Using the General Social Survey data, I try to investigate which factor is the most determinant of the frequency of sexual activity and the number of sexual partners. For this purpose, I use the multiple regression. Below are the variables used in the regressions.
DEGREE. 0 = Less than high school, 1 = High school, 2 = Junior College, 3 = Bachelor, 4 = Graduate.
HEALTH. 1 = Excellent, 2 = Good, 3 = Fair, 4 = Poor.
POLVIEWS. 1 = Extremely liberal, 4 = Moderate, 7 = Extremely conservative.
ATTEND. 0 = Never, 4 = Once a month, 8 = More than once week.
SEX. 1 = Male, 2 = Female.
PARTNERS. 0 = No Partners, 5 = 5-10 Partners, 8 = More than 100 Partners, 9 = 1 or more, DK # : “How many sex partners have you had in the last 12 months?” (question asked from 1988 to 2010)
Allocation of cases (unweighted)
Valid cases – 12,626
Cases excluded by filter or weight – 10,214
Cases with invalid codes on variables in the analysis – 32,247
Total cases – 55,087
SEXFREQ. 0 = Not at all, 3 = 2-3 times a month, 6 = 4+ per week : “About how often did you have sex during the last 12 months?” (question asked from 1989 to 2010)
Allocation of cases (unweighted)
Valid cases – 11,663
Cases excluded by filter or weight – 10,214
Cases with invalid codes on variables in the analysis – 33,210
Total cases – 55,087
What really matters here is Beta (because the unstandardized regression coefficient, labeled B, is measured in the unit of the independent variables, which means that an independent variable with a low point-scale (say, 2) is expected to have a higher coefficient than an independent variable with a high point-scale (say, 10). In fact, a change in one unit of an independent variable with a high point-scale would have a very little effect, especially when the independent variable can take on many values (for instance, years, age, or income), on the dependent variable).
And, as can be seen, real income is positively associated with the number of sex partners (during the last 12 months) and the frequency of sexual activity (during the last 12 months). All other independent variables show negative signs.
PARTNERS : being educated, religious, being a conservative, a woman, and being old are associated with a lesser number of sex partners. HEALTH is not statistically significant.
SEXFREQ : being educated, being old, being sick, and being a woman are associated with lower frequency of sexual activity. POLVIEWS and ATTEND are not statistically significant, at least at a 5% level of significance.
Analyse Economique 