The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS, or "quad-S"), formed in 1957, is a non-profit, international professional membership organization, based in the United States, that says it is "the oldest professional society dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about sexuality." It reports to have more than 1,000 members and has a quarterly newsletter, Sexual Science. It produces two other publications:
History
According to its website, SSSS was established in 1957 by psychologist Albert Ellis to encourage the rigorous, systematic study of sexuality.
In 1980, organizer Robert Francoeur invited Philadelphia biologist Timothy Perper to join the society. Perper had recently finished charting the mating behavior of five-hundred couples in bars in the U.S. and Canada. That year he presented the early results of his findings to the society. His book, detailing findings, is called Sex Signals – the Biology of Love and was published in 1985.
Today, SSSS includes members of the following disciplines: anthropologists, biologists, educators, historians, nurses, physicians, psychologists, sociologists, theologians, therapists, and many other disciplines.
SSSS boasts a strong commitment to its student members, with a "vigorous" student membership program and student awards, in addition to the other awards for professional members.