Behavioral and Relational Contexts of Adolescent Desire, Wanting, and Pleasure: Undergraduate Women's Retrospective Accounts

Abstract

Studies of adolescent female sexuality often focus on coitus to the exclusion of noncoital behaviors, the relational context of sexual interactions, and adolescent women's subjective perceptions of their experiences. In this study, 38 undergraduate women's retrospective accounts of their adolescent heterosexual experiences were examined. Generalized estimating equation models were used to test the relation of diverse heterosexual behaviors and relationship types to participants' subjective perceptions of desire, wanting, and pleasure. Of the sexual behaviors, coitus was the strongest predictor of participants' subjective perceptions. Compared to coitus, erotic touching, manual stimulation, and fellatio were significantly less predictive; there were no differences between coitus and cunnilingus or coitus and kissing. Of the relationships (serious, dating, “friends with benefits” [FWBs], and “hookups”), FWBs was the strongest predictor of participants' desire, wanting, and pleasure; in comparison, hookups were significantly less predictive. These findings offer insight into the sexual behaviors and preferences of young women, as well as distinctions between types of non-romantic sexual relationships.

This research was supported by the Les Brun Pilot Study Program through the Buffalo Center for Social Research, University at Buffalo, School of Social Work. A preliminary version of this article was presented at the Female Sexual Subjectivities Roundtable, October 2006, at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. We are grateful to Eugene Maguin for extensive support during analyses, Sapana Donde for assistance with data collection, Rebecca Eliseo-Arras for data preparation, and Alexandra Crampton for help with project planning.

Notes

Note. N = 303. FWB = friends with benefits.

Note. N = 1,022. FWB = friends with benefits.

Note. R ² = .38.

^a Coitus is the reference level.

^b Friends with benefits is the reference level.

∗p ≤ .01. ∗∗p ≤ .001.

Note. R ² = .36.

^a Coitus is the reference level.

^b Friends with benefits is the reference level.

∗p ≤ .05. ∗∗p ≤ .001.

Note. R ² = .37.

^a Coitus is the reference level.

^b Friends with benefits is the reference level.

∗p ≤ .01. ∗∗p ≤ .001.

Note. All interaction terms are compared to coitus in friends with benefits relationships.

∗p ≤ .05. ∗∗p ≤ .01. ∗∗∗p ≤ .001.