Volunteer bias in sexuality research using college student participants

Abstract

Volunteer bias in sexuality research employing college student samples has been documented in previous research. In the current study, such potential volunteer bias was further investigated, as was respondents' self‐reported level of emotional discomfort during participation. College student men (n = 310) and women (n = 399) completed an anonymous questionnaire and were asked to indicate their willingness to volunteer for a similar questionnaire study, a study involving similar questions but administered in a face‐to‐face interview, and a study in which sexually explicit videos would be viewed. Nearly all of the men and women indicated willingness to participate in a similar questionnaire study, but more men than women were willing to participate in the other two studies. Of these two proposed studies, men were more interested in participating in the video study whereas women were more interested in participating in the interview study. Compared to nonvolunteers, volunteers for either study were generally more sexually experienced, held less traditional sexual attitudes, scored higher on measures of sexual esteem and sexual sensation seeking, and indicated greater tendencies toward interpersonal exploitation and self‐monitoring of expressive behavior. A minority indicated some discomfort while completing the current questionnaire. However, discomfort was unrelated to gender or willingness to participate in future studies.