Predicting the future of Internet sex: Online sexual activities in Sweden

This is the first large-scale study of Internet sexuality conducted outside the USA. The questionnaire was administered in the Swedish language and utilized responses from one of the most popular portals (Passagen) in Sweden. Responses from 3,614 people were analysed, with a gender distribution of 55% males and 45% females. This is exactly the same percentages as found in the overall use of the Internet in Sweden (Nielsen/Net Ratings, January, 2002) and participation by females allowed for a more detailed examination of their involvement in online sexual activities. A factor analysis found that there were two major and coherent factors that accounted for over one-third of the variance for all participants. These were called 'Seeking partners', and 'Accessing erotica'. The article details several ways these factors were influenced by gender and age. These results also provided corroboration for several important patterns of OSA reported in earlier studies. Sweden might be an especially fortuitous place to do this type of research as the pervasiveness and acceptance of Internet usage is higher than in the USA, and among the highest in the world. It was postulated that these findings might provide an indication of how OSA might evolve in other societies as their populations increasingly spend time online.