Primal-scene experiences: quantitative assessment of an interview study

Data are reported from detailed semistructured interviews with 25 males and 25 females, 18-30 years of age. Special attention is given to age and reactions at time of initial awareness of parents' sexual relationship and at time of any possible primal-scene witnessing, beliefs about parents' present sex lives, and interviewees' own ideas of how their parents' sexual attitudes and relationship may have influenced them. Particularly interesting are data indicating that primal-scene experiences, including actual witnessing, do not necessarily result in pathological consequences for psychosexual functioning or satisfaction. The importance of family-relationship patterns as determinants of reactions to primal-scene experience is emphasized.