PSY BEH 118D Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Premarital Sex, Monogamy, Casual Sex
3 May 2018
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Sexuality and the Life Cycle
• how many people have pre-marital intercourse?
o Finer, 2007
o according to 2002 survey
▪ 94% of US women and 96% of US men have premarital sex
• first intercourse
o biological and social influences
▪ higher levels of testosterone leads to having sex earlier
▪ having a permissive attitude about sex
▪ church attendance = have sex later
▪ friends who are sexually experienced = have sex earlier
o men vs. women: Peggy Lee Syndrome
▪ typical female reaction to first intercourse – feelings of disappointment
• the college years
o patterns of sexual behavior in college-aged men and women
▪ study of entering college students (2010)
• 44% non-virgins, 11% had sex in first 6 months, 45% virgins
▪ study of 20-24 year olds (2011)
• 85% had engaged in sexual intercourse
▪ dating
• most common premarital sexual pattern is serial monogamy
without marriage
o casual sex: friends with benefits & hookups
▪ friends with benefits: sex with member of social group or friend
▪ hooking up: sexual encounter with strangers
• marital relationships
o frequency of marital intercourse
▪ 92% get married; 80% remarry
▪ 2-3 times per week in their 20s, then less
• frequency of intercourse declines with age
o duration of marital intercourse
▪ NHSLS asked respondents to estimate the duration of their last sexual
interaction
▪ 16% lasted 15 minutes or less
▪ 9% lasted an hour or more
o initiation of marital intercourse
▪ survey of married couples found that for 33% of them, the husband and
wife are about equally likely to initiate sex
▪ for 51% the husband is more likely to be the initiator, and in only 16% of
the couples is the wife usually the initiator
▪ traditional gender typing…refusal
• woman refuses? that’s how women are
• man refuses? he’s not interested in ME
o masturbation in marriage
▪ 63% of men and 42% of women in last year
▪ 17% of men and 5% of women masturbate at least one a week
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