Dating is Hard Work: A Narrative Approach to Understanding Sexual and Romantic Relationships in Young Adulthood

Abstract

This study utilized a qualitative approach informed by a narrative perspective to examine 57 young adults' stories about sexual and romantic relationships. Participants (25 men and 32 women) were asked to define relationships in terms of how they know they are in a romantic or a sexual partnership. Young adults identified the language they use for different types of relationships, their perceptions of the hierarchy of romantic and sexual relationships, and their confusion or uncertainty about their relationship experiences. We discuss implications for clinicians working with young adults and provide suggestions for re-storying the confusing territory of intimate (and sometimes impersonal) interaction.

The Role of Masturbation in Healthy Sexual Development: Perceptions of Young Adults

“…Ideologies concerning sexuality and gender are increasingly recognized as in motion and fractured in ways that may present today's young adults with more choices about how to behave and may open new possibilities for movement towards equality (Connell, 1995;Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005;Schwartz, 2007). These shifting ideologies and approaches to gender and relationships may also result in confusion or uncertainty among young adults about sexual experiences (Banker, Kaestle, & Allen, 2010).…”

The association of attitudes about contraceptives with contraceptive use in a random sample of Colorado women

“…Less is known regarding multidimensional attitudes toward contraception which may interfere with use of effective contraceptive methods. However, previous research suggests several components worthy of further study such as the influence of a partner (James-Hawkins, 2015a; Sable et al, 2000), perceptions that contraceptives make sex unpleasurable, unspontaneous, unnatural, or foreign and invasive (Ayoola et al, 2007), viewing birth control as a hassle or feeling that it takes too much planning (Barber, Gatny, Kusunoki, & Yarger, 2010), wanting to hide sexual activity from others (Ayoola et al, 2007), fear of stigma (Banker, Kaestle, & Allen, 2010; Berntson, Hoffman, & Luff, 2014; James-Hawkins, 2015a), and finally, misunderstanding the effectiveness of contraception (Kaye et al, 2009; Roberts & Noyes, 2009; Woodsong, Shedlin, & Koo, 2004). All of these attitudinal components may affect contraceptive behavior, yet they have never been systematically examined in multivariate analysis predicting contraceptive use.…”

“…Specific attitudinal components included are stigma and misinformation about contraceptives (Banker et al, 2010; Berntson et al, 2014; James-Hawkins, 2015a), partner communication about contraceptives (Cox, Posner, & Sangi-Haghpeykar, 2010; Davies et al, 2006; James-Hawkins, 2015a), and planning to use contraceptives (Wilder et al, 2009). We use a representative sample of women who are heterosexually active, and may be using contraceptives but are still at risk for experiencing an unintended pregnancy, given high failure rates of some contraceptive methods.…”

Differences in Emerging-Adult Women's Body Image and Sexuality Outcomes According to BMI and Dating Status

“…Second, we do not know exactly how our participants interpreted dating. More specifically, it is possible that some of the study participants believed that "dating partner" was synonymous with "sexual partner" while others did not (Banker, Kaestle, & Allen, 2010). Third, this was a cross-sectional study and did not account for prior body image or sexual experiences.…”