National Opinion Research Center Surveys on Extramarital Sex
Representing a random sample of Americans
Question: What is your opinion about a married person having sexual relations with someone other than the marriage partner--is it always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at all?
YEAR
73
74
76
77
80
82
84
85
87
88
89
90
91
93
94
96
1 ALWAYS WRONG
69.6
1,037
74.1
1,082
68.7
1,013
73.0
1,103
70.5
1,018
73.2
1,333
70.6
1,023
74.9
1,132
73.3
1,308
79.3
764
78.2
797
78.8
709
76.6
738
77.4
815
78.5
1,546
77.9
1,471
2 ALMST ALWAYS WRG
14.8
220
11.8
173
15.6
230
13.6
206
15.9
230
13.0
237
18.2
264
13.7
207
14.7
263
13.0
125
12.9
131
12.8
115
13.7
132
14.4
152
12.6
248
15.1
285
3 SOMETIMES WRONG
11.6
173
11.6
169
11.5
169
10.1
153
9.9
143
10.7
194
8.9
129
8.6
130
9.2
165
5.6
54
7.3
74
7.0
63
6.5
63
5.7
60
6.6
130
5.2
98
4 NOT WRONG AT ALL
4.1
61
2.5
36
4.3
63
3.2
48
3.7
53
3.1
57
2.3
33
2.8
43
2.7
48
2.1
20
1.7
17
1.4
13
3.2
31
2.5
26
2.3
46
1.9
35
COL TOTAL
100.0
1,491
100.0
1,460
100.0
1,475
100.0
1,510
100.0
1,444
100.0
1,821
100.0
1,449
100.0
1,512
100.0
1,784
100.0
963
100.0
1,019
100.0
900
100.0
964
100.0
1,053
100.0
1,970
100.0
1,889
Combining the 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1996 Surveys
The percentages are on the columns. In other words, each cell shows either the percentage of anti-polys or polys who were male, female, white, black, etc.
Anti Polys
Extramarital sex always or almost always wrong
Potential Polys
Extramarital sex not always or never wrong
Male
43%
52%
Female
57%
48%
White
84%
72%
Black
12%
21%
Other
4%
7%
Age 18-29
20%
20%
Age 30-39
24%
26%
Age 40-49
20%
25%
Age 50-64
18%
18%
Age 65-100
18%
12%
Education: 0-11 years
19%
20%
Education: HS grad
31%
25%
Education: Some college or college grad
39%
39%
Education: some grad school or grad degree
11%
16%
These stats show that people with poly permissiveness towards extramarital relations are:
 | more likely to be black and hispanic, although most are white; |
| more likely to be male, although they are only little more than half male |
| more likely to be Baby Boomers, and less likely to be over 65 years old |
| More likely to have graduate education, and less likely to only be HS grads. The differences aren’t dramatic however; 50% of anti-polys have some college, and 55% of polys. |
Now it is likely that youth, and higher degrees of education are likely predictors of actually practicing polyamory.
Bibliography
See Tom Smith’s excellent paper at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/gss/report/s-report/soc35.htm
Also Robert T. Michael, John H. Gagnon, Edward O. Laumann, and Gina
Kolata. Sex in America: A definitive survey. Boston: Little, Brown,
1995. ISBN 0316075248
Edward O. Laumann, John H. Gagnon, Robert T. Michael, and Stuart Michaels.
The Social organization of sexuality in the United States. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Alston, Jon P., "Attitudes Toward Extramarital and Homosexual Relations," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 13 (December, 1974), 479-481.
Generally, extramarital sex is considered wrong, but blacks tend to favor it more than white Catholics, and white Catholics more than white Protestants. Women are more likely than men to disapprove of extramarital sex, more so among blacks. The same relationship exists among blacks regarding homosexual relations, but among whites no sex and religious differences exist.
Singh, B. Krishna; Walton, Bonnie L.; and Williams, J. Sherwood "Extramarital Sexual Permissiveness: Conditions and Contingencies," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38 (November, 1976), 701-712.
The vast majority of Americans oppose extramarital sex. The largest causal impact on extramarital sexual permissiveness comes from attitudes on premarital sexual permissiveness which are linked to class and general attitudinal liberalism.
Glenn, Norval D. and Weaver, Charles N., "Attitudes Toward Premarital Extra-Marital, and Homosexual Relations in the United States in the 1970's," Journal of Sex Research, 15 (May, 1979), 108-118.
While there has been an increase in permissiveness towards premarital sex, attitudes towards extramarital and homosexual behavior have changed little. Jews, persons with no religion, young adults, and people with greater education have more permissive sexual attitudes.
Reiss, Ira, L.; Anderson, Ronald E.; and Sponaugle, G. C., "A Multivariate Model of the Determinants of Extramarital Sexual Permissiveness," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 42 (May, 1980), 395-411.
A causal theory of extramarital sexual permissiveness is attempted. Gender, age, education, religiosity, political liberality, gender equality, marital happiness, and premarital sexual permissiveness are included in a path model predicting extramarital sex attitudes. Additional variables not included in the GSS are discussed but not tested as adding greater predictive power to, this model.
Saunders, Janice Miller and Edwards, John N., "Extramarital Sexuality: A Predictive Model of Permissive Attitudes," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46 (November, 1984), 825-835.
The strongest predictor of permissive attitudes on extramarital sex for men and women is the ability to share one's most personal and intimate feelings with persons other than one's spouse.
Weis, David L. and Jurich, Joan, "Size of Community of Residence as Predictor of Attitudes Toward Extramarital Sexual Relations," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47 (February, 1985), 173-178.
Individuals who reside in or near large metropolitan centers, who hold permissive attitudes on premarital sex, who are unmarried or unhappily married, and who hold high levels of education are most likely to approve of extramarital sex.