Summary information

Study title

Finnish Sex Survey 1971

Creator

Koskelainen, Osmo (Academy of Finland. Research Council for the Social Sciences)

Leppo, Kimmo (Academy of Finland. Medical Research Council)

Sievers, Kai (University of Turku. Department of Hygiene and Social Medicine)

Study number / PID

FSD1242 (FSD)

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1242 (URN)

10.60686/t-fsd1242 (DOI)

Data access

Restricted

Series

Individual datasets

Individual datasets that do not belong to any series.

Abstract

This is the first national, representative survey on Finnish sexual life, sexual habits and sexual behaviour. At first, respondents were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed with attitudinal statements relating to sexual freedom, sex without love, women's right to take the sexual initiative, homosexual relationships, polygamy of men and monogamy of women, casual affairs, viewing pornography, sexual behaviour of young people and whether it is worthwhile to have children. Respondents' health was charted by asking whether they had suffered from certain symptoms (e.g. headache) or illnesses (e.g. angina pectoris, cancer) during the past year. Smoking and drinking habits were surveyed. Women were asked about pregnancies, number of births (live or stillborn), miscarriages and abortions, and how many live children they had. They were also asked whether they had been pregnant at the time of their wedding and whether this was the reason for getting married. Sex education received was surveyed. Other questions examined the number of persons respondents had been in love with, did they fall in love easily, about disappointments in love and whether they loved and were loved by someone. Respondents were asked at what age they had experienced their first kiss, first steady relationship, first intercourse. Several questions pertained to the first-ever intercourse: where it happened, use of contraception, had the respondent wanted it, what was it like and did she/he regret it later and did she/he marry the first partner. Married respondents evaluated the happiness of their marriage and how important sex was to happiness. They were asked whether it was easy to discuss sex with their spouse. Questions covered how much sex respondents would like to have, how satisfactory sex was, how often they had sex, when was the last time and whether they had used contraception. The most recent intercourse was studied in detail: with whom, was alcohol consumed, who made the initiative,...

Social sciencesFamily life and marriageReproductive healthGeneral health and well-being

Interpersonal relationsLiving conditionsAttitudesHealthSexual behaviourLoveSexual intimacyMoral valuesSexual identitySexual healthCourtshipDating

Data collection period

11/1971 - 12/1971

Country

Finland

Time dimension

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Analysis unit

Individual

Universe

People aged 18-54 living in Finland

Excludes: people in residential care and those suffering from serious mental or physical illnesses

Sampling procedure

Probability: Systematic random

Kind of data

Quantitative

Data collection mode

Face-to-face interview

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Publisher

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Publication year

2003

Terms of data access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

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Kontula, Osmo & Haavio-Mannila, Elina (1995). Sexual pleasures: enhancement of sex life in Finland 1971-1992. Dartmouth: Aldershot.
Haavio-Mannila, Elina & Kontula, Osmo (1994). Sexual behavior changes in Finland during the last 20 years. Nordisk Sexologi 12(3), 196-214.
Haavio-Mannila, Elina & Kontula, Osmo & Kuusi, Elina (2001). Trends in sexual life: measured by national sex surveys in Finland in 1971, 1992 and 1999, and a comparison to a sex survey in St. Petersburg in 1996. Helsinki: Family Federation of Finland, Population Research Institute. Working papers E; 10.
Haavio-Mannila, Elina & Kontula, Osmo (2003). Sexual Trends in the Baltic Sea Area. Helsinki: The Family Federation of Finland. The Population Research Institute. Publications of the Population Research Institute, Series D 41/2003.
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Sievers, Kai & Koskelainen, Osmo & Leppo, Kimmo (1974). Suomalaisten sukupuolielämä. Porvoo: WSOY.
Leppo, Kimmo & Koskelainen, Osmo & Sievers, Kai (1973). Seksuaalikäyttäytymistä ja ehkäisytapoja koskevan tutkimuksen metodiraportti. Helsinki: Väestöntutkimuslaitos. Väestöntutkimuslaitoksen julkaisuja B; 33.
Haavio-Mannila, Elina & Roos, J.P. & Rotkirch, Anna (2004). Olivatko suuret ikäluokat murroksen moottoreita? Sukupolven ja periodin vaikutuksen erittelyä seksin, politiikan ja vapaa-ajan suhteen. Teoksessa: Yhteiskunnan moottori vai kivireki? Suuret ikäluokat ja 1960-lukulaisuus (toim. Jani Erola & Terhi-Anna Wilska), 215-238. Jyväskylä: Sophi.
Haavio-Mannila, Elina & Kontula, Osmo (2001). Seksin trendit meillä ja naapureissa. Helsinki: WSOY.
Frisk, Matleena & Taavetti, Riikka (2020) FINSEX-tutkimusten sokea piste: Ohitetun väkivallan yhteiskunnalliset seuraukset Sukupuolentutkimus 33(4), 39-44.
Taavetti, Riikka (2021). Suomalaisuus ja seksi: FINSEX-tutkimusten käsitteelliset rajat 1971-1999. Teoksessa Matias Kaihovirta & Tiina Lintunen (toim.) Työväki ja seksi. Väki Voimakas 34. Helsinki: Työväen historian ja perinteen tutkimuksen seura, 319-351. https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/334554