Chapter 9 - Love and Sexuality Flashcards
9.1 Summarize the ways in which adolescent love in developed countries takes different forms today than it did in the past.
In Western countries, dating has been replaced in recent years by more informal ways of meeting potential romantic partners and establishing a relationship. Most American adolescents have their first romantic relationships in their early teens. Romantic relationships tend to begin with mixed-sex groups in early adolescence and develop into romantic partnerships by late adolescence.
9.2 Describe how age and gender influence the forms that love takes in adolescence and emerging adulthood.
In early adolescence, recreation is the most important motivation for forming a romantic relationship, but by late adolescence, intimacy is most important. The importance of intimacy is lower for boys than for girls in early adolescence, but by late adolescence boys and girls both value intimacy. Despite many changes in gender roles in recent decades, a dating script persists in which boys are expected to take the initiative, make the plans, and initiate sexual contact, whereas girls are supposed to wait for boys to act and then respond, and are expected to place the limits on how far sex will go.
9.3 Explain how Sternberg’s theory of love applies to adolescents.
Sternberg’s theory of love describes a variety of types of love derived from combinations of passion, commitment, and intimacy. Adolescent love usually lacks long-term commitment, so it is most often characterized by infatuation or romantic love. Adolescents in non-Western cultures also experience passion, but many cultures restrict adolescents’ expressions of passionate love because they believe that marriage should be based on family interests rather than individual choice.
9.4 Summarize the basis of romantic attraction among adolescents, and name the phases that adolescent love typically follows.
People of all ages tend to be most likely to have romantic relationships with people who are similar to them in characteristics such as intelligence, social class, ethnic background, religious beliefs, personality, and physical attractiveness. The phases of adolescent love include the initiation phase, the status phase, the affection phase, and the bonding phase.
9.5 Describe the reasons romantic relationships dissolve and the consequences of breaking up.
Relationships dissolve for many reasons, including lack of common interests, communication problems, conflicting sexual attitudes and marriage ideas, differing backgrounds, and boredom. In one study of college students, more than half of those who had broken up were at least moderately depressed two months later. Increased alcohol and drug use is also common following a breakup.
9.6 Summarize the themes and variations of cohabitation among emerging adults in Western countries.
In the United States as well as in northern European countries, cohabitation before marriage is now experienced by at least two-thirds of emerging adults. Young people choose to cohabit in part because they wish to enhance the likelihood that when they marry, it will last. However, cohabitation predicts higher rather than lower likelihood of divorce, in part because cohabiting couples differ from other couples even before moving in together (e.g., they are less religious).
9.7 Compare and contrast the process of choosing a marriage partner in traditional cultures and in the modern West.
In a large cross-national study, “mutual attraction—love” ranked first among marriage criteria across countries, followed by “dependable character,” “emotional stability and maturity,” and “pleasing disposition.” Similarity in religious and political background ranked very low. “Good financial prospects” also ranked fairly low, as “having a lot of money” did in the studies of adolescents’ views of the ideal man and the ideal woman. Some cross-cultural differences were also notable. The sharpest cross-cultural division was on the issue of chastity.
9.8 Specify the features and prevalence of arranged marriages, including how they are currently changing.
Arranged marriage, in which parents decide on their children’s marriage partner, is a long tradition in human societies and still common in some places in Asia, most notably in India. The current trend is toward semi-arranged marriages in which young people may choose their own partner subject to parental approval or may approve or reject someone found by their parents.
9.9 Summarize rates of various types of sexual behavior among American adolescents.
American studies have found that the majority of boys begin masturbating by age 13 and that about 90% of boys masturbate by age 19. Girls report considerably lower rates of masturbation than boys. After masturbation, sexual experience for White American adolescents tends to follow a sequence from kissing through intercourse and oral sex.
9.10 Describe the changes in the past century in timing of first intercourse and current patterns among American adolescents, including ethnic differences.
The proportion of American high school students who reported having sexual intercourse at least once rose in the 1970s and 1980s, peaking in the early 1990s before declining steadily in recent years. African American adolescents are more likely than other ethnic groups to report having sexual intercourse, and also report earlier ages of first intercourse.
9.11 Summarize the national variations in pornography use in adolescence and emerging adulthood and views of its acceptability.
A relatively small proportion of adolescents in the United States report viewing pornography, whereas the proportion is somewhat higher (about one-third) in China. A majority of emerging adults in the United States and Sweden use pornography, young men more than young women, and they are ambivalent about its acceptability.
9.12 Identify the types of cultural attitudes toward adolescent sexuality, and summarize cross-national variations in rates of sexual behavior in emerging adulthood.
With respect to their views on adolescent sexuality, cultures can be generally classified as restrictive, semirestrictive, or permissive. The United States today is probably best classified as semirestrictive, with a great deal of ambivalence and divided opinions about adolescent sexuality. Premarital sex is most prevalent in Western countries and Africa, somewhat less common in South America, and least prevalent in Asia.
9.13 Compare and contrast the sexual scripts of adolescent boys and girls, and explain the reasons for the differences.
Adolescent girls and boys in the West learn different sexual scripts—different cognitive frameworks for understanding how a sexual experience is supposed to proceed and how sexual experiences are to be interpreted. In general, both girls and boys expect the boy to initiate sexual contact, whereas the girl is expected to set the limits on how far the sexual episode is allowed to progress. Studies have also found that girls are more likely than boys to have sexual scripts that include romance, friendship, and emotional intimacy, whereas for boys sexual attraction tends to outweigh emotional factors. Boys are often happy and excited after their first experience of intercourse, whereas girls are more often unhappy or ambivalent. These differences are due to differences in their gender socialization as well as the girls’ vulnerability to pregnancy.
9.14 Explain how sexually active adolescents in the United States are different from peers who are not sexually active.
Adolescents who remain virgins through high school are more likely than nonvirgins to be late maturing in the timing of their pubertal development, and they tend to have higher levels of academic performance and academic aspirations. They are also more likely to be politically conservative and to participate in religious activities.
9.15 Summarize the features of sexuality in emerging adulthood, including differences compared to adolescence.
Most American emerging adults have had sexual intercourse at least once in the past year, but they are more likely than other adults to have had either two or more partners or no partner. Most sex in emerging adulthood takes place between romantic partners, but recreational sex or “hooking up” is also common, frequently involving alcohol use.
