These days young people generally do not marry until their late twenties. What this means is that they have many years, perhaps as long as a decade if not longer, in which to experiment sexually. Above I’m going to discuss four sexual values or standards of behavior for singles not in committed relationships either marriage or cohabitation.
Many contemporary groups, especially the conservative Christian and Islamic communities, encourage abstinence as a moral imperative. People may be surprised to learn that teens today are less likely to be having sex than in the past. In the last 20 years, the percentage of sexually experienced teenagers has significantly declined. Teen birthrates had declined 34 percent from 1991 to 2005 with accompanying declines in teen pregnancy rates. Generally, teens who do not engage in sexual activity give conservative values or fear of pregnancy, disease, or parents as their reasons. Individuals choose abstinence for other reasons as well. Some women and men have withdrawn from non-marital sexual relationships entirely to avoid bad experiences. Some withdraw from sexual risk, at least for a time, rather than feel vulnerable in the open sexual climate of the sexual revolution.
Sexual intercourse between unmarried men and
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The continued existence of the double standard alongside the prevailing pattern of hooking up makes navigating sexual relationships challenging for young women who do not want to be perceived as promiscuous. In another study of college students, women had significantly more worries or romantic thoughts about their hookups than did men. Other research notes, however, that this is not necessarily the case; in fact, many men find these ever-transforming sexual scripts difficult to negotiate. The power imbalance in hooking up can be seen from the perspective of sexual