Malaysia has been selected as one of 45 countries around the world to be part of an International Sex Survey (ISS) to examine different sexual behaviours, preferences, motivations related to the sexual life of adults.
The large-scale study, helmed by Dr Beáta Bőthe (Department of Psychology, University of Montreal), hopes to look at the positive (i.e, sexual satisfaction, sexual desire) and negative aspects (such as sexual risk-taking, sexual function problems) of sexuality and to help people who may experience sexual problems, says Elaine Fernandez, head of department and senior lecturer at Help University's Department of Psychology.
Elaine, and her brother David Fernandez, clinical psychologist and PhD candidate at Nottingham Trent University, will be leading the Malaysian research to get data from the local population.
"We know that healthy sexuality is an integral part of the human experience and well-being. However, some sexual behaviors may result in significant distress or functional impairment such as relationship issues, sexual functioning issues and so on.
"Therefore, our mission is to examine why and for whom different sexual behaviours may result in optimal or adverse outcomes, and help those who may experience sexual problems," says Elaine.
Getting local data and being a part of this global study is imperative, they emphasise, as different cultures may have different behaviours or attitudes towards sexuality because of different social norms, beliefs and so on.
The current literature on the subject however has little evidence regarding sexual behaviours across countries and how these behaviours might be associated with sexual health outcomes across cultures.
And, not only is there relatively little international data on the topic, most of what is available is not relatable to communities in the region, let alone in Malaysia.
"Sex research has recently – and rightly – been criticised for being too ‘WEIRD’. The acronym refers to the target group of previous studies and samples as being too heavily focused on Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic populations. Most previous studies on sex and sexuality focused on people from WEIRD environments, so the results of such studies have been less generalisable to the rest of the world.
"Even when research was conducted in other countries or with minority groups, the results have not really been comparable due to the high variance of quality, methodology, and measurement tools used across different studies in this area," explains David.
"In order to enable greater standardisation and comparability between contexts, it is important that people complete the same questionnaires in all countries, which is the main goal of the ISS," he says.
With the ISS, he adds, there would be publicly available scales that can reliably assess different sexual behaviours to be used in future research and practice, and identify risk and protective factors, as well as at-risk populations that may be targeted in prevention and intervention efforts.A total of 45 countries are participating in this study in 24 different languages, including countries where asking about such sensitive topics as sexuality may be difficult.
"Malaysia is one such country in which talking about sex is “taboo”. This can make it difficult for us to recognise or understand what factors contribute to healthy sexuality and sexual well-being or under what circumstances certain sexual behaviours or motivations may be problematic or cause psychological distress for some people.
"Additionally, the stigma attached to sexual topics can result in people being hesitant to seek help if they are facing sexual-related difficulties. The results of this survey could help give Malaysians insights into issues of sex and sexuality that they may not have previously had access to," says David.
Anyone who is 18 and above can be a part of the study through an anonymous questionnaire.
"It is a thorough and comprehensive survey that asks basic sexuality-related questions, including questions pertaining to sexual desire, pornography use habits, and other related behaviors.
"The questionnaire can be completed by anyone over 18, and will take about 25 to 30 minutes to complete. Anyone interested can access the survey by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/ISS-MAL-EN.
"We encourage everyone eligible to complete it, as the more data the researchers have, the more representative and meaningful their results will be," says Elaine.
The Malaysian academics are hoping to get a minimum sample size of 2,000 Malaysians, and for the respondents to be "as diverse as possible" in terms of age group, gender and sexual identity, race and religious background.
Investigating sexual behaviours and sexuality across cultures would also go a long way in promoting healthy sexuality.
"The aim of the ISS is to understand a wide range of sexual behaviours in diverse populations. Well-validated, publicly available, screening tools will help to eliminate major issues in the field of sexual behaviors research. We hope this will lead to high-quality, unified assessment and give us a deeper understanding of issues in this area.
"Moreover, the ISS will lay the foundations for the development of theoretical models of sexual well-being and problematic sexual behaviour and provides blueprints for future sexuality research and introduce empirically supported treatment targets that can be used for the development of new prevention and intervention programmes," says David.
Those participating in the survey will not only help academic advancements but also contribute to the work of international, non-profit organisations: after each completed survey, the research team will provide a US$0.50 (RM2.09) donation to support a sexuality-related organisation of the respondent's choice.
Malaysians who are 18 and above can take part in the study by clicking on: http://bit.ly/ISS-MAL-EN.
The deadline for participation is March 31.
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