Parents and peers: Socialization agents in the coital behavior of young adults∗

In spite of the plethora of books, films and talk about sex, comparatively little is known about the interrelations between sexuality and socialization (Gagnon 1966). It is true that the patterning of premarital sexual behavior has been traced to such factors as differences in social class, religiosity and irreligiosity differential sex role conditioning, peer reference groups, and conservatism and liberalism (Kinsey et al, 1953; Locke, 1951; Kanin and Howard, 1958; Reiss, 1967; and Mirande, 1968); nevertheless there has been little closure in regard to the long range effects of various socializing agents upon the premarital sexual behavior of adolescents and young adults. In the absence of any general theory, there have been numerous assumptions upon which sex problem-oriented professionals have operated. For example some family counselors view premarital coitus (especially on the part of adolescent females) as an 4'acting out' of aggression and anxieties which have been generated within family interaction (Ackerman, 1 958; Friedman et al, 1 970). Others, as for instance some family life specialists hold that early adolescent experiments in coital activity often are due to ignorance and misinformation about sex. Operating on this assumption, many sex educators believe that an adequate sex education, especially if it is augmented by trained parentsv may reduce the need for early coital experimentation (Calderone, 1965; Gadpaille, 1970). Yet another assumption has been made by some who have called attention tO the factor' within the contemporary dating and courtship systems. For example, many writers have deplored, especially for young teens, the American dating arrangement known as going steady. The implicit idea behind this proscription is the suspicion that greater exposure to intimate male-female interaction