MONTREAL -- When kinky goes mainstream, is it still kinky?

That's the question sex researchers in Quebec are grappling with. Most Quebecers, it turns out, are into some pretty funky stuff between the sheets.

Nearly half of the 1,040 Quebecers surveyed in a new study said they have an interest in at least one type of sexual behaviour considered deviant -- like voyeurism, fetishism and masochism. One third of them had experienced the behaviour at least once.

"People will be relieved to know that their desires are not necessarily abnormal," said Christian Joyal, one of the leading researchers in the University of Montreal study.

And sex therapists are applauding the survey, saying it makes their jobs easier in telling people: You're not alone.

It shows that Quebecors "may be a bit more kinky,... they're not abnormal," Joyal said.

However, Joyal also noted there is a bias in the findings; since many people refused to participate in the study, those who agreed might be more likely to have a predilection for, um, naughty behaviours. In short, they might have surveyed a lot of braggers.

Even so, Joyal said, the study indicates that so-called abnormal behaviours are probably more common than we think.

"These facts suggest that we need to know what normal sexual practices are before we label a legal sexual interest as anomalous," said Joyal. "Some paraphilic interests are more common than people might think, not only in terms of fantasies but also in terms of desire and behaviour."