Abstract
Friends and others are told of first intercourse under different conditions. The conditions under which first intercourse is reported are related to the scripts which govern the transition from virgin to nonvirgin. This study compares the reporting of first intercourse by a group of college students studied in 1976 with that for a group studied in 1967 by Carns (1973). Carns's earlier analysis found dramatic gender differences in reporting that interacted with the timing of first intercourse and relationship with the first partner, suggesting different scripts for men and women. Analysis of the current data suggests a simpler model in which males and females behave in similar ways, and in which only relationship with the partner influences the speed of reporting. The present study suggests that males and females now share a single script and a single standard of behavior for first intercourse.
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This research was supported by Grant HD 10689 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The data were collected in the fall of 1976, when both authors were on the faculty of Michigan State University.
Received Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan. Major research interests are socialization processes, sexual behavior, and medical sociology.
Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Michigan State University. Major research interests are methodology and sexual behavior.
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Kallen, D.J., Stephenson, J.J. Talking about sex revisited. J Youth Adolescence 11, 11–23 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537813
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537813