Talking about sex revisited

Abstract

Friends and others are told of first intercourse under different conditions. The conditions under which first intercourse is reported are related to the scripts which govern the transition from virgin to nonvirgin. This study compares the reporting of first intercourse by a group of college students studied in 1976 with that for a group studied in 1967 by Carns (1973). Carns's earlier analysis found dramatic gender differences in reporting that interacted with the timing of first intercourse and relationship with the first partner, suggesting different scripts for men and women. Analysis of the current data suggests a simpler model in which males and females behave in similar ways, and in which only relationship with the partner influences the speed of reporting. The present study suggests that males and females now share a single script and a single standard of behavior for first intercourse.