Affective reactions of women to their initial experience of coitus

A Momentary Sampling Study of the Affective Experience Following Coital Events in Adolescents

“…Unlike previous studies [7][8][9][10][11], we did not find gender differences in affect following sexual intercourse. Our study may have been limited in its ability to detect gender differences owing to the relatively small number of male participants.…”

“…Affect following sexual intercourse is also a potentially modifiable risk factor in that STI preventive interventions can aim to reduce adolescents' exposure to coital experiences that may be associated with poorer affect. Female college students who felt most guilty after their first sexual intercourse were more likely to have had the experience at an earlier age, with a casual partner, and after drinking alcohol [43]; use of drugs and sex in public settings have also been associated with negative affect following first coitus in a similar population [7]. Additional research may identify similar sexual situations that may produce worse affect among youth with ongoing sexual activity.…”

“…Research on the affective experience of sexual intercourse is limited and has focused largely on first coitus [5,[7][8][9][10][11]. In addition, few studies have examined positive as well as negative affective consequences of sexual intercourse.…”

“…Other studies have examined only the first experience with sexual intercourse [5,[7][8][9][10][11] and thus have relied on recall of a distant event. The majority of studies have examined the affective experience of sexual intercourse for women, but not men [5,[7][8][9][10][11].…”

Symbolic interactionism and the study of sexuality

“…Questions typically include how the transition to first sexual intercourse differs as a function of social and background variables. Antecedents include an array of demographic, community, familial, and attitudinal influences, including gender (Laumann et al, 1994;Weis, 1983), biological influences (Carver & Udry, 1997;Udry, 1988), race (Weinberg & Williams, 1990), and social class (Gecas & Seff, 1990;Lauritsen, 1994;Weinberg & Williams, 1980). Consistent with their focus on socialization and self-concept, structural symbolic interactionists examine in great detail sources of sexual socialization and variations in the ways that information is conveyed.…”