Sexual Behavior and Attitudes to Life in Adolescence

Abstract

The paper analyses the peculiarities of norms regulating sexual activity in adolescence. Various types of attitudes towards norms restricting sexual activity in adolescence are matched with respondents’ life values, emotional well-being, evaluation of their future perspectives and styles of sexual behavior. Methods. The data was obtained in an anonymous survey that involved 1540 students of 7th, 9th and 11th grades of secondary and high schools. Questions were aimed at exploring the types of adolescents’ attitudes towards the age-related restricting norm regulating sexual activity, their life attitudes, and styles of sexual behavior. Results. The data reveals gender and age specifics concerning various types of adolescents’ attitudes towards restriction in sexual activity. Girls are more likely to follow the restricting norm. We distinguished between developmental stages in the transformation of girls’ and boys’ attitudes towards norms regulating admissibility of sexual activity. Conclusion. The results allow us to conclude that the dismissal of the age-related norm restricting sexual activity in adolescence is linked to the basic value transformations in adolescence.

Keywords

• adolescence
• sexual activity
• prohibitive norm
• life attitude
• style of sexual behavior
• gender specifics
• developmental dynamics