Religiosity and the sexuality of women: Sexual behavior and sexual satisfaction revisited

Although our societal attitudes about sexuality continue to be dominated by the religious view that sexual desires are to be restrained and sexual pleasures to be avoided, the degree to which religiosity actually influences the sexuality of women remains a matter of conjecture. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the relationship, if any, between religiosity and the sexual behaviors and sexual satisfaction of women. An anonymous questionnaire concerning sexual attitudes, sexual behaviors, and female sexual response was administered to 868 female professional nurses in 15 states. Significant differences were found between the degree of religiosity and the age at initiation of sexual intercourse and attitudes toward masturbation. Similar to earlier findings, there were no significant differences in sexual satisfaction between women with high‐frequency and low‐frequency church attendance.