If you think your kinky fetish makes you unique, you had better think again. According to a new study published in The Journal of Sex Research nearly half of us have deviant sexual fantasies.
What’s more, a third of people have acted on their desire at least once. The research surveyed 1,040 Canadians and revealed that sexual tastes which are considered abnormal by psychiatrists are actually a lot more normal than you might think.
The research conducted by Christian Joyal and Julie Carpentier, researchers at the Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montréal and the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal (CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal), both of which are affiliated with University of Montreal,
“The main goal of the study was to determine normal sexual desires and experiences in a representative sample of the general population,” explained Christian Joyal, who is also a full professor in the Department of Psychology at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. The researchers used a professional survey firm to ask men and women who are representative of the general population about their experiences with and desire to engage in sexual behaviour considered abnormal by the DSM-5. Based on this phone and online survey, the researchers were able to confirm their initial hypothesis. “Overall, nearly half (45.6%) of the sample subjects were interested in at least one type of sexual behaviour that is considered anomalous
Out of the eight “paraphilic” fetishes listed – voyeurism, exhibitionism, frotteurism, masochism, sadism, fetishism and transvestism – four of them were found to be surprisingly common desires.
Christian Joyal, who led the study, explained: “Some paraphilic interests are more common than people might think, not only in terms of fantasies but also in terms of desire and behaviour.
“The main goal of the study was to determine normal sexual desires and experiences in a representative sample of the general population.”
The most popular fantasy was voyeurism, which is when you get a kick out of spying on others having sex, with 35% of the men and women in the study confessing they liked it.
More than a quarter (26%) admitted they were into fetishism, being sexually attracted to objects and another 26% liked frotteurism, which involves rubbing your genitals against a non-consenting person.
And almost a fifth (19%) got a kinky pleasure from being in pain – also known as masochism. Christian continued: ”Overall, nearly half (45.6%) of the sample subjects were interested in at least one type of sexual behaviour that is considered anomalous, whereas one third (33%) had experienced the behaviour at least once.
“These facts suggest that we need to know what normal sexual practices are before we label a legal sexual interest as anomalous.”
