The Effect Of A Course In Human Sexuality On Participants Knowledge Attitude And Behavior

Author : Peter Jan Vennewitz
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 598 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (983 download)

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Download or read book A Study to Determine the Effects of a College Human Sexuality Course Upon Student Sex Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Selected Sexual Topics written by Peter Jan Vennewitz and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of a college human sexuality course upon sex knowledge, attitudes toward sexual behaviors of non-significant others, and attitudes toward the sexual behaviors of self and spouse. In addition, the study sought to investigate the relationship between knowledge gain and attitude change, and the relationship between attitude changes involving the sexual behaviors of non-significant others and attitude changes toward the sexual behavior of self and spouse. The primary source of data was a knowledge and attitude instrument developed by the author. The "Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale" by Reiss also was used. The participants in the research completed the instruments at the beginning and end of spring term 1972. The experimental group consisted of 167 students of all academic classes enrolled in the course "Human Sexuality." The control group was made up of 89 students who had signed up for the course but been denied admission because of limitations on enrollment. The basic data analyses were made with one-way analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and t-tests. Chi square, Pearson product-moment correlation, and a multivariate analysis technique involving an extension of Hotellings T2 also were used. In the data analyses experimental males, experimental females, and control males, and control females were considered separately. The following conclusions were drawn from the results of this study: 1. Males and females differed significantly on several demographic variables, many sexual experience variables, and all of the pretest attitude measures, but did not differ significantly on the pretest measure of knowledge. 2. Peripheral attitude change was related to one demographic and two sexual history variables for experimental females and two variables for experimental males. 3. Knowledge gain was related to one demographic and one sexual history variable for experimental females and was unrelated to any variables for experimental males. 4. Experimental males and females showed significantly greater knowledge gain than control males and females. 5. Experimental males and females became significantly more liberal on attitudes toward sexual behaviors of non-significant others than control males and females. 6. Significant liberalization in attitudes toward behaviors of non-significant others was observed in experimental males and females for some topics, e. g. homosexual relations, mutual masturbation, and oral-genital contacts, but not for others, e.g. premarital intercourse and cohabitation. 7. Experimental females more often than experimental males exhibited significant changes in attitudes toward a variety of sexual behaviors involving non significant others. 8. Experimental males and females did not change significantly more than control males and females from pretest to posttest on the "Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale." 9. Significant pretest differences between experimental males and females and between control males and females on the "Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale" remained upon posttesting. 10. As measured by the summary scores the experimental males and females did not change significantly more than control males and females from pretest to posttest on attitudes toward sexual behaviors of self and spouse. 11. On specific areas of sexual behavior involving the self or spouse, e. g. nudity and mutual masturbation, the experimental males and females became significantly more liberal than the control males and females. 12. Experimental females exhibited more significant changes in attitudes toward sexual behaviors of self and spouse than did experimental males. 13. There was no correlation between knowledge change and any measure of attitude change. 14. The correlation between change on central attitudes involving the self and spouse and peripheral attitudes involving non significant others was positive and significantly different from zero correlation, but not large enough to predict change in one type of attitude from observations of change in the other type.