Kinsey Reports
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2008-07-07T20:23:29Z
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/* Objections to statistical approach */
[[Image:Kinsey-Male.jpg|thumb|The 1948 first edition of ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', the first of the two Kinsey reports.]]The '''Kinsey Reports''' are two books on [[human sexual behavior]], '''''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male''''' (1948) and '''''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female''''' (1953), by Dr. [[Alfred Kinsey]], [[Wardell Pomeroy]] and others. Kinsey was a [[zoologist]] at [[Indiana University (Bloomington)|Indiana University]] and the founder of the [[Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction|Institute for Sex Research]], more widely known as the [[Kinsey Institute]].
The [[research]] astounded the general public and was immediately controversial and sensational.
The findings caused shock and outrage, both because they challenged conventional beliefs about [[Human sexuality|sexuality]] and because they discussed subjects that had previously been [[taboo]].
Critics have stated that some of the data in the reports could not have been obtained without observation or participation in [[child sexual abuse]], or through collaborations with child molesters.<ref name="Reisman"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Treating Child Sex Offenders and Victims: A Practical Guide|last=Salter, Ph.D.|first=Anna C.|year=1988|pages=p22-24 |publisher=Sage Publications Inc |isbn= 0803931824}}</ref> The Kinsey Institute denies this charge, though it acknowledges that Kinsey interviewed men who had sexual experiences with children,<ref name="kinsey-inst"/> and some former and current directors of the Institute described those men as "[[pedophile]]s".<ref name="Welsh-Huggins"/>
==Findings==
===Sexual orientation===
Probably the most widely cited part of the Kinsey Reports regard the prevalence of different [[sexual orientation]]s — especially to support a claim that 10% of the population is gay. In fact, the findings are not so straightforward, and Kinsey himself avoided and disapproved of using terms like homosexual or heterosexual to describe individuals, asserting that sexuality is prone to change over time, and that sexual behavior can be understood both as physical contact as well as purely psychological phenomena (desire, sexual attraction, fantasy).{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Instead of three categories ([[heterosexuality|heterosexual]], [[bisexuality|bisexual]] and [[homosexuality|homosexual]]), a seven-category system was used. The [[Kinsey scale]] ranked sexual behavior from 0 to 6, with 0 being completely heterosexual and 6 completely homosexual. A 0 was considered to be strictly heterosexual, a 1 mostly heterosexual, a 2 more than incidentally heterosexual, a 3 equally homosexual and heterosexual, a 4 more than incidentally homosexual, and so on. An additional category 7 was created by his colleagues for asexuals, those who experienced no sexual desire.
The reports also state that nearly 46% of the male subjects had "reacted" sexually to persons of both sexes in the course of their adult lives, and 37% had at least one homosexual experience.<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, p. 656</ref> 11.6% of white males (ages 20-35) were given a rating of 3 (about equal heterosexual and homosexual experience/response) throughout their adult lives.<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, Table 147, p. 651</ref> The study also reported that 10% of American males surveyed were "more or less exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55" (in the 5 to 6 range).<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, p. 651</ref>
7% of single females (ages 20-35) and 4% of previously married females (ages 20-35) were given a rating of 3 (about equal heterosexual and homosexual experience/response) on the 7-point Kinsey Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale for this period of their lives.<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, Table 142, p. 499</ref> 2 to 6% of females, aged 20-35, were more or less exclusively homosexual in experience/response,<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, p. 488</ref> and 1 to 3% of unmarried females aged 20-35 were exclusively homosexual in experience/response.<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, Table 142, p. 499, and p. 474</ref>
===Marital coitus===
The average frequency of marital sex reported by women was 2.8 times a week, in late teens; 2.2 times a week, by age 30; and 1.0 times a week, by age 50.<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, p. 348-349, 351.</ref>
===Extra-marital sex===
Kinsey estimated that approximately 50% of all married males had some [[extramarital sex| extramarital experience]] at some time during their married lives.<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, pp. 585, 587</ref> Among the sample, 26% of females had had extramarital sex by their forties. Between 1 in 6 and 1 in 10 females from age 26 to 50 were engaged in extramarital sex.<ref>Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, p. 416</ref>
===Sadomasochism===
12% of females and 22% of males reported having an erotic response to a [[sadomasochism|sadomasochistic]] story.<ref name="sbhf677">Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, pp. 677-678</ref>
== Methodology ==
Data were gathered primarily by means of interviews, which were encoded to maintain confidentiality. Other data sources included the diaries of convicted child molesters. The data were later computerized for processing. All of this material, including the original researchers' notes, remains available from the [[Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction|Kinsey Institute]] to qualified researchers who demonstrate a need to view such materials. The institute also allows researchers to use statistical software (such as [[PSPP]] or [[SPSS]]) in order to analyze the data.
Subject matter of the report led itself to sensationalism. Based on his data and findings, others claimed that 10% of the population is [[homosexuality|homosexual]], and that women enhance their prospects of satisfaction in marriage by masturbating previously. Neither claim was made by Kinsey.
== Criticism ==
=== Objections on moral grounds ===
The books have been widely criticized by conservatives as promoting degeneracy. '''''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male''''' has been on two lists of the worst books of modern times. It was #3 on the [[Intercollegiate Studies Institute]]'s [http://www.mmisi.org/ir/35_01/50worst.pdf 50 Worst Books of the Twentieth Century] and #4 on a conservative website with modest web-traffic [[Human Events]]' [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=7591 Ten Most Harmful Books of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries].
=== Objections to statistical approach ===
In addition to moral objections, academic criticisms pertain to sample selection and sample bias. Two main problems identified were that (1) significant portions of the samples come from prison populations and male prostitutes, and that (2) people who volunteer to be interviewed about taboo subject are likely to suffer from the problem of [[self-selection]], both of which undermine the usefulness of the sample in term of determining the tendencies of the overall population.
In 1948, the same year as the original publication, a committee of the [[American Statistical Association]], including notable statisticians such as [[John Tukey]], condemned the sampling procedure. Tukey was perhaps the most vocal critic, saying, "A random selection of three people would have been better than a group of 300 chosen by Mr. Kinsey."<ref>{{Cite journal
| author = [[David Leonhardt]]
| title = John Tukey, 85, Statistician; Coined the Word 'Software'
| journal = [[The New York Times]]
| year = 2000
| month = july
| day = 28
}}</ref><ref>http://www.swlearning.com/quant/kohler/stat/biographical_sketches/bio15.1.html John Tukey criticizes sample procedure</ref> Criticism principally revolved around the over-representation of some groups in the sample: 25% were, or had been, [[prison]] inmates, and 5% were [[male prostitute]]s.<ref> But 26% (1,400) of Kinsey's alleged 5,300 white male subjects were already "sex offenders." [http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/reisman.html (Reisman)]</ref>
A related criticism, by some of the leading [[psychologist]]s of the day, notably [[Abraham Maslow]], was that Kinsey did not consider "volunteer bias". The data represented only those volunteering to participate in discussion of taboo topics. Most Americans were reluctant to discuss the intimate details of their sex lives even with their spouses or close friends. Before the publication of Kinsey's reports, Dr. Maslow tested Kinsey's volunteers for bias. He concluded that Kinsey’s sample was unrepresentative of the general population.<ref>Maslow, A. H., and Sakoda, J. (1952). Volunteer error in the Kinsey study, Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1952 Apr;47(2):259-62.</ref>
In a response to these criticisms, [[Paul Gebhard]], Kinsey's successor as director of the [[Kinsey Institute for Sex Research]], spent years "cleaning" the Kinsey data of purported contaminants, removing, for example, all material derived from prison populations in the basic sample. In 1979, Gebhard (with [[Alan B. Johnson]]) published ''The Kinsey Data: Marginal Tabulations of the 1938-1963 Interviews Conducted by the Institute for Sex Research''. Their conclusion, to Gebhard's surprise he claimed, was that none of Kinsey's original estimates were significantly affected by this bias: that is, prison population, male prostitutes, and those who willingly participated in discussion of previously taboo sexual topics had the same statistical tendency. The problem of getting unbiased population samples in socially taboo subjects were discussed by Professor and homosexual activist [[Martin Duberman]], who wrote:
:Instead of Kinsey's 37% (men who had at least one homosexual experience), Gebhard and Johnson came up with 36.4%; the 10% figure (men who were "more or less exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55"), with prison inmates excluded, came to 9.9% for white, college-educated males and 12.7% for those with less education. And as for the call for a "[[random sample]]," a team of independent statisticians studying Kinsey's procedures had concluded as far back as 1953 that the unique problems inherent in sex research precluded the possibility of obtaining a true random sample, and that Kinsey's interviewing technique had been "extraordinarily skillful". They characterized Kinsey's work overall as "a monumental endeavor."<ref>http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/duberman.html Martin Duberman on Gebhart's "cleaning" of data</ref>
===Organized opposition===
Some [[Conservatism|conservative]] groups including [[RSVPAmerica]], headed by Dr. [[Judith A. Reisman]], and the [[Family Research Council]] have stated that they aim to discredit the Kinsey Reports. These groups often accuse Kinsey's work of promoting unhealthy sexual practices or morals.
RSVPAmerica advertises publications such as ''Kinsey: Crimes & Consequences'' and ''Kinsey, Sex and Fraud: The Indoctrination of a People,'' both by Reisman, and the video "The Children of Table 34", funded by the [[Family Research Council]]. The campaign website states that the video "presents the story of Dr. Reisman's discovery of Dr. Alfred Kinsey's systematic [[child sexual abuse|sexual abuse]] of 317 male children."
In its 1998 response to the core allegations made by Reisman, Kinsey Institute director [[John Bancroft]] stated that the data on children in tables 31–34 of Kinsey's ''Sexual Behavior of the Human Male'' came largely from the journal of one adult [[pedophile]], who had illegal sexual interaction with these children. The man's journal started in [[1917]], long before the Kinsey Reports. Bancroft further stated that Kinsey explicitly pointed out the illegality of the man's actions, but that he granted his source anonymity. In addition, Bancroft reiterated the Kinsey Institute's claim that Kinsey never had any sexual interaction with children, nor did he employ others to do so, and that he interviewed children in the presence of their parents.<ref>http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/cont-akchild.html Kinsey Institute director denies allegations by Reisman</ref>
Other attacks have centered on the sex life and motives of [[Alfred C. Kinsey|Alfred Kinsey]] himself, or have claimed that the Kinsey Reports are themselves responsible for a "decay in society."{{Fact|date=May 2007}}
===Child sexual response experiments===
In the Kinsey Reports are data concerning pre-adolescent [[orgasm]]s. Particularly controversial are tables 30 through 34 of the male volume, which report observations of orgasms in over three-hundred children between the ages of five months and fourteen years. For example, table 34 is, "Examples of multiple orgasm in pre-adolescent males. Some instances of higher frequencies." A typical entry indicates that a certain 7 year-old had seven orgasms in a three hour time period. <ref name="kinsey-tables">{{cite book|title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Male |last= Kinsey|first=Alfred Charles|coauthors=Clyde Eugene Mart|year= 1998 (reprint of 1948 original)|publisher=Indiana University Press|pages=p178-180 |isbn= 0253334128}}</ref> Kinsey's critics state that data such as these could have only been obtained by direct observation of or participation in child abuse. In particular they point to the information given in table 32, "Speed of pre-adolescent orgasm; Duration of stimulation before climax; Observations timed with second hand or stop watch," and say that the only way such precise data could have been collected was through cooperation with child molesters.<ref name="Reisman">{{cite web
| last = Reisman
| first = Judith
| title = A PERSONAL ODYSSEY TO THE TRUTH
| url = http://www.special-guests.com/reisman4.html
| accessdate = 2008-01-07}}
</ref>
The Kinsey Institute states on its website, "[Kinsey] did not carry out experiments on children; he did not hire, collaborate, or persuade people to carry out experiments on children." and that "The bulk of this information was obtained from adults recalling their own childhoods. Some was from parents who had observed their children, some from teachers who had observed children interacting or behaving sexually, and Kinsey stated that there were nine men who he had interviewed who had sexual experiences with children who had told him about how the children had responded and reacted. We believe that one of those men was the source of the data listed in the book." <ref name="kinsey-inst">http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/controversy%202.htm Kinsey Institute statement denies child abuse in study</ref>
Former and current directors of The Kinsey Institute confirmed that some of the information was gathered from nine pedophiles and that Kinsey chose not to report the pedophiles to the authorities, balancing what Kinsey saw as the need for their anonymity against the likelihood that their crimes would continue.<ref name="Welsh-Huggins">{{cite news
| last = Welsh-Huggins
| first = Andrews
| title = Conservative group attacks Kinsey data on children
| work = Herald-Times
| year = 1995
| month = September
| url = http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/1995/09/06/archive.19950906.b0c15bb.sto
| quote = 'There couldn't have been any research if we turned them in,' he said. 'Of course we knew when we interviewed pedophiles that they would continue the activity, but we didn't do anything about that.' Providing such absolute assurances of anonymity was the only way to guarantee honest answers on such taboo subjects, said Gebhard.
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
| last = Pool
| first = Gary
| title = Sex, science, and Kinsey: a conversation with Dr. John Bancroft - head of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction
| publisher = Humanist
| date = 1996 Sept-Oct
| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_n5_v56/ai_18640605/pg_1
| accessdate = 2008-01-07}}</ref>
==Context and significance==
The Kinsey Reports are associated with a change in public perception of [[Human sexuality|sexuality]]. In the [[1960]]s, following the introduction of the [[combined oral contraceptive pill|first oral contraceptive]], this change was to be expressed in the [[sexual revolution]]. Also in the 1960s, [[Masters and Johnson]] published their investigations into the [[physiology]] of sex, breaking taboos and misapprehensions similar to those Kinsey had broken more than a decade earlier in a closely related field.
To what extent the Reports produced or promoted this change and to what extent they merely expressed it and reflected the conditions that were producing it is a matter of much debate and speculation.
== See also ==
*[[Alfred Kinsey]]
*''[[Kinsey (film)|Kinsey]]'', the movie based on the life of Alfred Kinsey
*[[Kinsey scale]]
*[[Kinsey Institute]]
*[[Masters and Johnson]]
*[[Judith Reisman]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:1948 books]]
[[Category:1953 books]]
[[Category:American non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Sexology]]
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