Safe Sexual Behavior Intentions among College Students: The Construction of an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

Sexual health education is an essential part of quality-oriented education for college students. It aims to help these students to acquire knowledge of sexual physiology, sexual psychology, and sexual social norms that is consistent with the maturity of the students. Along with college students’attitudes toward sex, their perceptions regarding sexual behavior have also undergone profound changes. The importance of safe sexual behavior, sexual taboos, and sexual autonomy are gaining increasing attention as Chinese society is becoming more open. For college students who have just reached adulthood and have full autonomy of themselves, however, are they really going to have sexual behavior without careful consideration? Or is it something they have planned to do in the first place? To answer the above questions, this study was conducted to understand the relationship between college students’ attitudes toward sex, subjective norms, and behavioral control of their sexual behavior intentions by applying the Theory of Planned Behavior. In this study, 460 valid questionnaires were collected from Chinese college students and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). This study analyzes the relationship of multiple factors, including those influencing college students’ sexual behavior intentions. Meanwhile, it also compares the differences in factors affecting sexual behavior intentions between college students with or without sexual experience and those of different genders. Based on the results of the study, it was found that, first, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control of college students had a significant effect on safe sexual behavior intentions, while attitudes did not have a significant effect on safe sexual behavior intentions. Second, the gender and sexual experience of college students had a significant effect on safe sexual behavior intentions. Third, non-sexually experienced college students were more likely to be influenced by external factors. Relevant future research suggestions will be proposed based on the results of this study. Finally, this study helps to provide substantive suggestions for enhancing safe sexual behavior among college students in the context of universal higher education, as well as strengthening the self-protection of college students and providing practical advice for the development of sex education in China.

Influencing Factors of University Relocation on College Students’ Intention to Engage in Local Entrepreneurship and Employment

“…The route coefficients of groups divided by sex and major were compared. Gender and major are two elements that influence behavior, according to existing research (Potard et al, 2017;Morales et al, 2018;Lin et al, 2021b). As a result, the main classification factors in this study were gender and major.In terms of sex (Table 5), there is a significant difference in the p-value of the subject norm on employment and entrepreneurial intention between the two groups, among which the male (0.016) is less than the female (0.071).…”

“…The route coefficients of groups divided by sex and major were compared. Gender and major are two elements that influence behavior, according to existing research ( Potard et al, 2017 ; Morales et al, 2018 ; Lin et al, 2021b ). As a result, the main classification factors in this study were gender and major.…”

Safe-Sex Behavioral Intention of Chinese College Students: Examining the Effect of Sexual Knowledge Using the Theory of Planned Behavior

“…College students are a large and special group, and their involvement in unsafe sexual behaviors exposes them to various risks. A study revealed that less than 30% of college students in mainland China used condoms when having sex for the first time ( Lin et al, 2021b ). More than 6 million abortions are performed annually on women aged < 25 years, and the proportion of women with multiple partners has reached 48.9% ( Liu, 2018 ).…”

“…College students who have sex do not take appropriate protective measures because they fear that doing so reduces the pleasure of sexual intercourse and may even threaten the development of their relationships ( Strachman and Impett, 2009 ). Moreover, women under the age of 25 account for almost half of all abortions performed in China annually, and most of these abortions are performed on college students ( Lin et al, 2021b ). Therefore, to reduce the social problems caused by unsafe sex among college students, Chinese college students’ understanding of safe sex must first be investigated, and the relevant data that are collected may help to popularize sex education in colleges and universities in China.…”

“…At the individual level, behavior change theories, such as the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991 ) and theory of reasoned action (TRA; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975 ), have been widely applied in public health research and practice to explain and improve human health behaviors ( Glanz and Bishop, 2010 ; Guerin and Toland, 2020 ). Numerous public health studies have adopted the TPB ( Guerin et al, 2018 ; Siuki et al, 2019 ; Lin et al, 2021b ); the theory is thus appropriate for examining health-care related matters. The TPB is regarded as more appropriate than the TRA for studying behaviors ( Montaño and Kasprzyk, 2015 ; Vafaeenajar et al, 2015 ).…”