Religious Conservatism, Sexual Knowledge, and Sexual Experience

1. Religious Conservatism, Sexual Knowledge, and Sexual Experience Sarah Maurer, Alexis Rose, & Sarah Vogt Hanover College April 5, 2005

2. ? Research Question ? We bet you’re wondering… 2. Do those who are more sexually experienced know more about sex? 1.Are religiously conservative people less sexually experienced? 3. Do religiously liberal individuals know more about sex?

3. Introduction: Religion and Sexuality • Conservative sex education is positively correlated with frequency of church visits (Marsman & Herold, 1986). • Those attending church the most want conservative values to be emphasized (Marsman & Herold, 1986). • Involvement in youth religious activities has decreased the probability of becoming sexually active (Thornton & Camburn, 1989).

4. Hypotheses - Sexual Knowledge Religious Conservatism + Sexual Experience -

5. Participants • N = 17 (65% female) • Religious Affiliation • 9 Protestants • 3 Catholics • 1 Jewish • 2 Unsure • 2 No Religion • Demographics • Average Age: 19.8

6. Questionnaire Religious Conservatism Twenty-one questions answered using the Likert Scale. (e.g. I attend religious services on a weekly basis) Sexual Experience Chart measured frequency of nine behaviors for a total of nine questions. (e.g. Over the clothes fondling above the waist) Sexual Knowledge Eight True/False questions measured basic sexual knowledge, generally about protection. (e.g. Sperm is killed once it hits oxygen)

7. Results: Religion and Sexual Experience • r (17)= -.33, p = .20 • No significant correlation found • Pattern shows a decline in sexual experience as religious conservatism increases. • Previous research is consistent with this pattern.

8. Results: Religion and Sexual Knowledge r (17)= -.05, p = .85 No significant correlation found Possible Limitation: More sexual knowledge questions needed in terms of number and difficulty.

9. Results: Sexual Experience and Sexual Knowledge r (17)=.09, p =.74 No significant correlation found

10. Discussion • There were no significant correlations found in our study. • However, there was a slight negative correlation found between conservative religious beliefs and level of sexual experience, r (17)= -.33, p = .196. • This indicates that it is possible that those with more liberal religious beliefs are more sexually experienced, which agrees with our prediction. • If this study would have produced significant results, it could imply that religiously conservative groups strongly discourage pre-marital sex, which fits their social identity. • Also, with significant results, it would imply that those who are more religiously conservative are less exposed to basic sexual education.

11. Limitations to Research • Small Sample (only 17 students) • Over representation of women (65%) • Over representation of Caucasians and Protestants - We cannot generalize cross culturally because of differences between races and access to quality of sexual education - We cannot generalize the relationship between individual religions and their particular beliefs concerning sexual experience.

12. Suggestions for Future Research • More diverse demographics (race, age, religion). • Analyze more deeply differences between race, age, religion, and type of education. • A larger sample size. As with any study, it is always better to have a large sample.

13. Questions?

14. Oh, come on, we know you have some better questions… Did you think about… A:Yes, but since it was not applicable to anything other than demographics (age, race, etc.), we discarded this information. Q: Did you ask about number of sexual partners for each behavior? A:Yes, and this is another limitation to our study. It is hard to control for relationship differences unless you have a sample of the same relationship status Q:Wouldn’t the frequency of sexual behaviors differ if someone was in a relationship?