1. Paradoxical attitudes toward premarital dating and sexual encounters in Tehran, Iran: a cross-sectional study.
- Author
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Motamedi, Mahnaz, Merghati-Khoei, Effat, Shahbazi, Mohammad, Rahimi-Naghani, Shahrzad, Salehi, Mehrdad, Karimi, Mehrdad, Hajebi, Ahmad, and Khalajabadi-Farahani, Farideh
- Subjects
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ANALYSIS of variance , *CLUSTER analysis (Statistics) , *CONCEPTUAL structures , *DATING (Social customs) , *HETEROSEXUALS , *INTERVIEWING , *INTIMACY (Psychology) , *MARRIAGE , *MULTIVARIATE analysis , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *REGRESSION analysis , *STATISTICAL sampling , *HUMAN sexuality , *SEX distribution , *SINGLE men , *SINGLE women , *STATISTICS , *SURVEYS , *T-test (Statistics) , *SOCIOECONOMIC factors , *CROSS-sectional method , *DATA analysis software , *ATTITUDES toward sex , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics - Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study is to assess attitudes toward premarital dating and sexual encounters in individuals aged 15-49 years in Tehran. Methods: Utilizing the attitudes section of an original cross-sectional study (n = 755) aimed at assessing sexual health needs of adults, this paper examined personal attitudes towards premarital dating, non-sexual relationships and sexual encounters in both male and female adults aged between 15-49 years. Multi-stage cluster random sampling and a validated/reliable questionnaire were used. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using statistical software. Results: The results indicated that the majority of the participants were supportive of dating. Almost three-fourths of the males were more positively inclined towards non-sexual, yet tactile, affectionate interactions between unmarried males and females as opposed to only half of the females (70 % vs. 50.5 %). Also, males held significantly more liberal attitudes than females in their acceptance of premarital sex. On preserving virginity prior to marriage, 43 % of the males felt that it was important for a female to be a virgin, whereas only 26 % felt it was important for males to remain a virgin. Interestingly, more females (61 %) supported the importance of a female's virginity compared with the importance of males' virginity (48 %). This study showed that, being a male, of a younger age, single, and being less religious or being secular were important determinants of a liberal sexual attitude. Conclusion: These results might reflect a socio-cultural transition in the sexual attitudes of different age groups of participants - a phenomenon that will need empirical studies to unpack in the Iranian socio-cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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