Resource Library - National Coalition for Sexual Freedom

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Research

Kink Literature Database – The Kink Literature Database is a free, easily searchable catalog of published Kink / BDSM academic articles, books, theses, and other academic sources from the 18th century to today, hosted on Zotero. This project supports researchers, clinicians, educators, and the public by creating greater ease of access to this increasingly important diverse global literature.

Prevalence Research:

“Common lifetime sexual behaviors included wearing sexy lingerie/underwear (75% women, 26% men), sending/receiving digital nude/semi-nude photos (54% women, 65% men), reading erotic stories (57% of participants), public sex (≥43%), spanking (≥30%), role-playing (≥22%), tying/being tied up (≥20%), and watching sexually explicit videos/DVDs (60% women, 82% men). Having engaged in threesomes (10% women, 18% men) and playful whipping (≥13%) were less common. Lifetime group sex, sex parties, taking a sexuality class/workshop, and going to BDSM parties were uncommon (each <8%).”

Herbenick, D., Bowling, J., Fu, T. J., Dodge, B., Guerra-Reyes, L., & Sanders, S. (2017). Sexual Diversity in the United States: Results from a nationally representative probability sample of adult women and men. PloS one, 12(7), e0181198. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181198

“Nearly half of this sample expressed interest in at least one paraphilic category, and approximately one-third had had experience with such a practice at least once. Voyeurism, fetishism, frotteurism, and masochism interested both male and female respondents at levels above what is usually considered to be statistically unusual (15.9%). Interestingly, levels of interest in fetishism and masochism were not significantly different for men and women. Masochism was significantly linked with higher satisfaction with one’s own sexual life.”

Christian C. Joyal & Julie Carpentier (2016): The Prevalence of Paraphilic Interests and Behaviors in the General Population: A Provincial Survey, The Journal of Sex Research, DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2016.1139034

“Although academic and popular interest in consensual nonmonogamy (CNM) is increasing, little is known about the prevalence of CNM. Using two separate U.S. Census based quota samples of single adults in the United States (Study 1: n = 3,905; Study 2: n = 4,813), the present studies show that more than one in five (21.9% in Study 1; 21.2% in Study 2) participants report engaging in CNM at some point in their lifetime. This proportion remained constant across age, education level, income, religion, region, political affiliation, and race, but varied with gender and sexual orientation. Specifically, men (compared to women) and people who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (compared to those who identify as heterosexual) were more likely to report previous engagement in CNM. These findings suggest that a sizable and diverse proportion of U.S. adults have experienced CNM, highlighting the need to incorporate CNM into theoretical and empirical therapy and family science work.”

Haupert, M. L., Gesselman, A. N., Moors, A. C., Fisher, H. E., & Garcia, J. R. (2017). Prevalence of Experiences With Consensual Nonmonogamous Relationships: Findings From Two National Samples of Single Americans. Journal of sex & marital therapy, 43(5), 424–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2016.1178675

A YouGov poll of more than 23,000 Americans finds that about a quarter (25%) of Americans say they would be interested in having an open relationship. Men (32%) are more likely than women (19%) to say they would be interested in a non-monogamous relationship. Among married couples, this is also the case: 30% of husbands would be interested, while fewer wives (21%) feel similarly. Millennials are more likely than any other generation to express interest in having an open relationship, by a notable margin. Four in 10 (41%) Millennials would be interested, while Generation Z (29%) trails 12 points behind, followed by Generation X (23%). Baby Boomers (12%) are the least likely to express interest in an open relationship.

YouGovAmerica – https://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2021/04/26/open-relationships-gender-sexuality-poll