Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker: Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think About Marrying

Excerpt

In Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, And Think about Marrying Regnerus and Uecker analyze how sexual behavior and sex patterns develop throughout emerging adulthood in and across cultures. They explore a variety of different research as well as conduct their own in person interviews and surveys on sexual experiences (at University of Texas) primarily of the 18–24 year old heterosexual American demographic. They use other age demographics as reference points for the changes within newer generations. To reach sample sizes large enough for more accurate nation-wide analysis, Regnerus and Uecker turned to the empirical and theoretical research based on The National Survey of Family Growth, the College Women’s Survey, the College Social Life Survey, the National Longitudinal Study for Adolescent Health (Add Health), and the National Study of Youth and Religion (NYR). By using that rich data, combined with personal stories, Regnerus and Uecker seek to answer the common questions of: Is there any evidence to the widely expressed assumption of this generation developing faster sexually? What are the “kids” really doing? What is the norm of sexual behavior in emerging adulthood? This book looks at assumed sexual behaviors and compares it to the reported activities of emerging adults. …