At a Canadian university, 177 students completed a baseline questionnaire and six monthly Web-based questionnaires about their sexual behavior and positive and negative affect. The results revealed that psychosocial maturity, attitudes toward sex, prior sexual experience, and living arrangements influenced the relationship between sex and affect. When sexual behavior was reported, the more psychosocially mature students reported more positive affect than did the less mature students. The students with more permissive attitudes toward sex also experienced more positive affect in the months when they had sex than did the students with less permissive attitudes. The students who had oral sex reported more positive affect than did the students who had intercourse, and living away from home was associated with more positive affect for the students who had sex. (58 ref)-Department of Psychology, University of Alberta. Lindgren, K. P., et al. Sexual Communication, Sexual Goals, and Students' Transition to College: Implications for Sexual Assault, Decision-Making, and Risky Behaviors. Journal of College Student Development, 2009, 50 (September-October) pp. 491-503.At a large public university in the Pacific Northwest, 29 heterosexual undergraduate students participated in focus groups about their experiences and perceptions of sexual communication and sexual goals. The men and the women agreed on many of the ways in which sexual interest is communicated, including sexual conversation, talking about values, agreeing to go somewhere private, and body language and touching. Disinterest was usually expressed through body language and other indirect forms of communication, although verbal communication was used as last resort. The women expressed a preference for indirect means of showing disinterest, even though the men reported that they often disregarded indirect forms of communication. In terms of sexual goals, the women determined how far sexual relations would go and were more likely than the men to seek long-term relationships rather than casual sex. The men always wanted sex, with or without a relationship. They described casual sex as an enjoyable challenge, while they view relationships as work to be endured. In making the transition from high school to college, the students discussed the greater physical freedom and privacy in college as increasing the accessibility of sex. (37 ref)-Department of Psychology, University of Richmond.
