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Sexual Efficacy of Adolescents, Permissiveness, and the Transition Toward Nonvirginity: From Intention to Behavior 1
Author(s) -
Taris Toon W.,
Semin Gün R.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb00131.x
Subject(s) - psychology , permissiveness , sexual intercourse , sexual behavior , developmental psychology , social psychology , structural equation modeling , demography , population , viral replication , sociology , statistics , genetics , mathematics , biology , cell culture
The current study examines teenage sexual behavior (in terms of having had sexual intercourse) as a function of sexual attitudes and sexual efficacy. At the heart of the study lies the assumption that sexual attitudes such as permissiveness are related to sexual behavior, but that this relation is stronger for sexually efficacious teenagers than for others. Using longitudinal data from 253 British adolescents, a structural equation model is tested and fit. The results provide partial support for the expectations, demonstrating the usefulness of sexual efficacy in predicting sexual behavior. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.