Cowart–Pollack Scale of Sexual Experience

Cowart–Pollack Scale of Sexual Experience

DEBRA COWART-STECKLER,1 University of Mary Washington

ROBERT H. POLLACK, University of Georgia

The Cowart–Pollack Scale of Sexual Experience consists of two checklists of heterosexual activities: one for men and another for women. It was developed to assess the sex- ual experience of an individual or group of individuals in research, therapy, or the classroom.

Description

The checklists comprise a wide range of sexual activities for men and women, including oral contacts, masturbation, various intercourse positions, anal intercourse, and bondage. The female scale consists of 30 sexual activities. They range from “your nude breast felt by male” to “anal intercourse.” The male scale consists of 31 sexual activities, ranging from “feeling female’s nude breast” to “bondage.”

Initially, the sexual experience scales consisted of 47 items drawn from previous studies (Bentler, 1968a, 1968b; Zuckerman, 1973). These 47-item scales were distributed to 153 men and 226 women during a group-testing session. After completion, the items were ordered from most to least frequent according to the percentages of subjects who reported that they had engaged in such behavior. In accordance with the Cornell technique of Guttman scaling with two response categories, the top and bottom 10% of the items were discarded. This procedure yielded the present scales.

Investigations of the range of heterosexual experiences have shown a predictable sequence of experiences for men and women (Cowart & Pollack, 1979; Cowart-Steckler, 1984). These experiences can be described using the Cornell technique of Guttman scaling in which the behaviors are ordered from most frequent to least frequent (Guttman, 1947). Guttman scaling assumes that an individual who experiences a less frequent behavior previously has experienced the more common behavior (Edwards, 1957). Applying the Guttman scaling technique to sexual experiences suggests that heterosexual relationships progress through similar sequences of experiences. An individual who responds to this scale, then, can be compared to the normative sample and the level of sexual experience can be ascertained.

The Cowart–Pollack scale has been standardized using a college-aged sample (aged 18 to 21) and, therefore, is appropriate for people in that age group. Distributing the questionnaire to people of different ages may yield a different ordering in the sequence of behaviors.

Response Mode and Timing

When the scale is used in research, therapy, or to assess one’s level of sexual experience, the items are ordered ran- domly. Respondents indicate that they have or have not experienced each behavior by circling yes or no in answer to the question “Have you experienced the following?” The scale usually requires an average of 10 minutes for completion.

Scoring

No scoring per se is required. A comparison between the ordering of the respondent’s experiences and the norms established by the Cowart–Pollack scale will give an accurate indication of the respondent’s level of sexual experience.

Reliability and Validity

The Cowart–Pollack scale has been distributed twice to large groups of college-aged individuals. In 1979 (Cowart & Pollack, 1979), the 31-item scale for men and the 30- item scale for women were administered in a group-testing situation to 199 men and 213 women. The coefficient of reproducibility for the male and female scales was .85 and‌ .88, respectively. A coefficient of at least .85 indicates reliability in the ordering of behaviors (Edwards, 1957).

In 1983 the Cowart–Pollack scale was distributed to 197 men and 212 women (Cowart-Steckler, 1984). These sub- jects were demographically similar to the subjects in 1979. The coefficient of reproducibility was .88 for the male scale and .87 for the female scale.

The major difference in the results of the 1979 and 1983 distribution was not in the ordering of sexual experiences but in the numbers of men and women engaging in most types of sexual experiences. There were significantly more men and women from the 1983 sample engaging in sexual activities. This finding suggests that, at least for individuals aged 18 to 21, there has been an increase in sexual activity from 1979. As the coefficients of reproducibility indicate, the results of the 1983 distribution represent a reliable and stable sequence of events.

Address correspondence to Debra Cowart-Steckler, Department of Psychology, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA 22401; e-mail: [email protected]

Cowart–Pollack Scale of Sexual Experience

Men (N = 197)		Women (N = 212)
Activity	% Yesa	Activity	% Yes
Feeling female’s nude breast	98	Your nude breast felt by male	91
Male mouth contact with female’s nude breast	94	Male mouth contact with your breast	91
Exposure to erotic materials sold openly in		Penetration of vagina by male’s finger	83
newsstands	93	Male lying prone on female without penetration	83
Male finger penetration of vagina	92	Partner’s observation of your nude body	80
Your observation of nude partner	91	Clitoral manipulation by male	79
Partner’s observation of your nude body	91	Your observation of nude partner	78
Clitoral manipulation by male	90	Male manipulation of vulva	77
Manipulation of penis by female	90	Manipulation of penis by female	76
Male lying prone on female without penetration	87	Sexual intercourse, male superior	67
Female mouth contact with penis	86	Female mouth contact with penis	67
Male manipulation of vulva	84	Male mouth contact with vulva	66
Sexual intercourse, male superior	83	Male tongue manipulation of clitoris	66
Masturbation	81	Male tongue penetration of vagina	66
Clitoral manipulation to orgasm by male	78	Sexual intercourse, face to face, side	60
Male mouth contact with vulva	77	Showering or bathing with partner	58
Sexual intercourse, partially clothed	77	Exposure to erotic materials sold openly in
Male tongue penetration of vagina	76	newsstand	58
Male tongue manipulation of clitoris	75	Sexual intercourse, partially clothed	56
Mutual oral stimulation of genitals to orgasm	74	Clitoral manipulation to orgasm by male	55
Sexual intercourse, face to face, side	73	Sexual intercourse, female superior	55
Exposure to hardcore erotic materials	72	Masturbation	54
Sexual intercourse, female superior	71	Sexual intercourse, vagina entered from rear	46
Showering or bathing with partner	68	Mutual oral stimulation of genitals to orgasm	45
Male tongue manipulation of female genitals to orgasm	66	Male tongue manipulation of your genitals to orgasm	45
Sexual intercourse, vagina entered from rear	63	Hand contact with partner’s anal area	40
Hand contact with partner’s anal area	61	Sexual intercourse, sitting position	37
Sexual intercourse, standing	48	Sexual intercourse, standing	28
Sexual intercourse, sitting	48	Exposure to hardcore erotic materials	24
Finger penetration of partner’s anus	39	Finger penetration of partner’s anus	19
Use of mild pain	16	Anal intercourse	13
From Cowart-Steckler (1984).

References