Abstract
To further the understanding of the relationship between social class and sexual attitudes and behavior, we present data from a study of undergraduate students. We look at the education of students' fathers and how it relates to students' sexual profiles. Among the men, some traditional social class differences are found, indicating that class differences persist among some upwardly mobile men. For the women, fewer social class differences appear. Further, we compare our 1992 sample of 554 college students, 19–22 years old, with a university sample of 904 similar age students from 1967, and find our sample more coitally experienced. College students today are following norms that in the past were associated with a lower educational level Implications of our findings for class convergence theory are addressed. Reliable birth control, gains in equality by women, and the sexual images of television and other media are discussed as major factors contributing to the increased sexual permissiveness among university students of the 1990s.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Blumberg, P. (1980). Inequality in an Age of Decline, Oxford University Press, New York.
DeLameter, J., and MacCorquodale, P. (1979). Self image and premarital sexuality. J. Marr. Fam. 41(2): 327–339.
D'Emilio, J., and Freedman, E. B. (1988). Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, Harper & Row, New York.
Farley, J. E. (1992). Sociology, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Ford, K., Zelnick, M., and Kantner, J. F. (1981). Sexual behavior and contraceptive use among socioeconomic groups of young women in the United States. J. Biosex. 13: 31–45.
Kantner, J. F., and Zelnik, M. (1972). Sexual experience of young unmarried women in the United States. Fam. Plann. Perspect. 4: 9–18.
Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., and Martin, C. E. (1948). Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia.
Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., and Gebhard, P. H. (1953). Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia.
Laumann, O., Gagnon, J. H., Michael, R. T., and Michaels, S. (1994). The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Lottes, I. L. 1993. Nontraditional gender roles and the sexual experiences of heterosexual college students. Sex Roles 29: 645–669.
Merton, R. K. (1968). Social Theory and Social Structure, Free Press, New York.
Reiss, I. L. (1965). Social class and premarital sexual permissiveness: A re-examination. Am. Sociol. Rev. 30: 747–756.
Reiss, I. L. (1980). Sexual customs and gender roles in Sweden and America: An analysis and interpretation. In Lopata, H. (ed.), Research in the Interweave of Social Roles: Women and Men, JAI, Greenwich, CT.
Reiss, I. L. (1986). Journey into Sexuality: An Exploratory Voyage, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Reiss, I. L. (1995). Is this the definitive sex survey? (The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sex Practice in the United States). J. Sex. Res. 32: 77–85.
Simon, W., and Gagnon, J. H. (1986). Sexual scripts: Permanence and change. Arch. Sex. Behav. 15: 97–120.
Singh, B. K. (1980). Trends in attitudes toward premarital sexual relations. J. Marr. Fam. 42: 387–393.
Weinberg, M. S., and Williams, C. J. (1980). Sexual embourgeoisement? Social class and sexual activity: 1938–1970. Am. Sociol. Rev. 45: 33–48.
Weinberg, M. S., Swensson, R. G., and Hammersmith, S. K. (1983). Sexual autonomy and the status of women: Models of female sexuality in U.S. sex manuals from 1950 to 1980. Soc. Probl. 30: 312–324.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Weinberg, M.S., Lottes, I.L. & Gordon, L.E. Social Class Background, Sexual Attitudes, and Sexual Behavior in a Heterosexual Undergraduate Sample. Arch Sex Behav 26, 625–642 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024576310175
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024576310175