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"Sex, Religion, and Infidelity: A Peek Into Bedrooms in Five Countries"
"NEW YORK -- The United States and France may share a constitutional commitment to keep religion out of affairs of state, but when it comes to affairs of the heart, the French say "Viva la difference," a new international survey determined.A substantial 39% of Americans agree "my religious beliefs factor into my sexual behavior," while at the other extreme, a meager 3% of French respondents agree and an overwhelming 91% disagree, according to the survey. No other nation surveyed comes close to the United States in terms of allowing religion into the bedroom, the nearest being the United Kingdom, with 16% in agreement. In Germany, just 6% agree."If the last few years have proved anything, it's that sex and religion are highly charged subjects that need to be handled with great care," commented Ira Matathia, managing director of the New York office of Euro RSCG Worldwide. "These results confirm that these are another areas in which marketers need to be mindful of the deep differences in attitudes between mainstream Americans and Europeans."Among the surprising findings of the survey is the proportion of respondents in China who assert that religion plays a role in their sex lives. The Chinese authorities have a long track record of discouraging religion (and indeed sex), Matathia said, noting that it's striking that 15% of Chinese agree that religion factors into their sexual behavior. The Chinese result probably reflects the fact that religion in Asia tends not to carry with it the "whiff of piety" it has in the West, he added.The Chinese are by far the most likely to think that monogamy is the natural state for human beings: 70% agree compared with 57% of Americans and even fewer respondents in France, the United Kingdom and Germany (44%, 42%, and 40%, respectively), the survey found.The Chinese also are the least likely by far to consider it normal for a 30-something today to have had 10 or more different lovers over the course of his or her single years, the survey found. Just 17% of Chinese agree, compared with 30% of French, 49% of Americans, 52% of Germans, and a substantial 59% of British, according to the survey results.An area in which the Chinese are more sexually liberal concerns extramarital affairs -- specifically, affairs in which "nobody gets hurt." Nearly a quarter of Chinese (23%) think such affairs are appropriate, whereas in the Anglo-Saxon cultures, only 11% of British and 9% of Americans say the same, the survey found.In all the countries except the United Kingdom, higher proportions of men than women are tolerant of extramarital affairs that cause pain to neither party. In the United States, it's 13% of men versus 4% of women; in China, it's 27% versus 14%; and in Germany, it's 28% versus 16%. Among British respondents, the statement received agreement from 11% of both sexes. Only the French came close to this level of equality, with 20% of men and 17% of women agreeing, the survey found.Significant gender disparity also appears regarding the notion that men and women are both entitled to expect regular sex of their partners, with consistently higher proportions of men than women agreeing. In the United States, 76% of men agree compared with 62% of women, and there's a similarly wide gap in the United Kingdom (63% vs. 47%) and France (85% vs. 76%). The gap is much narrower in China (82% vs. 81%) and in Germany (79% vs. 77%), the survey found.The gender gap is even wider on the thorny question of whether same-sex partnerships/"marriages" should be accorded the same status as man-woman marriages. In all five countries, significantly higher proportions of women than men agree support the notion, the survey concluded. The biggest gender gap is 22 points in Germany, where 45% of men agree compared with 67% of women. Elsewhere the gap is narrower but still clear, with a difference of 15 percentage points in the United Kingdom (37% vs. 52%), 13 points in France (35% vs. 48%), and 11 points in China (39% vs. 50%). Men and women are most in accord on this issue in the United States, where the gap is just 7% (31% vs. 38 %), the survey found.Euro RSCG Worldwide, an integrated marketing communications agency, is made up of 233 offices located in 75 countries throughout Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia. Visit Euro RSCG WorldwidePacific: www.eurorscg.com"