Culture and sexual behavior

This study correlates the national means of self-reports of sexual relation s in stable couples and the mean percentage of people with extramarital aff airs with the climatic, socio-economic and cultural (religion and Hofstsde' s dimensions) characteristics of the 25 countries to which die samples belo ngs. Low uncertainty avoidance, low Catholicism and Protestantism, dominanc e of Buddhism and high power distance were associated with less sexual perm issiveness. Sexual permissiveness was associated more with the religious as pects of culture. Higher mean sexual frequency was associated with social d evelopment, individualism, low power distance and low dominance of Animism and Buddhism, to Catholicism and uncertainty avoidance, and cultural femini nity. Results confirm the important role of socioeconomic development, rais e questions on the negative view of Christianism and the positive view of o riental religions.