Premarital Sex: Differentials and Predictors for Never-married Males and Females

SynopsisBased on data collected from never-married respondents aged 18–25 as part of a broader survey conducted in Melbourne in 1977, the aims of this study were to examine differentials and predictors of premarital sex. Separate analyses were conducted for males and females.Differentials (demographic, social, attitudinal) identified were not completely uniform for both sexes but were reasonably consistent with those reported in American and Australian studies. All of the 17 independent variables examined accounted for 35.8 and 44.6 per cent of the variance in premarital sex for males and females, respectively. However, only 6 of these variables accounted for the bulk of the variance explained. For both sexes the attitude toward premarital virginity emerged as the dominant predictor and situational factors were also of considerable importance for females. Knowledge of where to obtain an abortion was a salient predictor among males but other variables on aspects of contraceptive knowledge were relatively u...