Happiness and Sexual Promiscuity among Jamaicans during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19 Pandemic)
Abstract
Most often, the topic of sex and its orientations are seen as taboo. However, a commonm is understanding that sex falls under health, which affects how happy or unhappy a person may be, which should be taken seriously. Sexual relations suffered a serious blow due to the world pandemic from SARS-Cov-2. This research sought to answer the following questions: 1) Do happier persons have less or more sexual partners? 2) How does gender affect the number of partners one has, and 3) has the COVID-19 pandemic decreased the number of sexual partners Jamaicans have? A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive research design was used. A purposive sampling (non-probability sampling) method was used to select the sample and a total of 1082 responses were retrieved. Data were collected during the period September 20- December 9, 2021. An Online survey was conducted using Google Forms which consisted of eighteen (18) closed ended questions, of which four (4) were from ‘The Subjective Happiness Scale’ which assessed global subjective happiness. The link containing the questionnaire was sent out with details of the study on social media platforms (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Electronic mail). Data were analyzed using IBM Statistical Packages for the Social Science (SPSS) version 27 for frequencies and percentages. Bivariate analyses (chi-square), and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the statistical significance of happiness on sexual promiscuity among Jamaicans during the COVID-19 pandemic. A p-value of 5% was used to determine statistical significance. The findings revealed that Jamaicans are highly happy people (18.0863±5.16137, 95%CI: 17.7778-18.3947, out of a maximum of 28.0). The male-sampled respondents have more sexual partners than the female-sampled respondents (χ2 critical=12.59 < χ2 obtained= 100.728 P <0.001). In addition, happiness in not influencing sexual promiscuity in Jamaica. Happiness is not influencing Jamaicans sexual promiscuity as no statistical difference emerged among the number of sexual partners Jamaicans have and their level of happiness (F[3, 1074]=0.112, P = 0.953).