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144 Revue sexologique / Sexological Review
(Mahoney 1980; Young, 1980; Newcomer and Udry, 1985; Roche 1986)
have indicated differences between men and women among college
or university students, this sexual behavior seems, in the adult
populations, to occur as mu ch among women as among men
(Gagnon and Simon, 1987; Whitley, 1989). However, incidence of this
behavior seems to decline with age. And it would be slightly lower
among college populations (OeLamater and MacCorquodale, 1979).
Studies have also reported that this behavior was related to socio­
psychological variables. Among women, oral-genital sex has been
shown to be related to high self-esteem, to the evaluation of sex as
associated to pleasure and expression of love, to lower sex anxiety, and
to a masculine sex-role orientation (Whitley, 1989). As for men, these
relationships were not substantiated, suggesting that other unknown
variables may play a role in male oral-genital scripts. Sex-guilt and
religiosity may also influence the incidence of oral-genital activity
(Herold and Way, 1983; Mahoney, 1980; Young, 1980; Whitley, 1989).
As for the frequency of oral-genital se x, Herold and Way (1983) have
reported that, during the month prior to the investigation, two college
women out of five did experience fellatio or cunnilingus less than
once a week, one out of four once or twice a week, and about 10%
three or more times a week, while 25% of university unmarried
females reported no oral-genital sex. Even if more religious individ­
uals tended to avoid any oral-genital activity, religiosity did not seem
to have a deterrent effect on the frequency of oral-genital sex. But
more frequent oral-genital behaviors were found to be associated with
higher dating commitment, higher dating frequency, lower guilt over
oral-genital sex, higher self esteem and higher intercourse frequency.
As for college students of both sexes, the frequency of oral-genital sex
was shown to be closely related to the frequency of coitus: "Nearly aIl
pers ons, both male and female, who reported frequent oral-sex,
reported frequent coitus (but not vice-versa)" (Gagnon and Simon,
1987, p. 15). However, many questions remained unanswered about
the correlates of this activity among couples from the general
population. The present study wants to contribute to a better
knowledge of this sexual behavior, in investigating the incidence,
frequency and correlates of active oral-genital sex among married and
cohabiting heterosexual adults living in Montreal.
METHOD
Data for the present study were collected as part of a larger project
related to individual concerns about AlOS, that was described in detail