By: Jeremy Smith and Heather Dombrowsky
Hanover College
 What
do you remember about your sex
education?
 Where
did your sex education come from?
 There
are currently two main types of formal
sex education taught in schools:


Abstinence-Only
Comprehensive
 Controversial


because….
Abstinence-only advocates argue that
comprehensive sex education encourages sexual
activity
Comprehensive advocates argue that abstinenceonly sex education is religiously motivated and
proven to be ineffective
 Due
to the Controversy, Emphasis Has Been
Placed On….

Objective Behavioral Impact


Pregnancy Rates
STI Rates
 And

Subjective Consequences



Not….
Comfort Levels & Satisfaction
Qualitative Analyses
Little to No Previous Research
 Perceived

Europe vs. U.S.



Europe – More Comprehensive Sex Education
U.S. – More Abstinence Based Sex Education
Paige, 1977



Cultural Differences
Cultural Difference for Different Sex Taboos
Less Developed Countries = More Taboos
Manceau, 2006


Taboos on Sex and Death in Advertising
French Culture
 More than 45% of participants were uncomfortable
with using sex or death in advertising, as they are
considered to be taboo
 How
do people understand the
significance of their own sex education in
retrospect?
 Participants
who received a more
comprehensive sex education will be (on
average) more comfortable with the topic of
sex than those who received a more
abstinence-based sex education
 Participants from European countries will be
(on average) more comfortable with the
topic of sex than those from the United
States

Paige, 1977
 Online


Survey
Survey BuildR
Posted on European and American websites
 Participants

n = 45




Had to omit one due to age
12 Males, 34 Females
Ages 18 to 65
Participants span a wide range of countries

Australia, Greece, Singapore, United Kingdom, United
States
 Demographics
Survey
Age, Sex, Country of Residence, Religious
Affiliation
 Type of Sex Education
 Defined Abstinence and Comprehensive Sex
Education

 Reflections
from Different Sources (Open-
Ended)




Peers/Siblings
Home
School
Your Own Research
 Comfort
Levels (Likert Scales)

Parents
Siblings
Significant Other
Close Friend
Peer
Stranger

Chronbach’s Alpha = 0.71





 Qualitative

Questions
Tell me what you remember learning about sex
from your peers and siblings.
 Quantitative


Questions
How satisfied are you with the information you
received from your peers and siblings about sex?
1-7 (Completely Unsatisfied to Completely
Satisfied)
 Same
Set of Questions for Each Source
Source
Mean Comfort Level
Significant Other
6.05
Close Friend
5.78*
Sibling
3.98*
Parents
3.22*
Peer
3.20
Stranger
2.22*
 Hypotheses

No relationship between the kind of sex
education received and the participants’ comfort
levels


not supported.
All 6 DV p>0.05
No relationship between the participants’
country of residence and their comfort levels

All 6 DV p>0.05
Comfort
Gender
Mean
t
df
p-value
Sibling
Male
Female
3.64
2.72
1.742
(38)
0.217
Parents
Male
Female
3.17
1.88
1.254
(43)
0.092^
Significant
Other
Male
Female
4.55
5.21
1.385
(42)
0.173
Close Friend
Male
Female
4.42
4.91
1.001
(43)
0.323
Peer
Male
Female
3.08
1.88
2.101
(43)
0.042*
Stranger
Male
Female
1.92
0.97
1.741
(43)
0.089^
 Correlations

Positive correlations between how much
education an individual received from a source
and how satisfied they were with the information
they received from that source




Home
Peers
School
Independent Research
r(45)=+.637, p<0.001
r(45)=+.363, p=0.015
r(46)=+.629, p<0.001
r(43)=+.589, p<0.001
 Qualitative

General Trends




Data
Participants Often Adopted Parents’ Views on Sex
Negative Consequence of Unprotected Sex Seem to be
the Focus for Males When Discussing Sex
In General, Negative Messages Portrayed About Sex
Exceptions
 No
difference between the different types of
programs through which one learns about
sex…

Flawed Hypothesis
 We
assumed that individuals would either
have: a comprehensive or abstinence-only
sex education

Most people receive some sort of
“Comprehensive” Sex Education

Internet
 We
had small sample sizes (especially small
European sample);
 Too much variation between the participants;
 Too many confounding factors

We were too broad in what our survey was asking
 As
adults, it seems that if you spend more
time with someone interpersonally, you are
more comfortable talking about sex with
them

Significant Other = Close Friend > Siblings >
Parents = Peers > Strangers
 Males



are more comfortable talking to:
Peers*
Strangers
Parents
 Both
sexes are equally comfortable talking
to:



Siblings
Significant Others
Close Friends
 Perceived


Gender Differences
Women Receive More Negative Messages About
Sex
Askew, 2007



Female Undergraduates Took a Feminist-Informed
Human Sexuality Course
Previous Messages to Women – Negative; Abstinence
Until Marriage
Participants Felt More Comfortable About the Topic of
Sex After the Course
 The
more education you receive from a
source, then the more satisfied you are with
the source…


Sex is an important subject
The more you learn, the more it should make
sense
 Limitations



Coding Glitch
Small, Homogeneous Sample Size
Our Expectations for Participants
 Future



Research
In-Person Interviews
Analyze Personality Differences
Providing Other Types of Relationships