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A Two Dimension Approach to Understanding Negative and Positive Affective Reactions to First Coitus

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Abstract

To gain a better understanding of the dynamics surrounding the initial coital experience of young women and men, this study examined gender differences in affective reactions to first coitus through a two dimension approach (i.e., positive and negative affect) using subscales of the First Coital Affective Reaction Scale. The sample population consisted of 266 university students (women n = 163; men n = 103). T tests, χ2 tests, and regression analyses were used to evaluate the study’s three hypotheses. The findings indicated: (1) a greater percentage of women than men experienced first coitus at an age younger than they perceived to be culturally acceptable for their gender (i.e., perceived norm-behavior discrepancy-PNBD), (2) among women, a positive relationship was found between PNBD and negative affect, and (3) positive affective reactions to first coitus were associated with circumstances surrounding the event and not cultural/societal sex norms. A salient finding of this study was that negative and positive affective reactions to initial coitus can be experienced simultaneously with each dimension of affect responding to different factors. Specifically, negative affect was influenced by a somewhat distant influence of perceived cultural/societal sex norms while positive affect was influenced by the immediate circumstances surrounding the event.

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Notes

  1. Coitally experienced respondents who reported that they believed it is never socially acceptable for females to engage in premarital sexual intercourse (n = 20) or who reported that they believed that it is never socially acceptable for males to engage in premarital sexual intercourse (n = 3) were not included in the final sample used for analyses since “never” cannot be quantified. However, it is interesting to note that among these 23 coitally experienced participants, all reported that they believed it is never socially acceptable for females to engage in premarital sexual intercourse, whereas only three males reported that they believed that it is never socially acceptable for males to engage in premarital sexual intercourse. These respondents, although not included in the analyses, do show a trend that is consistent with Hypothesis I.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Professions, Hofstra University, 127 Hofstra Dome, 220, Hempstead, NY, 11549-2200, USA

    Israel M. Schwartz & Edward Coffield

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  1. Israel M. Schwartz
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  2. Edward Coffield
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Correspondence to Israel M. Schwartz.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The institutional review board of the authors’ organization approved the research.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. (per instructions). Respondents were informed (through the survey text) that participation was regarded as giving consent.

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Schwartz, I.M., Coffield, E. A Two Dimension Approach to Understanding Negative and Positive Affective Reactions to First Coitus. Sexuality & Culture 24, 1189–1206 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-019-09693-5

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