Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 13, No. 5, 1984
Sex in Transition, 1900-1980 Carol A. Darling, 1 David J. Kailen, 2.3 and J o y c e E. V a n D u s e n I
Received May 6, 1983; acceptedfor publication September 20, 1984
Changes in the proportion o f college-aged males and females participating in coital relationships are analyzed through a review o f 35 studies conducted between 1903 and 1980. Two major trends are apparent: there has been a major increase in the proportion o f young people reporting intercourse, and the proportion o f females reporting coital involvement has increased more rapidly than the proportion o f males, although the initial base f o r males is greater. Prior to 1970, about twice as many college men as women reported having had intercourse; since 1970, the proportions o f men and women reporting coital involvement are nearly equal. These changes are seen as supportive o f major shifts in the standards governing sexual behavior from the double standard to the single standard o f permissiveness with affection [Reiss, I. F. (1967). The Social Context of Premarital Sexual Permissiveness, Rinehart and Winston, New York] to the current standard o f intercourse being appropriate in love relationships (without the requirement o f progression toward marriage) and permissible in casual relationships without exploitation. INTRODUCTION The influence o f sexuality on our lives has changed through time. This change has affected the meanings and attitudes attached to sexflality and sexual behaviors. The past decade and a half, in particular, has seen a m a j o r increase in the extent to which adolescents and young adults have been involved in heterosexual intercourse. Furthermore, there has been a major shift in the rates o f coital involvement a m o n g young females so that their ageadjusted rates now approximate those of young males. tDepartment of Home and Family Life, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306. 2Department of Pediatrics and Human Development,Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1317. 3To whom correspondence should be addressed. 385 0047-2891/S4/1000-0385503,50/0
© 1984 Plenum Publishing Corporation
386
Darling, Kallen, and VanDusen
This paper examines trends in sexual behavior in the United States from the early 1900s to the present. It does not present a historical review of the sexual literature; rather, it provides a meta-analysis of scientific studies of sexual behavior of youth, with an emphasis on the changing rates of coital involvement among males and females. Implications about the meaning of these changing rates are also presented. Although over the years "premarital intercourse" has been the terminology utilized by researchers when discussing the sexual behavior of never-married persons, the authors have chosen not to employ this term due to the implication that intercourse is necessarily followed by marriage, an implication which is not correct today. The transition from virgin to nonvirgin represents a move into a new status (Jessor and Jessor, 1975). Since this status change can be made only once in the lifetime of an individual, it has considerable meaning for the individual as well as for society. The symbolic meaning of this transition evolves from a societal need to control reproduction and entry into adulthood. Beliefs about the range of sexual behaviors that are acceptable are embedded in normative systems and vary according to individual factors, group membership, and social changes. Thus, sexual behavior is social behavior which is regulated by society and learned through the socialization process (Kallen, 1980). Major changes have occurred in the sexual standards and behaviors of adolescents and young adults in recent years. While this transformation has been more rapid during the last two decades than during the earlier part of the century, an analysis of published data from the last 80 years helps to depict social trends in the reorganization of sexual relations among unmarried youth. Hence, the focus of this paper is on a broad examination of the transition of sexual behavior within the societal context of this century.
METHODOLOGY Data for this trend analysis were obtained from 35 published studies which examined some phase of sexual behavior among never-married youth and young adults. These studies were selected through the use of literature and computer searches and employed a number of criteria to ensure that the studies were methodologically acceptable and represented behavioral patterns of the time. These included the following. The study must be of a cross-sectional sample, not of a specially selected group. Thus, studies which utilized participants in birthcontrol clinics, retrospective samples of married persons reporting on their premarital behavior, patients in psychiatric treatment, etc., were not included.
Sex in Transition, 1900-1980
387
The research method used must be within a generally acceptable range of social and behavioral science research. The data must have been published either in book form or, more probably, in a reasonably accessable journal. Due to the wide variety of samples and methods employed in the studies, this review is focused primarily upon two elements: coital rates and year of data collection. The year of data collection was utilized rather than the date of publication since the time lapse between these two dates could result in some confusion and allow for a misrepresentation of trends in sexual behavior. While several aspects of sexual behavior could have been utilized as a basis of comparison over the years, using proportions of nonvirgins reported by each study was selected because of the significance of this status change for society and the individual who makes this transition. In evaluating evidence for changes in sexual behavior and sexual standards through time, little attention has been paid to a presentation of coital involvement by the year in which data were collected, although some articles have included tables of comparative data to depict variations in findings from recent studies (Hopkins, 1977). The visual presentation of data in Fig. 1 provides this graphic summary of the data. Figure 1 organizes the studies by proportion of nonvirgin and year of data collection, for males and females separately (adapted from Haeck, 1974; KaUen, 1974; Chilman, 1978; Darling, 1979). Since some reports present data collected over a span of years, the midpoint was used to summarize these reports. In order to assist the pictorial presentation of these studies, lines were drawn connecting the high and low coital rates for both sexes, thus resulting in a clearer visual indication of the trends in male and female sexual behavior during the twentieth century. The information utilized in Fig. 1 coincides numerically with the studies contained in Table I, which includes the investigators, years of data publication and collection, sample characteristics, and coital rates.
FINDINGS Figure 1 summarizes several studies of coital involvement of collegeaged students by years in which the data were collected and proportion of males and females reporting that they are not virgins. Figure 1 demonstrates three major trends in sexual behavior during the twentieth century in the United States. 1. Through time there has been an increase in the proportion of both males and females reporting coital involvement prior to marriage; 2. There has been a converging of the coital rates reported by males and females, with two subtrends: (a) in I958 the highest reported rate
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Fig. 1. Coital rates of males and females as illustrated in selected studies, 1903-1980.
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29
Sex in Transition, 1900-1980 Carol A. Darling, 1 David J. Kailen, 2.3 and J o y c e E. V a n D u s e n I
Received May 6, 1983; acceptedfor publication September 20, 1984
Changes in the proportion o f college-aged males and females participating in coital relationships are analyzed through a review o f 35 studies conducted between 1903 and 1980. Two major trends are apparent: there has been a major increase in the proportion o f young people reporting intercourse, and the proportion o f females reporting coital involvement has increased more rapidly than the proportion o f males, although the initial base f o r males is greater. Prior to 1970, about twice as many college men as women reported having had intercourse; since 1970, the proportions o f men and women reporting coital involvement are nearly equal. These changes are seen as supportive o f major shifts in the standards governing sexual behavior from the double standard to the single standard o f permissiveness with affection [Reiss, I. F. (1967). The Social Context of Premarital Sexual Permissiveness, Rinehart and Winston, New York] to the current standard o f intercourse being appropriate in love relationships (without the requirement o f progression toward marriage) and permissible in casual relationships without exploitation. INTRODUCTION The influence o f sexuality on our lives has changed through time. This change has affected the meanings and attitudes attached to sexflality and sexual behaviors. The past decade and a half, in particular, has seen a m a j o r increase in the extent to which adolescents and young adults have been involved in heterosexual intercourse. Furthermore, there has been a major shift in the rates o f coital involvement a m o n g young females so that their ageadjusted rates now approximate those of young males. tDepartment of Home and Family Life, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306. 2Department of Pediatrics and Human Development,Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1317. 3To whom correspondence should be addressed. 385 0047-2891/S4/1000-0385503,50/0
© 1984 Plenum Publishing Corporation
386
Darling, Kallen, and VanDusen
This paper examines trends in sexual behavior in the United States from the early 1900s to the present. It does not present a historical review of the sexual literature; rather, it provides a meta-analysis of scientific studies of sexual behavior of youth, with an emphasis on the changing rates of coital involvement among males and females. Implications about the meaning of these changing rates are also presented. Although over the years "premarital intercourse" has been the terminology utilized by researchers when discussing the sexual behavior of never-married persons, the authors have chosen not to employ this term due to the implication that intercourse is necessarily followed by marriage, an implication which is not correct today. The transition from virgin to nonvirgin represents a move into a new status (Jessor and Jessor, 1975). Since this status change can be made only once in the lifetime of an individual, it has considerable meaning for the individual as well as for society. The symbolic meaning of this transition evolves from a societal need to control reproduction and entry into adulthood. Beliefs about the range of sexual behaviors that are acceptable are embedded in normative systems and vary according to individual factors, group membership, and social changes. Thus, sexual behavior is social behavior which is regulated by society and learned through the socialization process (Kallen, 1980). Major changes have occurred in the sexual standards and behaviors of adolescents and young adults in recent years. While this transformation has been more rapid during the last two decades than during the earlier part of the century, an analysis of published data from the last 80 years helps to depict social trends in the reorganization of sexual relations among unmarried youth. Hence, the focus of this paper is on a broad examination of the transition of sexual behavior within the societal context of this century.
METHODOLOGY Data for this trend analysis were obtained from 35 published studies which examined some phase of sexual behavior among never-married youth and young adults. These studies were selected through the use of literature and computer searches and employed a number of criteria to ensure that the studies were methodologically acceptable and represented behavioral patterns of the time. These included the following. The study must be of a cross-sectional sample, not of a specially selected group. Thus, studies which utilized participants in birthcontrol clinics, retrospective samples of married persons reporting on their premarital behavior, patients in psychiatric treatment, etc., were not included.
Sex in Transition, 1900-1980
387
The research method used must be within a generally acceptable range of social and behavioral science research. The data must have been published either in book form or, more probably, in a reasonably accessable journal. Due to the wide variety of samples and methods employed in the studies, this review is focused primarily upon two elements: coital rates and year of data collection. The year of data collection was utilized rather than the date of publication since the time lapse between these two dates could result in some confusion and allow for a misrepresentation of trends in sexual behavior. While several aspects of sexual behavior could have been utilized as a basis of comparison over the years, using proportions of nonvirgins reported by each study was selected because of the significance of this status change for society and the individual who makes this transition. In evaluating evidence for changes in sexual behavior and sexual standards through time, little attention has been paid to a presentation of coital involvement by the year in which data were collected, although some articles have included tables of comparative data to depict variations in findings from recent studies (Hopkins, 1977). The visual presentation of data in Fig. 1 provides this graphic summary of the data. Figure 1 organizes the studies by proportion of nonvirgin and year of data collection, for males and females separately (adapted from Haeck, 1974; KaUen, 1974; Chilman, 1978; Darling, 1979). Since some reports present data collected over a span of years, the midpoint was used to summarize these reports. In order to assist the pictorial presentation of these studies, lines were drawn connecting the high and low coital rates for both sexes, thus resulting in a clearer visual indication of the trends in male and female sexual behavior during the twentieth century. The information utilized in Fig. 1 coincides numerically with the studies contained in Table I, which includes the investigators, years of data publication and collection, sample characteristics, and coital rates.
FINDINGS Figure 1 summarizes several studies of coital involvement of collegeaged students by years in which the data were collected and proportion of males and females reporting that they are not virgins. Figure 1 demonstrates three major trends in sexual behavior during the twentieth century in the United States. 1. Through time there has been an increase in the proportion of both males and females reporting coital involvement prior to marriage; 2. There has been a converging of the coital rates reported by males and females, with two subtrends: (a) in I958 the highest reported rate
IS00
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..." 24b: "" . . . .
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1990
'%,,,~ i 3~...".33/ .." ~ ,/,4
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Fig. 1. Coital rates of males and females as illustrated in selected studies, 1903-1980.
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29
