Trends in Attitudes toward Premarital Sexual Relations

Singh, Betsy

doi:10.2307/351236

Cited by 51 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This is consistent with the viewpoint of many scholars that sexual attitudes and behaviors between males and females have been converging over the past two decades (e.g., DeLamater & MacCorquodale, 1979;Hopkins, 1977;Singh, 1980). Explanations offered for the apparent narrowing of gender differences include the liberalization of female premarital sexual behavior, which began in the early 1960s with the advent of highly effective birth control methods, and changes in social attitudes toward females as a consequence of feminist activism.…”

Section: Gender Differences In Sexual Knowledge and Attitudessupporting

confidence: 64%

Ethnic, gender, and length‐of‐residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes

Meston¹,

Trapnell

Gorzalka

1998

Journal of Sex Research

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Section: Gender Differences In Sexual Knowledge and Attitudessupporting

confidence: 64%

Ethnic, gender, and length‐of‐residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes

Meston¹,

Trapnell

Gorzalka

1998

Journal of Sex Research

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“…The impact of relativism on attitudes, however, was tempered by idealism: when individuals endorsed highly idealistic ideologies, relativism was unrelated to attitudes. These find ings suggest that variations in sexual attitudes are linked to individual differences in moral outlook.Since the publication of Kinsey 's research dealing with sexual behavior, many researchers have sought to uncover the reasons for widespread variations in sexual attitudes and behavior (Hendrick, Hendrick, Slapion-Foote, & Foote, 1985;Kinsey , Pomeroy, & Martin, 1948;Singh , 1980 ;Staples, 1978). The present study extended this research by presenting and testing a model of sexual attitudes based on personal moral philosophies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 75%

Sexual attitudes and moral values: The importance of idealism and relativism

Singh

Forsyth

1989

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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The present study tested a model of individual differences in moral thought, which assumes that attitudes concerning prescribed and proscribed social actions are part of an integrated conceptual system of personal ethics. When individuals who have varying personal moral philosophies were compared, those who emphasize the validity of fundamental moral principles (nonrelativists) expressed relatively negative attitudes about proscribed forms of sexual behavior, whereas relativists' reactions were more positive . The impact of relativism on attitudes, however, was tempered by idealism: when individuals endorsed highly idealistic ideologies, relativism was unrelated to attitudes. These find ings suggest that variations in sexual attitudes are linked to individual differences in moral outlook.Since the publication of Kinsey 's research dealing with sexual behavior, many researchers have sought to uncover the reasons for widespread variations in sexual attitudes and behavior (Hendrick, Hendrick, Slapion-Foote, & Foote, 1985;Kinsey , Pomeroy, & Martin, 1948;Singh , 1980 ;Staples, 1978). The present study extended this research by presenting and testing a model of sexual attitudes based on personal moral philosophies. According to this model, attitudes concerning sexual practices are sustained by moral values that define a sense of right and wrong for the individual. Sexual attitudes are not isolated from other social attitudes , but instead are part of an integrated conceptual system of personal ethics. This integrated system, or personal moral philosophy, provides guidelines for moral judgments, solutions to ethical dilemmas, and prescriptions for actions in morally toned situations. Applied to variations in sexual attitudes, this model argues that individuals differ in their reactions to various types of sexual activities, such as premarital sex, extramarital sex, and sex between same-sexed individuals , because they endorse divergent personal moral philosophies.Variations in personal moral philosophies can be conceptualized in a variety of ways (Gilligan, 1982 ;Haan, 1986;Hogan, 1973;Kohlberg , 1983; see Waterman, 1988, for a review). Forsyth (1980Forsyth ( , 1985 , for example, offered a two-dimensional model based on relativ ism and idealism. Identified initially in an exploratory study of individual differences in judgments of psychologicalThe authors thank L. Diana, K. Singh , and 1. S. William s for their assistance with various aspects of this research . Reprint requests should be sent to Donelson R. Forsyth, Department of Psychology, Virgini a Commonwealth University, Richmond , VA 23284-2018. research, these two dimensions parallel distinctions made by other theorists and researchers. In many cases, previous researchers have viewed these two aspects of morality as the endpoints of a single continuum, or as mutually exclusive categories. In contrast, Forsyth's twodimensional model of personal moral philosophies assumes that individuals range from high to low in their emphasis on principles and consequence...

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“…In studies of attitudes toward premarital sex, age is consistently found to be negatively related to permissiveness (e.g., Alston & Tucker, 1973;Glenn & Weaver, 1979;Harding & Jencks, 2003;Scott, 1998;Singh, 1980). In other words, older adults are less permissive in their views toward premarital sex than younger adults are.…”

Section: Age Period and Cohort Effectsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Although the earliest studies of changes in premarital sex attitudes over time in the United States focused primarily on descriptive trends (Glenn & Weaver, 1979;Singh, 1980;Smith, 1990), more recent studies have shifted the focus to a comparison of the relative importance of changes within and between cohorts (e.g., Harding & Jencks, 2003;Treas, 2002). Donnenwerth (1997, p. 1085) assumed that the trend terms reflected period effects but did not test the assumption.…”

Section: Age Period and Cohort Effectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Long-Term Changes in Attitudes Toward Premarital Sex in the United States: Reexamining the Role of Cohort Replacement

Elias

Fullerton

Simpson

2013

The Journal of Sex Research

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Attitudes toward premarital sex in the United States have changed considerably since the 1970s. However, it is unclear whether these changes are due to cohort replacement, broader changes within cohorts, or a combination of the two processes. We examined within- and between-cohort changes in attitudes toward premarital sex in the United States from 1975 to 2008 using hierarchical age-period-cohort models based on data from the General Social Survey. We used a religious plausibility structure framework to examine several possible mechanisms for within- and between-cohort variation in premarital sex attitudes over time, including changes in religious participation, marital patterns, and family structure. The results provided mixed support for our hypotheses. Attitudes toward premarital sex became more permissive over time in the United States in part because of the process of cohort replacement, but the level of permissiveness peaked with the baby boomer cohorts. This cohort effect is due in part to differences in rates of religious service attendance and educational attainment. However, the overall increase in permissive attitudes toward premarital sex is also due to period effects that are not captured by the measures included in our analyses.

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Trends in Attitudes toward Premarital Sexual Relations

Cited by 51 publications

References 12 publications

Ethnic, gender, and length‐of‐residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes

Ethnic, gender, and length‐of‐residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes

Sexual attitudes and moral values: The importance of idealism and relativism

Long-Term Changes in Attitudes Toward Premarital Sex in the United States: Reexamining the Role of Cohort Replacement

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