Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

FIGURE 2
The percentage of adults 
who fi nd premarital sex is not wrong at 
all has risen dramatically over the last 
several decades, whereas the percentage 
of adults who think premarital sex is 
always wrong has increased only slightly. 
(Source: Gallup News Service, 1998.) 
What 
changes in society account for this shift 
in attitudes toward intercourse?
50 
0 
Percentage 
0 
1972 
1974 
1975 
1977 
1978 
1982 
1983 
1985 
1986 
1988 
1989 
1990 
1991 
1993 
1994 
1996 
1998 
Year 
10 
20 
30 
Percentage of people age 45–54 who say 
sex before marriage is not wrong at all 
Percentage of people age 18–24 who say it 
is always wrong to have sex before marriage 
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Module 34 
The Diversity of Sexual Behavior 
367
Still, the double standard has not disappeared completely. Where differing stan-
dards remain, the attitudes are almost always more lenient toward the male than 
toward the female (Sprecher & Hatfi eld, 1996). 
Furthermore, there are substantial cultural differences regarding the incidence 
and acceptability of premarital intercourse. For instance, the proportions of male 
teenagers who have intercourse before their 17th birthday in Jamaica, the United 
States, and Brazil are about 10 times the level reported in the Philippines. And in 
some cultures, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, women become sexually active 
at an earlier age than men—although this may be due to the fact that they marry at 
a younger age than men (Singh et al., 2000).
 MARITAL SEX 
To judge by the number of articles about sex in heterosexual marriages, one would 
think that sexual behavior was the number one standard by which marital bliss is 
measured. Married couples are often concerned that they are having too little sex, 
too much sex, or the wrong kind of sex (Harvey, Wenzel, & Sprecher, 2005). 
Although there are many different dimensions along which sex in marriage is 
measured, one is certainly the frequency of sexual intercourse. What is typical? As 
with most other types of sexual activities, there is no easy answer to the question 
because there are such wide variations in patterns between individuals. We do know 
that 43% of married couples have sexual intercourse a few times a month and 36% 
of couples have it two or three times a week. With increasing age and length of mar-
riage, the frequency of intercourse declines. Still, sex continues into late adulthood 
with almost half of people reporting that they engage in high-quality sexual activity 
at least once a month (Michael et al., 1994; Powell, 2006; see Figure 3). 
Although early research found