ArcaMax

These are the core questions asked of every participant in my sexuality survey of single people. See how your responses stack up against the majority voice.

--Have you experienced close friendships with people who could have been sex partners that did not lead to physical intimacy? (About 85 percent said yes.)

If so, did you become closer or more distant because of not being sexually intimate? (About 49 percent of women felt closer; 38.4 percent of men felt closer; 31.4 percent overall felt more distant.)

--Do you prefer the continuity of married sex or the stop-and-start character of single sex? (About 67 percent said married.)

--While single, have you gone for long periods without sexual continuity? How long? (About 45 percent said months; 37 percent said years.)

--Do you feel like a loser, a reject or less of a person during those chaste periods? (Almost two-thirds of women said no.)

--Are you living (or have you lived) with a lover on a long-term basis without marrying? (About 45 percent said never but might; 26.9 percent said never; 21.3 percent said once or twice; 1 percent answered "more than twice.")

If so, when you began to live together, did you view the arrangement as a test marriage? (About 18 percent said no; 9.4 percent said yes.)

Were there children living in the home during your cohabitation? (About 16 percent said there were no children at the time; 7.2 percent said yes.)

--Do you envision your future as a series of living-together arrangements, or do you at some point intend to marry? (About 52 percent intended to marry.)

--As a single person, do you choose married people for your sex partners? (About 25 percent said yes.)

If so, are your sexual responses more or less inhibited with a married partner? (Nineteen percent said less; 13.2 percent answered more.)

--Would you date a married person if his or her mate had no objections? (About 42 percent said no.)

To be continued soon.

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