Scientists Studying Nudity, BDSM and Threesomes Need Your Help

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Sex researchers are keeping busy during the coronavirus shutdowns, and they need your help to keep their studies going. Psychologist Justin Lehmiller—author of Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life—has posted a list of studies taking place right now that are looking for volunteers. Into threesomes? Or have some thoughts on the subject? Researchers at the University of Minnesota-Duluth are conducting a survey for a study titled “Understanding Threesomes.” “This study is designed to examine people’s thoughts and feelings related to threesomes (a form of sexual activity involving three people simultaneously) in which at least one member of each sex is present,” the researchers say. Participants must be at least 18 years old, and speak English as a first language. Otherwise, the study is “open to participants of all gender and sexual identities,” as long as you’ve taken part in at least one threesome “involving at least one member of each sex.”  The Minnesota researchers are not the first to make an academic study of three-way sex. Dr. Ryan Coates says she has a Ph.D. in the study of threesomes. Coates made a number of unexpected findings, but her ultimate conclusion was that partners thinking about getting involved in a threesome need to discuss it first. Spontaneous three-way sessions can have damaging results on relationships. The link to join the Minneesota threesome study can be found here.   At the University of Northampton in the U.K. researchers are studying “Attitudes Toward Public Nudity.” Specifically, they are gathering data on naturism, which they define as nudity in public “without any intention of sexual stimulation.” The whole survey takes just five to seven minutes, and can be found at this link. Again, participants must be at least 18 years of age. Scientists at Texas Tech are running a study in “Mapping BDSM/Kink Identities.” The purpose of the research is to “help us learn how diverse BDSM/Kink sub-identities map onto the three main power-exchange roles (Dominant, submissive, switch) within BDSM/Kink relationships.” The whole survey, at this link, takes just 15 minutes. The usual 18+ age requirement applies, and participants must actively practice kink/BDSM. The Observations and Research in Gender and Sexuality Matters (O.R.G.A.S.M.) lab at Canada’s Kwantlen Polytechnic University is operating several studies in human sexuality. Scientists there want to know how men want women to think about their penises, in a study called “Heterosexual Men’s Desired Reactions to their Genitals in Consensual Sexual Contexts.”  That study has a minimum age of 16, and “is open to individuals who identify as MEN, who have a PENIS, and who have sex with women ONLY.” Check out the survey at this link.  At the same time, the researchers are examining “Women’s Responses and Reactions to Receiving Unsolicited Genital Images.” That study, open to women of all sexual identities, also has a minimum age of 16, and can be found here.  Lehmiller’s full list of current sex studies looking for volunteers can be accessed at this link.   Photo By Zseee / Pixabay