Relationships between Casual Sex, Self-esteem, and Psychological Well-being among Dutch Female Students.

Abstract

Lately, casual sex appears to have become the normative standard, replacing traditional dating among college students. Casual sex is defined as a non-romantic relation, where explicitly no promise concerning a romantic relationship and no agreements concerning behaviour of both parties are made. It is comprised of a broad range of behaviours, such as heavy kissing, petting, oral sex, anal sex, mutual masturbation and/or intercourse. In the US, concerns are widespread with respect to this behaviour: researchers believe it would lead to physical and psychological distress. The first part of the present study focused on frequencies in which female Dutch students participated in casual sex, and if risk-behaviour occured when participating in casual sex. The second part of the study focused on casual sex among Dutch female students, and tried to establish whether self-esteem is a moderating factor for the consequences of casual sex. A sample of 108 Dutch female college students completed an online survey, which included items concerning casual sex, self-esteem, risk behaviour and psychological wellbeing. Results revealed that 78.6% of the students were involved in casual sex within the past year, which is in line with studies performed in the US. The perception of casual sex was fairly positive, with a mean score of 6.92, when rated between 0 (negative experience) and 10 (positive experience). No associations between casual sex and psychological wellbeing were found. Furthermore, self-esteem was found not to be a moderating factor between casual sex and psychological wellbeing.