Acceptability of Various Behaviors for Self

Acceptability of Various Behaviors for Self

We asked people (MSSS Items): How strongly do you believe that these behaviors are acceptable for you?

Abstinence (no sexual activity) between you and your partner if you are engaged.
Sexual Activity between you and your partner if you are engaged.
Sexual Activity between you and your partner if you are in love.
Sexual Activity between you and your partner if you like each other.
Sexual Activity between you and your partner if you have just met.

and gave people a 9 point scale anchored by "Very Acceptable for me" and "Very Unacceptable for me" for their responses. I subtracted 5 from each person's score to make zero the scale midpoint, thus negative scores would represent responses in "unacceptible for self" range, zero would be neutral and positive numbers would represent the "acceptable for self" range.

The sex if engaged item and the sex if in love item were rated as acceptable behaviors for self on average by the Texas sample (see figure below), however abstinence if engaged, sex if only friends and sex if they've just met the person are not acceptable for self.

MSSS Items by Sexuality Standards Grouping

In order to see if people with differing sexuality standards differed in terms of the range of behaviors that are acceptable for self, means were computed for each sexuality standards group.

People who require engagement or marriage prior to sex (the > Love Group) consider abstinence if engaged to be within their acceptable range of behaviors, however they do not consider sex to be acceptable for self regardless of whether it occurs in a relationship where there is engagement, or love, or friendship or if they've just met the person (see figure below). I suspect that the reason sex with engagement was rated negatively by this group was the fact that the majority of people in that group required marriage prior to sex.

People who report requiring love prior to engaging in sex with a partner (the Love Group) report that it is only acceptable for them to engage in sex if engaged or if in love. Abstinence if engaged is not acceptable for this group. Engaging in sex with a friend, or with someone they've just met is also not acceptable for this sexuality standards group.

People who say that they need either friendship or casual acquaintance prior to engaging in sex say that sex is acceptable when engaged, when in love, or when friends with the person. However, remaining abstinent while engaged, or having sex if they've just met someone is unacceptable for self.

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