View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Is "Rough Sex" a Thing? A Survey of Meaning.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Is "Rough Sex" a Thing? A Survey of Meaning.
Authors: Gavey, Nicola (AUTHOR), Brewster, Olivia (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Sex Research. Mar/Apr2026, Vol. 63 Issue 3, p311-327. 17p.
Subjects: Definitions, Ambiguity, Human sexuality, Sexual aggression, Psychology, Social science research, Behavioral assessment, Evaluation methodology
Abstract: The term "rough sex" is widely used, but it is not always clear what it means. Through exploring people's working definitions of "rough sex," we asked what they revealed about the underlying phenomenon it is applied to, and whether it is actually a thing. Our online survey of 567 New Zealand respondents (73.7% women, 21% men, 5.3% gender diverse; mean age, 35.6 years, SD = 10.8) identified various behaviors that many considered to be part of "rough sex" – including hair pulling, holding down someone forcefully, slapping and "choking." While this behavioral profile was similar to previous U.S. studies, our survey was designed with novel features that allowed us to look more closely at the variation in how people make sense of "rough sex." Embedded within a critical psychology approach, our descriptive analysis highlighted areas of ambiguity and difference, including points of contradiction across people's working definitions. Critical qualitative analysis of open-ended textual data further examined categorical misalignments and the difficulties in interpreting behavioral indicators as defining of "rough sex" – especially without more contextual information. Overall, we found considerable variability and some contradictions in people's definitions of "rough sex" and the meanings they ascribed to it. Our findings led us to argue that the term "rough sex" does not map onto a coherent phenomenon, and that use of the term can be misleading, with potentially problematic implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Sex Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 192312978
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Is "Rough Sex" a Thing? A Survey of Meaning.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gavey%2C+Nicola%22">Gavey, Nicola</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Brewster%2C+Olivia%22">Brewster, Olivia</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Sex+Research%22">Journal of Sex Research</searchLink>. Mar/Apr2026, Vol. 63 Issue 3, p311-327. 17p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Definitions%22">Definitions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ambiguity%22">Ambiguity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+sexuality%22">Human sexuality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sexual+aggression%22">Sexual aggression</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology%22">Psychology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+science+research%22">Social science research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Behavioral+assessment%22">Behavioral assessment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Evaluation+methodology%22">Evaluation methodology</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: The term "rough sex" is widely used, but it is not always clear what it means. Through exploring people's working definitions of "rough sex," we asked what they revealed about the underlying phenomenon it is applied to, and whether it is actually a thing. Our online survey of 567 New Zealand respondents (73.7% women, 21% men, 5.3% gender diverse; mean age, 35.6 years, SD = 10.8) identified various behaviors that many considered to be part of "rough sex" – including hair pulling, holding down someone forcefully, slapping and "choking." While this behavioral profile was similar to previous U.S. studies, our survey was designed with novel features that allowed us to look more closely at the variation in how people make sense of "rough sex." Embedded within a critical psychology approach, our descriptive analysis highlighted areas of ambiguity and difference, including points of contradiction across people's working definitions. Critical qualitative analysis of open-ended textual data further examined categorical misalignments and the difficulties in interpreting behavioral indicators as defining of "rough sex" – especially without more contextual information. Overall, we found considerable variability and some contradictions in people's definitions of "rough sex" and the meanings they ascribed to it. Our findings led us to argue that the term "rough sex" does not map onto a coherent phenomenon, and that use of the term can be misleading, with potentially problematic implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Sex Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=192312978
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/00224499.2024.2438711
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 311
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Definitions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ambiguity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human sexuality
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sexual aggression
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social science research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Behavioral assessment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Evaluation methodology
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Is "Rough Sex" a Thing? A Survey of Meaning.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Gavey, Nicola
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Brewster, Olivia
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 03
              Text: Mar/Apr2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 00224499
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 63
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Journal of Sex Research
              Type: main
ResultId 1