AVEN Survey 2008 - Results
Our survey was open from February to April of 2008, linked to in AVEN's Announcements forum, and received 300 responses. 12 were unusable (11 entirely blank, 1 said “I'm just taking this survey a second time so I can check out page 2”).
“Did not answer” refers to otherwise usable surveys that left a particular question blank.
Percentages on a particular question refer to respondents who did answer.
1. Respondent Demographics
Year of Birth: Respondents ranged in their year of birth from 1942-1995.1 5 did not answer.
Five Value Summary: 1942, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1995. Interquartile range 9 years.
Mean year of birth: 1981.7. Standard deviation: 10.1. Mode: 1987 (31 respondents were born in 1987).
This gives Pearson skewness coefficients of -0.98 and -0.52, and a quartile skewness coefficient of -1.09, indicating that the data is negatively skewed, with most of the data grouped around relatively young respondents but a long “tail” of less-numerous older respondents.
Education: 2 (0.7%) were still in middle school
8 (2.8%) did not graduate high school
60 (21%) are in high school or have a high school diploma or A levels or similar
16 (5.7%) have partial college or some other postsecondary education
144 (51%) have a a bachelor's degree or college diploma or are still in college
2 (0.7%) have college as well as other postsecondary education
30 (11%) have or are working on a master's degree
15 (5.3%) have or are working on a doctorate or professional degree
6 (2.1%) gave answers not categorizeable
5 did not answer
Birth Gender:
Respondents were asked which gender they were assigned at birth.
199 (71%) female
82 (29%) male
6 blank or meaningless
Sexual Orientation:
Respondents were given several options, as well as an “other, please specify” write-in box, to indicate their sexual orientation.
247 asexual
4 bisexual
18 heterosexual
1 homosexual
4 queer
5 other (1 celibate, 2 demisexual, 1 label-free, 1 panamorous)
4 unknown
5 refused to answer
2. Asexual Demographics
For this section, only the 247 responses of self-identified asexuals were used. This is mildly problematic, since respondents who identified as “queer” or “label-free” (and perhaps other responses as well) could have also been asexual. But since there is no way of differentiating these responses from those of queer or label-free sexuals, they were omitted for clarity.
Romantic Orientation:
Respondents were asked what gender they currently identified as. They were also asked whether they experienced romantic attraction to men, women, androgynes, and/or nobody, with additional options to check if they were unsure or did not believe in a distinction between romantic attraction and other forms of attraction. Based on these answers, they were each assigned a romantic orientation, with the unsure and non-believing options taking precedence over others. The distribution of romantic orientations among asexuals follows below:
77 (31.4%) hetero-romantic (romantically attracted to the opposite of their currently identified gender, and not to the same gender; 6 were also attracted to androgynes)
43 (17.5%) biromantic or panromantic (romantically attracted to men and women; 30 were also attracted to androgynes)
43 (17.5%) aromantic (romantically attracted to nobody)
33 (13.5%) indicated that they were unsure of their romantic attraction
21 (8.6%) indicated that they do not believe in a distinction between romantic and non-romantic attraction
16 (6.5%) homo-romantic (romantically attracted to those who share their currently identified gender, and not to the opposite gender; 7 were also attracted to androgynes)
7 (2.9%) were romantically attracted to one side of the gender binary and not the other, but could not be sensitively categorized as hetero- or homo-romantic because they did not identify as belonging to one side of the binary themselves
3 (1.2%) exclusively attracted to androgynes
2 (0.8%) uncategorizable (because they checked off both “men” or “women” and “nobody”, but did not indicate that they were unsure or disbelieving in romantic attraction)
2 did not answer
Birth Gender:
Respondents were asked which gender they were assigned at birth.
172 (71%) female
69 (29%) male
6 did not answer
Genderedness:
Respondents had a write-in box to describe the gender with which they currently identified.
137 (80.1%) of asexuals assigned female at birth currently identify as female.
17 (9.9%) currently identify as something other than male or female (such as androgynous, neutrois, agender, bigender, or genderqueer)
9 (5.3%) currently identify as male
8 (4.7%) currently identify as female, but with some reservations (such as “nominally female” or “female... reluctantly”)
56 (81.2%) of asexuals assigned male at birth currently identify as male.
9 (13%) currently identify as something other than male or female
2 (2.9%) currently identify as female
2 (2.9%) currently identify as male, but with some reservations
3 asexuals who did not provide a birth gender currently identify as male.
2 asexuals who did not provide a birth gender currently identify as something other than male or female.
1 born female and 1 asexual who did not provide a birth gender did not answer.
Religion:
Respondents were given a write-in box to indicate their religion.
107 (53.8%) indicated that they are not religious (including 43 atheist, 37 no religion or non-religious, 19 agnostic, 3 who had a religion but specified that they do not practice it, 2 anti-religious, 2 Pastafarian, and 1 undecided).
51 (25.6%) indicated that they are Christian (including 20 non-denominational or without a specified denomination, 13 Catholic, 13 with a specific Protestant denomination, 4 with their own version of Christian beliefs, and 1 Mormon).
21 (10.6%) indicated that they are some other religion (including 6 Pagan, 5 Jewish, 3 Unitarian Universalist, 2 LaVeyan Satanist, 1 Buddhist, 1 Deist, 1 interfaith, 1 Islam, and 1 Self Realization Fellowship).
20 (10.1%) indicated something idiosyncratic (including 9 spiritual but not religious, 7 with a mixture of different religions sometimes including agnosticism, 3 who said the question was too complicated to answer, and 1 who created their own religion).
48 did not respond.
Country of Origin:
97 (46.6%) of asexual respondents were from the United States.
50 (24.0%) were from the United Kingdom.
23 (11.1%) were from Canada.
20 (9.6%) were from continental Europe (4 from Germany, 3 from Finland, 2 from Austria, 2 from Sweden, 2 from unspecified locations in Europe, and one each from Belgium, Croatia, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Turkey).
15 (7.2%) were from Australia or New Zealand (the survey lumped both countries together into one option).
1 (0.5%) was from Argentina.
1 (0.5%) was from Singapore.
1 (0.5%) was from South Africa.
39 did not respond.
“Did not answer” refers to otherwise usable surveys that left a particular question blank.
Percentages on a particular question refer to respondents who did answer.
1. Respondent Demographics
Year of Birth: Respondents ranged in their year of birth from 1942-1995.1 5 did not answer.
Five Value Summary: 1942, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1995. Interquartile range 9 years.
Mean year of birth: 1981.7. Standard deviation: 10.1. Mode: 1987 (31 respondents were born in 1987).
This gives Pearson skewness coefficients of -0.98 and -0.52, and a quartile skewness coefficient of -1.09, indicating that the data is negatively skewed, with most of the data grouped around relatively young respondents but a long “tail” of less-numerous older respondents.
Education: 2 (0.7%) were still in middle school
8 (2.8%) did not graduate high school
60 (21%) are in high school or have a high school diploma or A levels or similar
16 (5.7%) have partial college or some other postsecondary education
144 (51%) have a a bachelor's degree or college diploma or are still in college
2 (0.7%) have college as well as other postsecondary education
30 (11%) have or are working on a master's degree
15 (5.3%) have or are working on a doctorate or professional degree
6 (2.1%) gave answers not categorizeable
5 did not answer
Birth Gender:
Respondents were asked which gender they were assigned at birth.
199 (71%) female
82 (29%) male
6 blank or meaningless
Sexual Orientation:
Respondents were given several options, as well as an “other, please specify” write-in box, to indicate their sexual orientation.
247 asexual
4 bisexual
18 heterosexual
1 homosexual
4 queer
5 other (1 celibate, 2 demisexual, 1 label-free, 1 panamorous)
4 unknown
5 refused to answer
2. Asexual Demographics
For this section, only the 247 responses of self-identified asexuals were used. This is mildly problematic, since respondents who identified as “queer” or “label-free” (and perhaps other responses as well) could have also been asexual. But since there is no way of differentiating these responses from those of queer or label-free sexuals, they were omitted for clarity.
Romantic Orientation:
Respondents were asked what gender they currently identified as. They were also asked whether they experienced romantic attraction to men, women, androgynes, and/or nobody, with additional options to check if they were unsure or did not believe in a distinction between romantic attraction and other forms of attraction. Based on these answers, they were each assigned a romantic orientation, with the unsure and non-believing options taking precedence over others. The distribution of romantic orientations among asexuals follows below:
77 (31.4%) hetero-romantic (romantically attracted to the opposite of their currently identified gender, and not to the same gender; 6 were also attracted to androgynes)
43 (17.5%) biromantic or panromantic (romantically attracted to men and women; 30 were also attracted to androgynes)
43 (17.5%) aromantic (romantically attracted to nobody)
33 (13.5%) indicated that they were unsure of their romantic attraction
21 (8.6%) indicated that they do not believe in a distinction between romantic and non-romantic attraction
16 (6.5%) homo-romantic (romantically attracted to those who share their currently identified gender, and not to the opposite gender; 7 were also attracted to androgynes)
7 (2.9%) were romantically attracted to one side of the gender binary and not the other, but could not be sensitively categorized as hetero- or homo-romantic because they did not identify as belonging to one side of the binary themselves
3 (1.2%) exclusively attracted to androgynes
2 (0.8%) uncategorizable (because they checked off both “men” or “women” and “nobody”, but did not indicate that they were unsure or disbelieving in romantic attraction)
2 did not answer
Birth Gender:
Respondents were asked which gender they were assigned at birth.
172 (71%) female
69 (29%) male
6 did not answer
Genderedness:
Respondents had a write-in box to describe the gender with which they currently identified.
137 (80.1%) of asexuals assigned female at birth currently identify as female.
17 (9.9%) currently identify as something other than male or female (such as androgynous, neutrois, agender, bigender, or genderqueer)
9 (5.3%) currently identify as male
8 (4.7%) currently identify as female, but with some reservations (such as “nominally female” or “female... reluctantly”)
56 (81.2%) of asexuals assigned male at birth currently identify as male.
9 (13%) currently identify as something other than male or female
2 (2.9%) currently identify as female
2 (2.9%) currently identify as male, but with some reservations
3 asexuals who did not provide a birth gender currently identify as male.
2 asexuals who did not provide a birth gender currently identify as something other than male or female.
1 born female and 1 asexual who did not provide a birth gender did not answer.
Religion:
Respondents were given a write-in box to indicate their religion.
107 (53.8%) indicated that they are not religious (including 43 atheist, 37 no religion or non-religious, 19 agnostic, 3 who had a religion but specified that they do not practice it, 2 anti-religious, 2 Pastafarian, and 1 undecided).
51 (25.6%) indicated that they are Christian (including 20 non-denominational or without a specified denomination, 13 Catholic, 13 with a specific Protestant denomination, 4 with their own version of Christian beliefs, and 1 Mormon).
21 (10.6%) indicated that they are some other religion (including 6 Pagan, 5 Jewish, 3 Unitarian Universalist, 2 LaVeyan Satanist, 1 Buddhist, 1 Deist, 1 interfaith, 1 Islam, and 1 Self Realization Fellowship).
20 (10.1%) indicated something idiosyncratic (including 9 spiritual but not religious, 7 with a mixture of different religions sometimes including agnosticism, 3 who said the question was too complicated to answer, and 1 who created their own religion).
48 did not respond.
Country of Origin:
97 (46.6%) of asexual respondents were from the United States.
50 (24.0%) were from the United Kingdom.
23 (11.1%) were from Canada.
20 (9.6%) were from continental Europe (4 from Germany, 3 from Finland, 2 from Austria, 2 from Sweden, 2 from unspecified locations in Europe, and one each from Belgium, Croatia, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Turkey).
15 (7.2%) were from Australia or New Zealand (the survey lumped both countries together into one option).
1 (0.5%) was from Argentina.
1 (0.5%) was from Singapore.
1 (0.5%) was from South Africa.
39 did not respond.
