexual contact with this leader? | GSS | 2008 | 1 |
| Sexual contact with second religious leader B. Did you have sexual contact with this leader? | GSS | 2008 | 1 |
| Birth control for teens 14 to 16 without approval, form 2 Do strongly disagree, disagree, agree, or strongly agree that methods of birth control should be available to teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 if their parents do not approve? | GSS | 2008 | 1 |
| Sexual contact with third religious leader C. Did you have sexual contact with this leader? | GSS | 2008 | 1 |
| Nothing inherently wrong with prostitution A. There is nothing inherently wrong with prostitution, so long as the health risks can be minimized. If consenting adults agree to exchange money for sex, that is their business. | GSS | 1996 | 1 |
| Saw an X-rated film in theater or on VCR in last year B. Have you seen an X-rated movie either in a movie theater or on a VCR (Video Cassette Recorder) in the last year? | GSS | 1994 | 1 |
| Morality of sex among teens under 16 What if they are in their early teens, say under 16 years old, in that case is it . . . | GSS | 1994 | 1 |
| Right and wrong should be decided by society B. Right and wrong should be decided by society. | GSS | 1991 | 1 |
| Number of sex partners in the last year, open-ended How many sex partners have you had in the last 12 months? | GSS | 1991 | 1 |
| Right and wrong as a matter of personal conscience C. Right and wrong should be a matter of personal conscience. | GSS | 1991 | 1 |
| Number of sex partners in the last five years, open-ended Now, think about the past five years--the time since February/March 1986, and including the past 12 months, how many sex partners have you had in that five year period? | GSS | 1991 | 1 |
| Had sex in the past month In the past month, have you engaged in sexual intercourse? | GSS | 1990 | 1 |
| Number of times had sex in the past month About how many times did you engage in intercourse during the month? | GSS | 1990 | 1 |
| Teaching safe sex practices in public schools B. Require the teaching of safe sex practices, such as the use of condoms, in sex education courses in public schools | GSS | 1988 | 1 |
| Government action when parents allow violent or porn films H. The parents allow the child to watch violent or pornographic films. | GSS | 1985 | 1 |
| Firmness of opinion on pornography C. How firm are you about (your opinion on/the way you feel about) pornography--would you way you are very likely to change (your opinion), somewhat likely to change, somewhat unlikely to change or very unlikely to change your opinion? | GSS | 1984 | 1 |
| Importance of the pornography issue to respondent A. How important is the pornography issue to you--would you say it is one of the most important, important, not very important, or not important at all? | GSS | 1984 | 1 |
| Amount of information on the pornography issue B. How much information do you have about the pornography issue--do you have all of the information you need, most of the information, some of the information, or very little information? | GSS | 1984 | 1 |