title: Sexual Liberalism-Conservatism: the effect of human values, gender, and previous sexual experience.
abstract: Despite theoretical associations, there is a lack of empirical studies on the axiological basis of sexual liberalism-conservatism. Two studies demonstrated important associations between these constructs for young adults. In Study 1, participants were 353 undergraduate students with a mean age of 20.13 (SD = 1.84), who completed the Sexual Liberalism-Conservatism Scale and the Basic Values Survey. In Study 2, participants were 269 undergraduate students, with a mean age of 20.3 (SD = 1.82), who completed a social desirability scale in addition to Study 1 instruments. Results showed how values can predict sexual liberalism-conservatism after controlling for social desirability. Attitudes towards one's own sexual behavior were more conservative whereas attitudes towards other's sexual behavior were more liberal. Gender was not a significant predictor of sexual attitudes whereas previous sexual experience showed a significant association to this construct. In general, results corroborated previous findings, showing that participants with a tendency to present socially desirable answers also tended to present themselves as sexually conservative.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicologia Social e do Desenvolvimento, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Goiabeiras, Vitoria, Brazil. valeschkamartins@gmail.com
authors.forename: Valeschka M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: Valdiney V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Gouveia
authors.forename: Deliane M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Tiago J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Leogildo A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Freires
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012928:Social Desirability; D012945:Social Values; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires