Gender, sociosexual orientation, and personality traits as predictors of attitudes towards sex

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine relations among gender, personality traits, and a behavioral component of sociosexual orientation on the one hand, and four dimensions of attitudes towards sex on the other hand. Participants (N = 266) from the general population of Serbia completed Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI), the brief Sexual Attitudes Scale (BSAS) and Big Five Plus Two, shorten version (BF+2). Results pointed to a very modest contribution of gender to the prediction of sexual attitudes. Small effects of openness on instrumentality, extraversion on communion, and neuroticism on permissiveness were noted, and sociosexual orientation predicted all these three dimensions of attitudes towards sex. Results also indicated a significant effect of interaction between neuroticism and gender, as well as a positive valence and gender on instrumental attitude towards sex. The relationship in both cases was positive for males and negative for females.