Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behavior: Are They Consistent?

• Published in: Family planning perspectives 1984-07, Vol.16 (4), p.181-185
• Main Authors: Zabin, Laurie S., Hirsch, Marilyn B., Smith, Edward A., Hardy, Janet B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescents; Attitude; Birth control; Black people; Coitus; Ethnic Groups; Female; Human sexual behavior; Humans; Male; Men; Population; Premarital sex; Psychological attitudes; Psychology, Adolescent; Sex; Sexual Behavior; Social dating; Statistics as Topic; Surveys and Questionnaires; White people
• ISSN: 0014-7354
• DOI: 10.2307/2134899

Relationships between sexual attitudes and behavior among adolescents were studied in data collected by self-administered questionnaires from approximately 3,500 junior and senior high school students attending four inner-city schools during 1981-1982. An analysis of the results by sex, race and age found that 83 percent of sexually experienced adolescents cite a best age for first intercourse that is older than the age at which they themselves experienced that event, and 43 percent of them report a best age for first coitus older than their current age. In addition, 88 percent of young women who have had a baby say the best age at which to have a first birth is older than the age at which they first became mothers. Thirty-nine percent of the women and 32 percent of the men say that they believe premarital sex is wrong. Among those who are virgins, the proportions are much higher. However, even among those who have had intercourse, approximately 25 percent of both sexes say they believe sex before marriage is wrong. Women desire stronger relationships before having intercourse than do men, and women claim to have had a stronger relationship with their last sexual partner. Very few teenagers believe neither partner is responsible for pregnancy prevention, which tends to be viewed as a joint responsibility. Those who see it as a shared responsibility are slightly more likely than those who assign the responsibility to one or the other partner to have used a method at last intercourse, and they are considerably more likely to have used a method than are those who believe contraception is neither partner's responsibility. However, even among those who attribute the responsibility to one or both partners, 34 percent say they did not use a contraceptive method at last intercourse. Adolescents who report that they would have sex only if they were using birth control are more likely to use a method, but almost 25 percent of those who make this claim say they used no method at last intercourse. Contraceptive use is also related to the perceived strength of the relationship at the time of coitus. Thus, while there is frequently a statistical relationship between the expressed attitude and associated behavior, there is a large minority in each area for whom the behavior and the attitude are clearly at variance.