Sources of Sex Information and Premarital Sexual Behavior.

STUDENTS' sexual behavior; PARENT-child legal relationship; MEDIA rights; TEENAGERS; SOCIALIZATION; MEDIA buying services

This study investigates different sources of sex information, including parents, peers and others and how they influence premarital sexual behavior among American college students. Among males, sexual behavior was influenced in a negative direction by clergymen and in a positive direction by male and female friends and independent reading. Due to the availability of cross sectional data only, the need for cautious interpretation is emphasized. The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between sources of sex information and subsequent sexual behavior. Data will be used from a cross sectional study of the national probability sample of 1,177 college students conducted by the Institute of Sex Research. There is very little evidence to suggest how parents, peers, the mass media, teachers, and others influence premarital sexual behavior. Consequently, this is an exploratory study which attempts to discover which individuals with whom an adolescent interacts during the sexual socialization process are likely to have a significant impact on the youth's sexual behavior.