Social Class Background, Sexual Attitudes, and Sexual Behavior in a Heterosexual Undergraduate Sample

To further the understanding of the relationship between social class and sexual attitudes and behavior, we present data from a study of undergraduate students. We look at the education of students' fathers and how it relates to students' sexual profiles. Among the men, some traditional social class differences are found, indicating that class differences persist among some upwardly mobile men. For the women, fewer social class differences appear. Further, we compare our 1992 sample of 554 college students, 19-22 years old, with a university sample of 904 similar age students from 1967, and find our sample more coitally experienced. College students today are following norms that in the past were associated with a lower educational level. Implications of our findings for class convergence theory are addressed. Reliable birth control, gains in equality by women, and the sexual images of television and other media are discussed as major factors contributing to the increased sexual permissiveness among university students of the 1990s.