RESEARCH HORIZONS

Magazine 2017

International Peer-Reviewed Journal

RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

PSYCHOLOGY

EFFECT OF SPIRITUALITY ON SEXUAL ATTITUDES

SEXUAL GUILT

Phadke Shreya

** Murali Reshma

ABSTRACT

The aim of the research was to find out if there is a relationship between Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and

Sexual Guilt. This study was an attempt to understand how some of the most intimate aspects of human

beings are interconnected to one another. To measure the variables, the Spiritual Experience Index-

Revised, the Revised Mosher Sex-Guilt Inventory and the Sexual Attitude Scale were used. The 100 adult

participants, within the age-range of 30-50 years were selected using the Snowball sampling method.

The study had a Correlational design and the data was analyzed using the Pearson Product-Moment

Correlation. Results indicated a statistically significant positive correlation between the variables of

Spirituality and Sexual Attitudes, (p<0.01) and between the variables of Spirituality and Sexual Guilt,

(p<0.05).

Keywords : Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Guilt.

Introduction

Although different in their basic approach, religion and spirituality have been used interchangeably at times by

defining them as, “beliefs and practices that are grounded in the conviction that there is a transcendent

(

nonphysical) dimension of life” (Peterson and Seligman, 2004). Miller and Thoresen (1999) highlighted the

difference between religiosity and spirituality by defining spirituality as an attribute of an individual (much like a

.1 Spirituality

Spirituality is more of an individual practice and has to do with having a sense of peace and purpose. It also

relates to the process of developing beliefs around the meaning of life and connection with others. “Definitions

of spirituality deal with the ultimate goal in life, the experience of a transcendent dimension that gives meaning

to existence, and the capacity to experience the sacred.” (Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2003).

The spiritual aspect ranges from empowering individuals to relieve their day-to-day stresses, to imparting

worldly teachings like gaining a new perspective, coping with change or uncertainty and detachment from

materialistic possessions and desires. The concept of Spirituality is often criticized for its perceived vagueness

and gets labeled as a hokum attempt to deviate from the scientific norms by believing in such things as there

being “something greater than the concrete world we see.”

What the skeptics fail to realize, however, is that the origin of spirituality has its roots firmly based in a well-

established scientific community of Psychology. In fact, “a study by the World Health Organization conducted

in 18, countries linked Spirituality to the World Health Organization’ Quality of Life instrument and revealed its

value for health and well-being.” (WHOQOL SRPB Group, 2006). Another study showed that, “spirituality is a

better predictor of hope, optimism and pessimism than the Big Five Personality Factors.” (Ciarrocchi et al,

1998).

.2 Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal psychology is a sub-field or “school” of psychology that integrates the spiritual and transcendent

aspects of the human experience with the framework of modern psychology. It is also possible to define it as

“

spiritual psychology”. The term transpersonal psychology was first introduced in the 1960s by psychologists

such as Abraham Maslow and Victor Frankl. This field strives to use the route of psychology to not only better

understand spiritual experiences but to also provide a deeper and richer understanding of individuals and to

help them achieve their greatest potential.

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.3 Sexual Attitudes

RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

Sexual Attitudes are attitudes, opinions and beliefs regarding sexual matters such as sexual development,

human sexual behaviour, sexual orientation and sexual risk taking behaviour. They are partly, if not completely,

influenced by one’s cultural background and/or previous sexual experiences. Along with these influences,

sexual attitudes are also prone to change with time and generation. “Attitudes toward sex are both a product

and a cause of social and sexual experiences, choices, and behaviours. These attitudes also depend on

demographic characteristics such as race/ethnicity, education, and gender.” (Laumann et al., 1994, 2004).

A research concluded that, “at all ages in this study, men are more likely than women to have a partner, more

likely to be sexually active with that partner, and tend to have more positive and permissive attitudes toward

sex. The proportions in a sexual partnership, behavior, problems, and attitudes all differ substantially by age.

And these age patterns often differ for men and women” (NSHAP, 2009). Yet another dimension of the research

concluded that, “men are typically more positive about sex and sexual expression than women regardless of

the circumstances. And, second, attitudes tend to be more conservative among older than among younger

people.” (NSHAP, 2009). “For older adults in the generations represented in NSHAP, marriage provides the

social and emotional context for the vast majority of all sexual activity. Marriage also provides opportunity for

intimacy and affects physical and emotional satisfaction with sex” (Waite & Joyner, 2001).

.4 Sexual Guilt

Sexual guilt or shame refers to a feeling of grave responsibility and deep remorse associated with participation

in or even thoughts and fantasies about sexual activity. Those who look at particular sexual activities or sex as

something to feel guilty about, regard them as sinful, wrong, immoral or unclean. Mosher and Cross (1971)

defined sex guilt as a “generalized expectancy for self-mediated punishment for violating or anticipating violating

standards for proper sexual conduct.” Sex guilt has been negatively correlated with sexual experiences such as

having sexual intercourse, engaging in masturbation (Langston, 1973; Mosher, 1973; Mosher & Cross, 1971;

Sack, Keller, Hinkle, 1984), and limiting sexual participation to less intimate forms of sexual expression (Mosher

Cross, 1971).

.5 Sigmund Freud’s Theory on Sexual Guilt

Although often debated, the concept of sexual guilt is said to have its roots in the work of Sigmund Freud.

Although often debated, one cannot discredit Freud as being the starting point for understanding sexual guilt.

Freud maintained that libido, or the sexual instinct, is one of the core drives in human behavior and personality

formation. His well-known and widely accepted theory of the Id, Ego and Superego play a major role in the

explanation of sexual guilt, specifically the Id and the Superego. The id is considered to be a combination of

the most primitive drives and the psychic energy needed to initiate actions designed to satisfy these desires,

including the desire for sex. The Superego is considered to be the Moral guide of the three and consists of the

learned and internalized social standards of behavior received from parents and others, including an

understanding of banned or punishable behaviors. Thus, the superego acts as the moral conscience; it consists

of internally held values about what is right and commendable, on the one hand, and what is wrong and

condemnable on the other.

Transgression of superego standards leads to guilt feelings as well as to a sense of remorse, anger directed at

oneself, and a loss of self-esteem. These transgressions need not be actual behaviors, such as participation in

banned sexual activities. They may occur in dreams or fantasies as well (Sexual Guilt and Shame, 2005).

The formation of sexual guilt manifests itself through various types and causal factors;

Right from birth, a child is imprinted with the “dos” and “don’ts” of one’s sexual expression. Eventually, due to

the social and moral implications heavily associated with sex, there arises a feeling of doing something unnatural

or immoral by fantasizing, thinking, desiring and/or engaging in sexual activities. As sought after as Freud’s

theory is, cross-cultural studies have suggested that many of his ideas are most applicable to Western societies,

especially to the Judeo-Christian tradition; for example, the Japanese traditionally did not evidence much guilt

associated with participation in sexual activities; rather, guilt in Japanese society was generally associated with

a failure to fulfil internalized values about responsibility to one’s family. This realization has led to considerable

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discussion of the relationship between Christianity and its emphasis on moral absolutes (e.g., sins) and the

emergence of sexual guilt (Sexual Guilt and Shame, 2005)

Such beliefs get strengthened and eventually become inherent with the addition of religious implications on the

subject; popularly known as Religious Guilt. Recent studies have noted considerable levels of sexual guilt

associated with masturbation among the elderly as well. This is because masturbation produces guilt because

it is defined as an inappropriate behavior by adults or by society in general.

Then there is, Latent Guilt, which manifests itself through the belief that sex in general is inherently wrong or

dirty. Individuals with latent guilt commonly believe that sex is personally degrading and associate it with

nothing more than primary, animal instincts. Individuals with these values tend to view sex as an expression of

lack of self-control (Sexual Guilt and Shame,

2005).

.6 Dual Nature of Spirituality

Even with its scientific components, Spirituality still caters largely to the transcendent beliefs of human nature.

There are certain beliefs that each individual holds dear to himself/herself,

whether openly or discreetly, not always taking the practical aspect of them into consideration. Such individual

beliefs may be a source of religious teachings, spiritual beliefs, upbringing or any other extraneous factors.

Spirituality is a double-edged sword when it comes to influencing an individual’s beliefs about sexual attitudes

and sexual guilt. One hand, with its practical approach, it can be a liberating force that enables a person to be

reassuring and confident about his/her choices and beliefs. For

example, in a study, “the sanctification of sexual intercourse, or the belief that sexuality is sacred and associated

with the divine, predicted increased sexual activity and sexual satisfaction.” (Murray-Swank and Colleagues,

2005).

On the other hand, with its detachment-from-materialistic-desires-and-pleasures, it can enable a more conservative

and self-reproach attitude; as a study concluded, “cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that

increased levels of self-reported religiosity and spirituality are related to higher rates of premarital abstinence,

fewer life time partners, and less frequent intercourse” (e.g., Alzate, 1978; Mahoney, 1980; Murray-Swank,

Pargament, & Mahoney, 2005; Nicholas & Durrheim, 1995; Paul, Fitzjohn, Eberhart-Philips, Herbison, & Dickson,

000; Schultz, Bohrnstedt, Borgatta, & Evans, 1977; Thornton & Camburn, 1989).

.7 Spirituality and Moral Goodness

Spirituality also gets linked with the concept of Moral Goodness. This could be because some confuse the

basics of Spirituality with the basic of Moral Goodness. The emphasis of Moral Goodness is on the ethical and

moral values and in the likelihood that, after death, one will go to heaven. However, what often gets neglected

that, although used interchangeably, Spirituality and Moral Goodness are not one and the same.

Helminiak (1989) links spirituality to sexuality by defining spirituality as a construct that involves the integration

of the whole person, a process that naturally includes the individual’s sexuality. Thus, Spiritual Psychology is

one of the, if not the only, driving force to influence and guide human sexual attitudes and sexual guilt.

Aim:

The aim of this study was to find out if there is a relationship between Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual

Guilt.

Objective:

This study was an attempt to get an understanding of how some of the most intimate human aspects are

interconnected to each other. Along with an attempt to increase the quantity and quality of researches regarding

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Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Guilt, the study was also an attempt to help in decreasing the taboo

that usually accompanies such a subject matter.

Review of Literature

Even with Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Guilt being connected more than they are given credit for

and being one of the most personally relevant dimensions of human beings, the body of research on these

three variables as a whole is surprisingly less. Or rather, it isn’t as much as one would have expected. A lot of

research has been conducted on the adolescent/college students’ population as compared to the other

population.

However, one of the most noteworthy aspects of the available literature in these areas is that they cover

researches/findings that date back as old as the 60s-70s-80s, discuss the proceedings in-between and present

the current perspectives as well. So, although the quantity may be a bit scanty, it still doesn’t compromise the

quality of the available researches.

As a lone construct, Spirituality has a solid body of research; highlighting its merits and criticisms but when it

comes to studying this aspect in relation to some other factor, it is more often than not accompanied with the

construct of Religiosity.

A lot of researches have combined the concepts of Spirituality and Religiosity, in-line with the explanation that

both are “beliefs and practices that are grounded in the conviction that there is a transcendent (nonphysical)

dimension of life” (Peterson and Seligman, 2004).

.1 Relationship between Spirituality and Sexual Attitudes

One such research, designed to study, “The Relationship Among Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Fantasy & Religiosity”,

concluded that “high religiosity is negatively related to permissive sexual attitudes and sexual fantasy” (Ahrold

TK, Farmer M, Trapnell PD, Meston CM, 2011). Another study took into consideration variables such as Shame

and Guilt along with Spirituality and Religiosity on Sexual Attitudes and Experiences; it was found that “spirituality

was negatively correlated with sexual permissiveness, and engaging in high risk sex”, “sex guilt emerged as a

significant mediator between global level of religiousness and spirituality, and engagement in sexual intercourse

and other sexual activities” and “sexual attitudes & experiences are related to both spirituality & religious

practices independently of personality, whereas they have no relationship to shame & guilt” (Murray, Ciarrocchi

and Murray-Swank, 2007).

A study by Brelsford, Luquis and Murray-Swank (2011) on the Sexual Attitudes of College Students’ Permissive

Sexual Attitudes showed that, “significant links between private religious practices, daily spiritual experiences,

conservative sexual attitudes for all respondents.” Some of the “cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have

shown that increased levels of self-reported religiosity and spirituality are related to higher rates of premarital

abstinence, fewer life time partners, and less frequent intercourse” (e.g., Alzate, 1978; Mahoney, 1980; Murray-

Swank, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2005; Nicholas & Durrheim, 1995; Paul, Fitzjohn, Eberhart-Philips, Herbison, &

Dickson, 2000; Schultz, Bohrnstedt, Borgatta, & Evans, 1977; Thornton & Camburn, 1989).

Studies have also highlighted the construct of Spirituality as having a positive impact on human sexuality. As

shown through the results of a study which stated that, “the sanctification of sexual intercourse, or the belief

that sexuality is sacred and associated with the divine, predicted increased sexual activity and sexual satisfaction.”

(Murray-Swank and Colleagues, 2005).

As far as Sexual Attitudes is concerned, the related research focuses either on the different aspects of sexuality

or it talks about sexual attitudes in terms of having a Conservative or Liberal attitude towards human sexuality.

Also, research in this area has spoken about gender and often age differences in sexual attitudes.

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In a study by Holder, DuRant, Harris, Daniel, Obeidallah and Goodman (2000), to determine the association

between dimensions of spirituality and voluntary sexual activity (VSA) in adolescents; it was found that, “higher

spiritual interconnectedness, particularly interconnectedness among spiritual friends, are independently

associated with a lower likelihood of VSA.” In a study aimed to measure spirituality’s unique affect on young

adults’ sexual practices (frequency of sex, number of sexual partners, and condom use) and determining

whether spirituality adds significant increment over well-established predictors; it was found that, “sprituality

contributed to the prediction of participants’ number of partners and condom use above and beyond the

variance accounted for by religiousness, alcohol use, and impulsivity. A moderating effect for gender was

found. “Spirituality appears to have a unique and strong association with the sexual practices of young adults,

particularly women.” (Burris, Smith and Carlson, 2009).

.2 Sexual Attitudes and Gender Differences

Social science literature supports findings that men tend to have more permissive sexual attitudes than women

e.g., Fugere, Escoto, Cousins, Riggs, & Haerich, 2008; Oliver & Hyde, 1993). However, this difference does

(

not suggest that men and women differ on the emotionally meaningful connections provided in a sexual

relationship. The causal attribution of this is due to the fact that point that male participants’ self-rated extent of

spirituality was a more salient predictor of less permissive sexual attitudes, whereas for female participants the

driving force appears to be their religious beliefs. It appears that although interwoven in some aspects, religion

and spirituality may impact sexual attitudes differently for men and women, but both constructs act as barriers

to permissive sexual attitudes. (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1987).

A classic study by Frank Lindenfield (1960), “Social Mobility, Religiosity, and Students’ Attitudes Towards

Premarital Sexual Relations” highlighted the gender differences in sexual attitudes when the results showed that

women are more restrictive in sexual attitudes and behaviour than men.

.3 Relationship between Spirituality and Sexual Guilt

Sexual Guilt, as stated earlier, has been written about since the age of Freud. Back when the aspect of religiosity

was much more sought after than spirituality, sexual guilt was heavily linked with religion along with the societal

norms. Nevertheless, the notion of being “watched” and “judged” and the internalized pressure to be respectful

and honest in the beliefs that one has shown towards a nonphysical entity does play a role in elevating feelings

of guilt, particularly about sexual matters.

A study concluded, “cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that increased levels of self-reported

religiosity and spirituality are related to higher rates of premarital abstinence, fewer life time partners, and less

frequent intercourse” (e.g., Alzate, 1978; Mahoney, 1980; Murray-Swank, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2005; Nicholas

Durrheim, 1995; Paul, Fitzjohn, Eberhart-Philips, Herbison, & Dickson, 2000; Schultz, Bohrnstedt, Borgatta,

Evans, 1977; Thornton & Camburn, 1989).

.4 Sexual Guilt and Erotophobia

Researches dating back to the 70s and 80s have also reported about a concept called as “Erotophobia” also

known as aversion to sex. In studying erotophobia, it was found that it existed more among women than

among men. It is said to occur largely among people who are not affluent and among those of intensely

religious backgrounds, but can also be seen to some degree throughout society. This aversion is learned by

children who grow up in families where sexuality is severely restricted and sexual behavior punished. (Donn

Byrne).

In an article, Daniel Goleman (1985) talked about how, “psychologists in one recent study found, for example,

that some young women who acknowledge strong feelings of guilt about sexual behavior or feelings may react

stronger physiologically to sexual stimuli than other women, but are unaware of it. Previous studies have found

that women acknowledging such guilt reported little sexual response, but the current study was the first to

measure physiological reactions.”

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Sex guilt has been negatively correlated with sexual experiences such as having sexual intercourse, engaging in

masturbation (Langston, 1973; Mosher, 1973; Mosher & Cross, 1971; Sack, Keller, Hinkle, 1984), and limiting

sexual participation to less intimate forms of sexual expression (Mosher & Cross, 1971). Recent studies have

noted considerable levels of sexual guilt associated with masturbation among the elderly.

.5 General Findings on Sexual Guilt

In general, the research findings on higher Sexual Guilt suggest that, 1) has a negative correlation with both the

amount and type of sexual behavior, 2) relates to higher levels of affective guilt, shame, embarrassment and

depression following exposure to sexual stimuli and, 3) is associated with less sexual knowledge acquired.

(

Wyatt and Dunn, 1991).

A study, investigating the relationship of sex guilt as a personality disposition to reports of previous sexual

experiences, feelings following participation, or reasons for nonparticipation, and pre- and post-marital sexual

standards for 60 male and 76 female undergraduates. Results showed that, the more guilty females gave moral

beliefs as their reason for not participating in intercourse or more intimate forms of petting; the more guilty

males reported that moral beliefs, respect for the girl, and fear of pregnancy or disease were their reasons for

nonparticipation in intercourse or oral-genital relations. (Mosher, Donald L.; Cross, Herbert J., 1971).

Like Sexual Attitudes, research on Sexual Guilt has also extensively suggested that women experience this

phenomenon more than their male counterparts.

.6 Sexual Guilt and Gender Differences

A research that looked at 132 studies, carried out over the course of almost 40 years, which measured the

physical and mental responses of more than 4,000 men and women. Their reactions were tested after they were

exposed to a series of erotic stimuli, including being asked to think of a fantasy or being shown images or

pornographic films. The findings showed that men’s brains and bodies were almost always aligned, while

women were much more likely to have an inconsistency between the two. (Kate Devlin, 2010).

A study comprising of a huge number of undergraduate students, viewed two pornographic films portraying

face-to-face intercourse and oral-genital sex between the same couple. Results showed that, females, high sex-

guilt subjects, and less sexually experienced subjects rated the films as more pornographic, disgusting, and

offensive. High guilt subjects saw the oral-genital sex as abnormal. Males reported more affective arousal

indicative of general activation and approach tendencies, while women reported larger increases in negative

affects after viewing the films. (Donald L. Mosher, 1973).

Guilt as a construct other than Sex Guilt has also been studied in relation to Spirituality. “One study showed that

spirituality with an emphasis on connectedness with others had a positive correlation with maladaptive

interpersonal guilt, while general spiritual experience had an inverse relationship with maladaptive interpersonal

guilt” (Albertsen, 2002). A study by Albertsen, O’Connor and Berry (2006) on Asian Americans, Europeans and

Latin Americans showed that ethnicity, religious affiliation, and religious or spiritual emphasis were significantly

related to guilt.”

Research Question:

Is there a Correlation between Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Guilt?

Method

Participants:

The 100 adult participants involved in this study were between the age-range of 30-50 years of age. The

participants were Indian (Asian), Mumbai residents, with a minimum proficiency of the English language.

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Variables:

RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

The variables of this study were Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Guilt. Spirituality is regarded as more

of an individual practice and has to do with having a sense of peace and purpose. It also relates to the process

of developing beliefs around the meaning of life and connection with others. Sexual Attitudes are attitudes,

opinions and beliefs regarding sexual matters and Sexual Guilt refers to a feeling of grave responsibility and

deep remorse associated with participation in or even thoughts and fantasies about sexual activity.

Operational Definitions:

Spirituality: Spiritual inclination in relation to personal faith, spiritual growth and spiritual power. Higher the

scores on the Spirituality measuring scale, higher will be one’s spiritual inclination.

Sexual Attitudes: Conservative outlook in relation to sexual attitudes. A score above 50 on the sexual attitudes

measuring scale shows one’s conservative outlook towards human sexuality.

Sexual Guilt: Guilt in relation to sexual participation, sexual fantasies or sexual thoughts. Higher the scores on

the sexual guilt measuring scale, higher will be one’s level of guilt.

Tools:

The tools/scales used for the purpose of this study were;

. The Spiritual Experience Index-Revised:

he Spiritual Experience Index-Revised, developed by Genia (1997), is a 23-item scale that measures faith and

spiritual journey, aiming to not impose any particular faith as part of the questions. This questionnaire is a

revised version of the Spiritual Experience Index. The scale is a shortened version and was revised into two

subscales of; Spiritual Support Subscale and Spiritual Openness Subscale. Higher scores represent greater

spiritual maturity or experience.

The internal consistency of the scale ranged from .82-.87 and high correlations were found to provide support

for its construct validity. Various studies have also provided evidence about the scale’s unitary measure.

Scoring: items ‘1,3,7,10’ in the Spiritual Openness Subscale are reverse-scored. Each subscale is scored

separately. Scoring is kept continuous.

. The Revised Mosher Sex-Guilt Inventory:

The Revised Mosher Sex-Guilt Inventory, developed by Donald Mosher (1998), is a 50-item scale that assesses

guilt about sexual matters. It is in the form of a Likert scale (0-6) and measures sex guilt on a range of 0-300.

Higher scores indicate greater guilt. The internal consistency of the scale is estimated in the .90 range and its

convergent validity ranges approximately from .66 to .86.

Scoring: items ‘1,4,5,8,9,11,14,16,17,19,22,23,26,27,30,32,34,36,38,39,42,43,46,47,49’ to be reverse-scored.

After reverse scoring, add scores together to find total guilt scores.

. The Sexual Attitude Scale:

The Sexual Attitude Scale, developed by Walter Hudson, Gerald Murphy and Paula Nirus, is a 25-item scale

which measures liberal versus conservative attitudes towards human sexual expression. The Sexual Attitude

Scale has a cut-off of 50, with a score below 50 representing a liberal orientation towards human sexuality and

a score above 50 representing a conservative orientation towards human sexuality. Lower scores indicate a

more liberal attitude towards sex. Internal consistency of the scale falls in the range of .90 and its construct and

factorial validity ranging in the .60 or greater range.

Scoring: items ‘21,22’ to be reverse scored, summing these and the remaining scores, subtracting the number

of completed items, multiplying by 100 and dividing by the number of completed items times 4.

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Research Design:

RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

The study had a correlational research design. In a correlational design, two or more variables are studied to

determine if there is a relationship between the variables. A correlational research is basically looking for

variables that seem to interact with each other, so that when a change is observed in one variable, one gets an

idea of you of how the other variable(s) will change. A correlation can be positive or negative. A positive

correlation means that an increase in one variable leads to an increase in other variables while a negative

correlation is when one variable increases, other variables decrease.

Procedure:

The 100 participants involved in this study were chosen through the process of Snowball sampling. In snowball

sampling, the participants who are already associated with the research study recommend or recruit additional

participants from among their acquaintances, who fulfil the required criterions of the study. Before administering

any of the tests/scales on the participants, they were asked to sign a consent form to ensure their permission

for being a part of the study. Participants were also asked to fill a sheet of their demographic details before

proceeding ahead with the scales. Participants were given complete freedom to clear any of their doubts

regarding the study.

Data Analysis:

For the purpose of analyzing the data, the inferential analysis test used was the Pearson Product-Moment

Correlation. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation is a measure of the linear correlation between two variables

and its value of either positive correlation, negative correlation or no correlation. This statistical analysis was

used to find out if there is a correlation between the three variables and if it is a positive correlation, a negative

correlation or a zero correlation.

Ethical Considerations:

Each participant was provided with a consent form to be filled before being officially associated with the

research. Taking into consideration the sensitive content of the subject matter, participants were reassured

that their anonymity will be protected and they were also given the freedom to decide whether or not they

wanted to reveal their name in the demographic details sheet. Also, they had the total freedom to quit the

study if at any time they felt emotionally strained due to any personal issues or were unwilling to continue

ahead.

Results

Table 1 shows the Mean and Standard Deviations of the Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Guilt variables.

The large standard deviation of the three variables indicates a greater variability among the data. The reason for

this large deviation could be attributed to the outlier response, specifically for the Sexual Guilt variable. However,

the maximum score possible to obtain on the Sexual Guilt scale in itself being a higher number (300), the

participant who has high Sexual Guilt may have given higher ratings for its items and obtained a score which is

higher as compared to the rest of the participants, thus becoming the aforementioned outlier response. On the

whole the sample appears to be leaning more towards liberal sexual attitudes.

Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviations for Spirituality, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Guilt.

A study concluded, “cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that increased levels of self-reported

religiosity and spirituality are related to higher rates of premarital abstinence, fewer life time partners, and less

frequent intercourse” (e.g., Alzate, 1978; Mahoney, 1980; Murray-Swank, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2005; Nicholas

Durrheim, 1995; Paul, Fitzjohn, Eberhart-Philips, Herbison, & Dickson, 2000; Schultz, Bohrnstedt, Borgatta,

Evans, 1977; Thornton & Camburn, 1989).

.4 Sexual Guilt and Erotophobia

Researches dating back to the 70s and 80s have also reported about a concept called as “Erotophobia” also

known as aversion to sex. In studying erotophobia, it was found that it existed more among women than

among men. It is said to occur largely among people who are not affluent and among those of intensely

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