Wriiten by Focus Taiwan, CNA.

Lin Chung-ying (林宗瑩), project collaborator and associate professor at National Cheng Kung University. Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University

Tainan, Sept. 21 (CNA) An international sex survey has found that on average Taiwanese respondents first used pornographic material at the age of 14, according to the study's local collaborating researchers on Wednesday.

Researchers at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, southern Taiwan, said the online-based International Sex Survey, which had 2,685 Taiwanese participants, also found that 50.2 percent of respondents used pornographic materials 2-3 times per month over the last year.

Lin Chung-ying (林宗瑩), project collaborator and associate professor at the school's Institute of Allied Health Sciences, said that based on their responses, Taiwanese respondents are less sexually active than participants from other countries in the survey, mostly in the West.

For instance, the frequency with which Taiwanese respondents engaged in masturbation over the past year was 10 percent less than the average for all countries surveyed, Lin said, without elaborating on the figures for individual countries or the average number for the survey.

On average Taiwanese first engaged in sexual intercourse at age 21, while most respondents in a relationship said they had sex 2-3 times per month over the past year, according to the survey.

Lin said one of the main issues driving the survey in Taiwan is a concern that if young people are exposed to pornography at too young an age they can easily develop inaccurate ideas about sex, which can have a detrimental effect on their healthy development.

The international study, conducted from October 2021 to July 2022, surveyed more than 82,000 respondents in 45 countries. Its Taiwan sub-survey was conducted from October to December 2021 among people aged 18-74.

Although respondents in the Taiwan part of the survey were not randomly sampled, suggesting that the results do not accurately represent the entire population, Lin said the research still establishes a foundation for future study.

(By Chang Jung-hsiang and Lee Hsin-Yin)
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