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Gender differences in theories of adolescent sexual activity

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Abstract

This was a study of 1478 adolescents who attended ten private schools located in different areas of this country. The purpose was to determine which concepts from four theories of deviance were useful in explaining male and female sexual intercourse. The sample was 73% White, 6% Chicano, 5% Black, 3% Asian, and 12% other minorities, and was comprised of 1114 females and 364 males. Bivariate analyses showed that the majority (15 of the 21 factors for both males and females) of factors examined were significantly correlated with frequency of sexual intercourse. Few gender differences were observed, and hierarchical regression procedures revealed that the strongest predictor of both male and female sexual intercourse was differential peer association, accounting for 33% of the variance (48% explained) among males and 27% of the variance among females (44% explained).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland at Baltimore, USA

    Frederick A. DiBlasio

  2. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA

    Brent B. Benda

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  1. Frederick A. DiBlasio
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  2. Brent B. Benda
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The authors wish to express their appreciation to Dr. Ken Millar for the supportive resources to complete this study, and to the reviewers at Sex Roles for their comments on an earlier draft.

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DiBlasio, F.A., Benda, B.B. Gender differences in theories of adolescent sexual activity. Sex Roles 27, 221–239 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289926

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