A survey of the sexual attitudes and behavior of mate-swappers in Houston, Texas

Mate-swapping or swinging, is a subject which has, until recently, been overlooked by the scientific community. The purpose of this study was to compare swingers and non-swingers along various dimensions including background informaion as well as sexual attitudes, behavior and knowlede. The subjects were 29 members of a swingers club and 51 married college students and/or their spouses. Two instruments were used, a sex information test and a sexual attitude and behavior questionnaire. Results indicated tat swingers are more liberal than non-swingers in almost all areas of sexual behavior, but that they do not differ from non-swingers in areas unrelated to sex, such as religion and politcal philosophy. Swingers demonstrated a greater sexual knowledge than non-swingers. Evidence of a narrowing of the sexual double standard among swingers was found.