Sexual Behavior of Men and Women in the Federal Republic of Germany 1988

Attitude to sexuality. AIDS and sexual conduct.

Topics: 1. Oral part of survey: importance of various aspects for a
fulfilled life; ideas about values and tasks of the family;
recommendation of a form of life for an 18-year-old young person;
responsibility for housekeeping; religiousness; age structure of
members of household.

2. Written survey: year of marriage; firm partner relation; length of
partnership; living together with a partner; reasons for partner
change; self-perception and characterization of personal feelings in
comparison with other persons for the areas partnership, love,
openness, self-confidence, trust in others and dealing with money
(scale); sex education authorities and age at sex education; sex
education authority desired today; attitude to sexuality, love, sexual
practices and partnership (scale); orientation to one´s own gender
during puberty or in youth; age and sex of first sex partner;
classification of first sexual intercourse as positive or negative
experience; contraceptives used; attitude to masturbation and frequency
of masturbation; current heterosexual or homosexual orientation; totals
of sexual partners up to now and number of sexual partners in the last
12 months; cooperation of sexual partner with one´s own sexual needs;
time of last sexual intercourse and average frequency; frequency of
selected sexual practices and use of condoms (scale); sexual practices
with use of condom to protect against AIDS; condom use with new
aquaintances; use of condoms before AIDS became known; interference of
condom; influence of AIDS on the feeling of pleasure in sexuality; love
and sex; frequency of affairs; informing partner about the affair;
concurrent maintenance of sexual relations with several partners
without knowledge of this by the partners; frequency of sexual
intercourse with fleeting aquaintances; assumptions about the
faithfulness of unfaithfulness of partner; frequency of practicing
group sex and exchange of partners; known or unknown persons in
exchange of partners and group sex; changed sexual life due to AIDS;
information on areas in which sexual conduct has changed; personal AIDS
test; AIDS test together with partner; AIDS test with desire for
children; knowledge about possibilities of communicating AIDS (scale);
self-assessment of extent to which informed about AIDS and areas about
which one would like to know more; contacts with prostitutes in the
last 5 years or in the last 12 months.

The following questions were also posed to respondents who had
contacts with prostitutes: reasons for contact with prostitutes
(scale); use of condoms on initiative of prostitute.

The following questions were also posed to men or women with
homosexual contacts: living together with persons of the same sex as if
married and duration of this relation; reasons for change of homosexual
partner; totals of sexual partners of same sex up to now and number of
partners in the last 12 months; cooperation of partner in one´s own
sexual needs; last homosexual sexual intercourse and average frequency;
frequency of sexual practices used.

The following questions were posed only to homosexual men: sexual
practices only conducted with condoms; condom use with new partnerships
and use of condoms before AIDS became known; interference in use of
condom; sexual contact with male prostitutes in the last 12 months or
last five years; frequency of these contacts; influence of AIDS on
sexual conduct; frequency of use of dark rooms and homosexual saunas;
pick-up sex; belonging to the leather scene; membership in a motorcycle
club.

The following question was also posed to women: sexual intercourse
during menstruation.

Also encoded was: weekday of interview; length of interview; start of
interview; sex of interviewer.

Interviewer rating: reliability of respondent.