Abstract
In the nationally representative General Social Survey, U.S. Adults (N = 33,380) in 2000–2012 (vs. the 1970s and 1980s) had more sexual partners, were more likely to have had sex with a casual date or pickup or an acquaintance, and were more accepting of most non-marital sex (premarital sex, teen sex, and same-sex sexual activity, but not extramarital sex). The percentage who believed premarital sex among adults was “not wrong at all” was 29 % in the early 1970s, 42 % in the 1980s and 1990s, 49 % in the 2000s, and 58 % between 2010 and 2012. Mixed effects (hierarchical linear modeling) analyses separating time period, generation/birth cohort, and age showed that the trend toward greater sexual permissiveness was primarily due to generation. Acceptance of non-marital sex rose steadily between the G.I. generation (born 1901–1924) and Boomers (born 1946–1964), dipped slightly among early Generation X’ers (born 1965–1981), and then rose so that Millennials (also known as Gen Y or Generation Me, born 1982–1999) were the most accepting of non-marital sex. Number of sexual partners increased steadily between the G.I.s and 1960s-born GenX’ers and then dipped among Millennials to return to Boomer levels. The largest changes appeared among White men, with few changes among Black Americans. The results were discussed in the context of growing cultural individualism and rejection of traditional social rules in the U.S.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The term generation usually refers to people born in a certain span of years and birth cohort refers to those born in a certain year. We will primarily rely on generation as it is more commonly understood, but use birth cohort when referring to specific birth years. Similarly, we will primarily rely on the term time period as it is most commonly used in the literature on the topic (e.g., Schaie, 1965); here, it is interchangeable with survey year (the year participants completed the survey).
References
Bedard, P. (2014). Census: Marriage rate at 93-year low, even including same-sex couples. Washington Examiner. Retrieved September 22, 2014 from http://washingtonexaminer.com/census-marriage-rate-at-93-year-low-even-including-same-sex-couples/article/2553600.
Beer, L., Oster, A. M., Mattson, C. L., & Skarbinski, J. (2014). Disparities in HIV transmission risk among HIV-infected black and white men who have sex with men, United States, 2009. AIDS, 28, 105–114.
Beres, M. (2010). Sexual miscommunication? Untangling assumptions about sexual communication between casual sex partners. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 12, 1–14.
Bersamin, M. M., Zamboanga, B. L., Schwartz, S. J., Donnellan, M. B., Hudson, M., Weisskirch, R. S., … Caraway, S. J. (2014). Risky business: Is there an association between casual sex and mental health among emerging adults? Journal of Sex Research, 51, 43–51.
Bogle, K. A. (2007). The shift from dating to hooking up in college: What scholars have missed. Sociology Compass, 1, 775–788.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power in the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Coley, R. L., Lombardi, C. M., Lynch, A. D., Mahalik, J. R., & Sims, J. (2013). Sexual partner accumulation from adolescence through early adulthood: The role of family, peer, and school social norms. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, 91–97.
Cuffee, J. J., Hallfors, D. D., & Waller, M. W. (2007). Racial and gender differences in adolescent sexual attitudes and longitudinal associations with coital debut. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 19–26.
DeWall, C. N., Pond, R. S., Campbell, W. K., & Twenge, J. M. (2011). Tuning into psychological change: Linguistic markers of psychological traits and emotions over time in popular U.S. song lyrics. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 5, 200–207.
Eaton, D. K., Lowry, R., Brener, N. D., Kann, L., Romero, L., & Wechsler, H. (2011). Trends in human immunodeficiency virus—and sexually transmitted disease–related risk behaviors among US high school students, 1991–2009. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40, 427–433.
Fielder, R. L., & Carey, M. P. (2010). Predictors and consequences of sexual “hookups” among college students: A short-term prospective study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 1105–1119.
Fukuyama, F. (1999). The great disruption: Human nature and the reconstitution of social order. New York: Free Press.
Greene, K., & Faulkner, S. L. (2005). Gender, belief in the sexual double standard, and sexual talk in heterosexual dating relationships. Sex Roles, 53, 239–251.
Greenfield, P. M. (2013). The changing psychology of culture from 1800 through 2000. Psychological Science, 24, 1722–1731.
Harding, D. J., & Jencks, C. (2003). Changing attitudes toward premarital sex: Cohort, period, and aging effects. Public Opinion Quarterly, 67, 211–226.
Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2009). How does sexual minority stigma “get under the skin”? A psychological mediation framework. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 707–730.
Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Corbin, W. R., & Fromme, K. (2011). Discrimination and alcohol-related problems among college students: A prospective examination of mediating effects. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 115, 213–220.
Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Erickson, S. J. (2008). Minority stress predictors of HIV risk behavior, substance use, and depressive symptoms: Results from a prospective study of bereaved gay men. Health Psychology, 27, 455–462.
Hendrick, C., Hendrick, S. S., & Reich, D. A. (2006). The brief sexual attitudes scale. Journal of Sex Research, 43, 76–86.
Hofferth, S. L., Kahn, J. R., & Baldwin, W. (1987). Premarital sexual activity among United States teenage women over the past 3 decades. Family Planning Perspectives, 19, 46–53.
Horn, J. (1965). A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis. Psychometrika, 30, 179–185.
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (1993). 13th gen: Abort, retry, ignore, fail?. New York: Vintage.
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation. New York: Random House.
Huebner, D. M., Neilands, T. B., Rebchook, G. M., & Kegeles, S. M. (2011). Sorting through chickens and eggs: A longitudinal examination of the associations between attitudes, norms, and sexual risk behavior. Health Psychology, 30, 110–118.
Katz, J. M., & Schneider, M. E. (2013). Casual hook up sex during the first year of college: Prospective associations with attitudes about sex and love relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 1451–1462.
Kesebir, P., & Kesebir, S. (2012). The cultural salience of moral character and virtue declined in twentieth century America. Journal of Positive Psychology, 7, 471–480.
Konrath, S. H., O’Brien, E. H., & Hsing, C. (2011). Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 180–198.
Kost, K., & Henshaw, S. (2014). U.S. teenage pregnancies, births, and abortions, 2010: National and state trends by age, race and ethnicity. Guttmacher Institute. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends10.pdf.
Lam, C., & Lefkowitz, E. (2013). Risky sexual behaviors in emerging adults: Longitudinal changes and within-person variations. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 523–532.
Lax, J. R., & Phillips, J. H. (2009). Gay rights in the States: Public opinion and policy responsiveness. American Political Science Review, 103, 367–386.
Lelutiu-Weinberger, C., Pachankis, J. E., Golub, S. A., Walker, J. J., Bamonte, A. J., & Parsons, J. T. (2013). Age cohort differences in the effects of gay-related stigma, anxiety and identification with the gay community on sexual risk and substance use. AIDS and Behavior, 17, 340–349.
Malahy, L. W., Rubinlicht, M. A., & Kaiser, C. R. (2009). Justifying inequality: A cross-temporal investigation of U.S. income disparities and just-world beliefs from 1973 to 2006. Social Justice Research, 22, 369–383.
Mannheim, K. (1952). The problem of generations. In K. Mannheim (Ed.), Essays on the sociology of knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1928)
Markham, C. M., Lormand, D., Gloppen, K. M., Peskin, M. F., Flores, B., Low, B., & House, L. D. (2010). Connectedness as a predictor of sexual and reproductive health outcomes for youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46, S23–S41.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (2010). Cultures and selves: A cycle of mutual constitution. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 420–430.
Meston, C. M., & Ahrold, T. (2010). Ethnic, gender, and acculturation influences on sexual behaviors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 179–189.
Meyer, I. H. (2013). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 1, 3–26.
Monto, M. A., & Carey, A. G. (2014). A new standard of sexual behavior? Are claims associated with the ‘hookup culture’ supported by general social survey data? Journal of Sex Research, 51, 605–615.
Muehlenhard, C. L., & McCoy, M. L. (1991). Double standard/double bind: The sexual double standard and women’s communication about sex. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15, 447–461.
Myers, D. G. (2000). The American paradox: Spiritual hunger in an age of plenty. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Newcomb, M. E., & Mustanski, B. (2011). Moderators of the relationship between internalized homophobia and risky sexual behavior in men who have sex with men: A meta-analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 189–199.
Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2004). Sacred and secular: Religion and politics worldwide. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Penke, L. (2011). Revised sociosexual orientation inventory. In T. D. Fisher, C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber, & S. L. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures (3rd ed., pp. 622–625). New York: Routledge.
Percell, C. H., Green, A., & Gurevich, L. (2001). Civil society, economic distress, and social tolerance. Sociological Forum, 16, 203–230.
Petersen, J. L., & Hyde, J. S. (2010). A meta-analytic review of research on gender differences in sexuality, 1993–2007. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 21–38.
Pflieger, J. C., Cook, E. C., Niccolai, L. M., & Connell, C. M. (2013). Racial/ethnic differences in patterns of sexual risk behavior and rates of sexually transmitted infections among female young adults. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 903–909.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Rauer, A. J., Pettit, G. S., Lansford, J. E., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2013). Romantic relationship patterns in young adulthood and their developmental antecedents. Developmental Psychology, 49, 2159–2171.
Reynolds, J., Stewart, M., MacDonald, R., & Sischo, L. (2006). Have adolescents become too ambitious? High school seniors’ educational and occupational plans, 1976 to 2000. Social Problems, 53, 186–206.
Ruiter, S., & van Tubergen, F. (2009). Religious attendance in cross-national perspective: A multilevel analysis of 60 countries. American Journal of Sociology, 115, 863–895.
Santelli, J. S., Kaiser, J., Hirsch, L., Radosh, A., Simkin, L., & Middlestadt, S. (2004). Initiation of sexual intercourse among middle school adolescents: The influence of psychosocial factors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 34, 200–208.
Santos-Iglesias, P., Sierra, J. C., & Vallejo-Medina, P. (2013). Predictors of sexual assertiveness: The role of sexual desire, arousal, attitudes, and partner abuse. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 1043–1052.
Schaie, K. W. (1965). A general model for the study of developmental problems. Psychological Bulletin, 64, 92–107.
Schroder, K. E., Carey, M. P., & Vanable, P. A. (2003). Methodological challenges in research on sexual risk behavior: I. Item content, scaling, and data analytical options. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 26, 76–103.
Scott-Sheldon, L. A., Huedo-Medina, T. B., Warren, M. R., Johnson, B. T., & Carey, M. P. (2011). Efficacy of behavioral interventions to increase condom use and reduce sexually transmitted infections: A meta-analysis, 1991 to 2010. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 58, 489–498.
Simpson, J. A., & Gangestad, S. W. (1991). Individual differences in sociosexuality: Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 870–883.
Singh, B. K. (1980). Trends in attitudes toward premarital sexual relations. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 42, 387–393.
Smith, T. W. (1990). The polls—A report on the sexual revolution. Public Opinion Quarterly, 54, 415–435.
Smith, T. W., Hout, M., & Marsden, P. V. (2013). General Social Survey, 1972–2012 [Cumulative File]. ICPSR34802-v1. Storrs, CT: Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut/Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributors], 2013-09-11. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34802.v1.
Sprecher, S. (2014). Evidence of change in men’s versus women’s emotional reactions to first sexual intercourse: A 23-year study in a human sexuality course at a Midwestern university. Journal of Sex Research, 51, 466–472.
Sprecher, S., Treger, S., & Sakaluk, J. K. (2013). Premarital sexual standards and sociosexuality: Gender, ethnicity, and cohort differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 1395–1405.
Stepp, L. S. (2007). Unhooked: How young women pursue sex, delay love, and lose at both. New York: Riverhead.
Strauss, W., & Howe, N. (1991). Generations: The history of America’s future, 1584 to 2069. New York: Morrow.
Sumner, A., Crichton, J., Theobald, S., Zulu, E., & Parkhurst, J. (2011). What shapes research impact on policy? Understanding research uptake in sexual and reproductive health policy processes in resource poor contexts. Health Research Policy and Systems, 9, S3. doi:10.1186/1478-4505-9-S1-S3.
Swain, K. A. (2005). Approaching the quarter-century mark: AIDS coverage and research decline as infection spreads. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 22, 258–262.
Tosh, A. K., & Simmons, P. S. (2007). Sexual activity and other risk-taking behaviors among Asian-American adolescents. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 20, 29–34.
Townsend, J. M., & Wasserman, T. H. (2011). Sexual hookups among college students: Sex differences in emotional reactions. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 1173–1181.
Treas, J. (2002). How cohorts, education, and ideology shaped a new sexual revolution on attitudes toward non-marital sex, 1972–1998. Sociological Perspectives, 45, 267–283.
Trzesniewski, K. H., & Donnellan, M. B. (2010). Rethinking “Generation Me”: A study of cohort effects from 1976–2006. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 5, 58–75.
Twenge, J. M. (2014). Generation Me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled—And more miserable than ever before (2nd ed.). New York: Atria Books.
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., & Gentile, B. (2012). Generational increases in agentic self-evaluations among American college students, 1966–2009. Self and Identity, 11, 409–427.
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., & Gentile, B. (2013). Changes in pronoun use in American books and the rise of individualism, 1960-2008. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44, 406–415.
Twenge, J. M., Exline, J. J., Grubbs, J. B., Sastry, R., & Campbell, W. K. (in press). Generational and time period differences in American adolescents’ religious orientation, 1966–2014. PLoS One.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2012). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Ven-hwei, L., So, C. Y. K., & Guoliang, Z. (2010). The influence of individualism and collectivism on Internet pornography exposure, sexual attitudes, and sexual behavior among college students. Chinese Journal of Communication, 3, 10–27.
Vrangalova, Z. (2014). Does casual sex harm college students’ well-being? A longitudinal investigation of the role of motivation. Archives of Sexual Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10508-013-0255-1.
Walsh, R. (1989). Premarital sex among teenagers and young adults. In K. McKinney & S. Sprecher (Eds.), Human sexuality: The societal and interpersonal context (pp. 162–186). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Wells, B. E., & Twenge, J. M. (2005). Changes in young people’s sexual behavior and attitudes, 1943–1999: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 9, 249–261.
Welzel, C. (2013). Freedom rising: Human empowerment and the quest for emancipation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wentland, J. J., & Reissing, E. D. (2011). Taking casual sex not too casually: Exploring definitions of casual sexual relationships. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 20, 75–91.
Woo, J. S., Brotto, L. A., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2011). The role of sex guilt in the relationship between culture and women’s sexual desire. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 385–394.
Wright, P. J. (2013). A three-wave longitudinal analysis of preexisting beliefs, exposure to pornography, and attitude change. Communication Reports, 26, 13–25.
Yang, Y. (2008). Social inequalities in happiness in the United States, 1972 to 2004: An age-period-cohort analysis. American Sociological Review, 73, 204–226.
Yang, Y., & Land, K. C. (2013). Age-period-cohort analysis: New models, methods, and empirical applications. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Twenge, J.M., Sherman, R.A. & Wells, B.E. Changes in American Adults’ Sexual Behavior and Attitudes, 1972–2012. Arch Sex Behav 44, 2273–2285 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0540-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0540-2