A study published in the Journal of Sex Research’s June edition points to a correlation between casual sex and psychological anxiety in college students. Titled “Risky Business,” the study concluded that while male college students are twice as likely than female college students to engage in casual sexual intercourse, both are equally prone to emotional distress following these encounters.
Almost 4,000 students at 30 universities were surveyed and asked to detail their most recent casual sexual encounters. Here, it’s important to note that the researchers defined “casual sex” as intercourse with someone the students had known for less than a week. While the vast majority of students, 89%, had not actually engaged in a casual intercourse during the 30-day time frame set by the researchers, the 11% who did were asked about their anxiety levels, self-esteem, and rates of depression following the event.
But even professors involved in the research caution against declaring a causal relationship between casual sex and psychological well-being, especially given the methodology used in the study.
First, a key criteria of the study was whether or not the students had engaged in casual intercourse within 30 days before the study. This means that students were asked to discount casual sex they may have had with someone if it fell outside of the time window. Given that the study also found that most students do not frequently engage in casual sex, the 30 days criteria may have reduced the number of students who could attest to their experiences.
The study also focused solely on heterosexual students. Past research has indicated that sexual encounters, whether casual or committed, can operate differently in gay and lesbian circles than they do in heterosexual ones. That same fact also points to possible differences in how gay individuals and heterosexual individuals perceive casual sex. So who knows? Maybe homosexual students would feel less or more anxiety than the same heterosexual students who were involved in the study.
If we’re focusing on how the students were selected, something that should also be noted is that most of the students were taken from the psychology and human development departments. Those departments are, for the most part, dominated by girls, which might actually explain why the final sample consisted of 68% college girls and 32% college guys, not an equal amount.
You can read the study here! Even with its limitations, “Risky Business” definitely opens the door for more research possibilities on sexual activity in college. From friends with benefits to how different cultures, or even regions within the U.S. perceive casual sex, the “Risky Business” research team definitely has room to expand.