Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Among Taiwanese Youth

Abstract

Using the 2004 and 2007 Taiwan Youth Project Survey, we investigate the association between individual, peer, and family factors and premarital sexual attitudes among youth. Specifically, two outcomes were focused on: (1) the identification of patterns of premarital sexual permissiveness (PSP) and (2) an exploration of the permissive attitude toward coitus when there is strong affection. In this descriptive analysis, it was found that males are more permissive than females and best friends’ sexual behavior has a presumed influence on PSP for both sexes. In terms of family characteristics, a permissive attitude was greater among those with biological parents who had ever divorced and when there was reported weak parental control (guanor chiao shun). Our findings suggest that family factors have an important role in determining PSP in a typical East Asian society such as Taiwan. These results suggest that program strategies aimed at promoting sexual health among young people should be gender and family specific.