Age, religious beliefs, and sexual attitudes.

Age effects on sexual attitudes were examined using the Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a) Sexual Attitude Scale. The study was cross-sectional, including people from various age groups, from young adults to older adults. The religious beliefs variable, which covaries substantially both with age and sexual attitudes, was controlled. Three main questions guided the study: (a) Is the four-factor structure (Permissiveness, Instrumentality, Communion, and Sexual Practices)previously identified in a sample of young students able to accurately account for data gathered over a full range of adult ages, (b) are older adults much less permissive and less instrumentalist than young people, and (c) to what extent are believers less permissive and instrumentalist than young people when age is taken into account? Factor analyses showed that at least five correlated factors were needed to account for the data; the fourth factor, Sexual Practices, divided itself into two distinct factors: Pleasure and Responsibility. Older adults and believers were shown to be less permissive than young people and nonbelievers, and this result held regardless of the participants' educational level. As regards to instrumentality, however, the pattern of differences was extremely complex.

Sexual attitudes have been extensively studied among adolescents and adults (Oliver & Hyde, 1993). Studies have been conducted on attitudes toward sexual practices (Bryan, Aiken, & West, 1999), sexual permissiveness (Oliver & Sedikides, 1992), and sexual desire (Regan, 1998), to quote only a few (see Bullough & Bullough, 1995, for a historical account of sexual attitudes).

One of the most complete instruments for studying sexual attitudes is the `Sexual Attitudes Scale developed by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a). This scale contains 43 items divided into four subscales entitled Permissiveness, Sexual Practices, Instrumentality, and Communion. Using this instrument, Hendrick and Hendrick have shown that people in general were not very permissive. Typical permissiveness items are "I would like to have sex with many partners" and "Casual sex is acceptable." In their 1987 study, the mean response observed to such items on a sample of several hundred students was about 2.25 on a 5-point disagree-agree scale; that is, the mean response is closer to the disagree pole of the scale than to the agree pole. In a later study (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1995), the overall mean was only about 2.00, which corresponds to "moderately disagree." The authors also showed that women tend to be even less permissive than men. The difference observed between women and men was approximately one point (see also Oliver & Hyde, 1993).

Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a) have also shown that people in general were moderately instrumentalist. Typical instrumentalist items are "Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating" and "Sex is primarily physical." In Hendrick and Hendrick's (1987a) study, the mean response observed to such items was about 2.60, which is closer to the disagree pole than to the agree pole, although higher than what was observed for permissiveness, for which the overall mean was about 2.50 in a study by Hendrick and Hendrick (1995). In both studies, women tended to be less instrumentalist than men. The difference between women and men was, however, very slight.

As regards the sexual practices and communion, people were much more in agreement with the items proposed. Typical sexual practices items were "A man should share responsibility for birth control" and "Sex education is important for young people." Typical communion items were "A sexual encounter between two people deeply in love is the ultimate human interaction" and "At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls." In both cases, mean responses were close to 4.0 which correspond to moderately agree, with practically no differences between women and men.

Sexual Attitudes and Age

Although gender differences in sexual attitudes have been extensively studied (Oliver & Hyde, 1993), little is known with regard to age differences (Hodson & Skeen, 1994). Portovna, Young, and Newman (1984) presented 60- to 90-year-old women with scenarios depicting a sexually active older couple. The variables manipulated in the scenarios were gender and the civil status of the protagonists (single, widowed, married), the social proximity to the participant, and the residence of the couple (private residence or nursing home). Most participants, regardless of the kind of scenario considered, were favorable toward the concept of sexual activity in older people; in other words, sexual activity was judged as positive even among women, nonmarried couples, and couples living in a nursing home.

More recently, Walker and Ephross (1999) conducted a study on 68 older adults living in long-term care facilities or attending a senior center. The authors showed that older adults were usually tolerant toward sexual activities. As an example, 80% of their participants agreed with an item stating that "Masturbation is an acceptable sexual activity for older women." The same result was found in an early study by Mclntosh (1981). Other studies have also shown that older adults are more liberal in their attitudes toward sexuality than what is usually assumed by younger people (Bergstrom-Walan & Nielsen, 1990; Steinke, 1994).

Sexual Attitudes and Religious Beliefs

Possibly due to the strong a priori relevance of religious beliefs in the prediction of sexual attitudes, many studies have been devoted to examining the link between religious beliefs and sexual behavior. However, some results regarding the effect of religious affiliation on sexual behavior seem to be contradictory. For instance, Bayer (1977) found that Jewish students have more sexual experience than Christian students. Lottes and Kuriloff (1994) found no difference between Jews and Christians. And finally, Pluhar, Frongillo, Stycos, and Dempster-McClain (1998) found that Jewish students have less sexual experience than Christian students.

Mahoney (1980) and Young (1982) found a negative relationship between sexual experience and strength of religious commitment. DeLamater and McCorquodale (1979) found a negative relationship between church attendance and the use of contraceptives among college women (see also Young, 1982). Studer and Thornton (1987) showed that adolescents' identification with a religious group provided role models that discouraged sexual activity but did not offer help with contraception for adolescents who became sexually active.

Lottes, Weinberg, and Weller (1993) showed that more religious students tended to endorse the views that sexually explicit materials are harmful, do not have positive effects, and should be restricted. Pluhar et al. (1998) showed that religious affiliation, permissiveness, and perception of the influence of religion in daily life were related to the probability of intercourse and the use of contraceptives among college students. Finally, Zaleski and Schiaffino (2000) showed that greater intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity were associated with less sexual activity and condom use among young college students.

Hendrick and Hendrick (1987b) explored the relationship between religious beliefs and sexual attitudes in two samples of students using their Sexual Attitude Scale. Religious belief was assessed through a question asking the participants how religious they were (very religious to very antireligious). Very religious participants scored lower on Permissiveness, Instrumentality, and Sexual Practices. That very religious students had less liberal attitudes was also found by Pluhar et al. (1998) and Miller and Olson (1988). Sheeran, Abrams, Abraham, and Spears (1993) found the same results in adolescents aged 15 to 20. Pluhar et al. (1998) also showed that most of the effect of religious involvement on sexual behavior was mediated by sexual attitudes (see also Jensen, Newell, & Holman, 1990). Little is known, however, regarding the associated effect of age and religious belief on sexual attitudes.

The Present Study

Considering the scarcity of data regarding age effects on sexual attitudes, we decided to conduct a comparative study including people from various age groups, from young adults to older adults. The religious beliefs variable, shown to co-vary substantially both with age and sexual attitudes, was controlled. The Hendrick and Hendrick Sexual Attitude Scale was used because it seemed to be the most comprehensive tool available. It showed good reliability: Test-retest correlations were in the .66 to .88 range. It also showed good criterion validity. Moderate to high correlations were observed with previous measures: (a) the Sexual Opinion Survey, (b) the Male and Female Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale, and (c) some of the items of the Revised Masher Guilt Inventory (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1987a). To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first one examining, simultaneously and in a detailed manner, the sexual attitudes of young adults, mature adults, and older adults.

Three main research questions guided our study: (a) Is the four-factor structure identified by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a) in a sample of young students able to accurately account for data gathered over a full range of adult ages, (b) are older adults truly much less permissive and less instrumentalist than young people, and (c) to what extent are believers truly less permissive and instrumentalist than young people when age is taken into account? Two additional questions were also examined: (d) Are there any strong intercultural differences in sexual attitudes, and (e) are sexual attitudes predictive of general well-being among people?

METHOD

Participants

The sample was composed of 800 French adults aged 18 to 87 (M = 46.8; SD = 19.10; 375 men and 425 women). They were distributed among four groups: 200 young adults (M = 22.2; SD = 2.83; 102 men and 98 women), 200 adults (M = 37.24; SD = 5.56; 98 men and 102 women), 200 middle-aged adults (M = 56.27; SD = 4.54; 94 men and 106 women), and 200 older adults (M = 70.84; SD = 5.67; 83 men and 117 women).

Twenty-two percent of the participants were single (132, 31, 10, and 6, respectively). Ten percent of the participants lived with their partners (46, 50, 12, and 5). Thirty-four percent of the participants were married (14, 80, 92, and 89). Fourteen percent of the participants were divorced (6, 38, 68, and 43), and finally, 10% of the participants were widowed (1, 0, 17, and 60).

Sixty-four percent of the participants declared themselves currently in love (65%, 69%, 64%, and 60%, respectively). The number of times the participants declared to have been in love was 1 (301 participants), followed by 2 (193 participants), more than 3 (168 participants), and exactly 3 (136 participants). Two participants declared to never have been in love. Mean scores on a 5-point (very negative to very positive) scale were 3.77, 3.76, 3.84, and 3.68. There was no significant difference between the four age groups regarding the way they perceived themselves in terms of current positive or negative feelings (i.e., depressed). Thirty-five percent of the participants considered themselves as being alone.

Nineteen percent of the participants had completed primary school. Eighteen percent of the participants had completed secondary technical school. Thirty-three percent of the participants had completed secondary school. Sixteen percent of the participants had a high school degree. Fourteen percent of the participants had a university degree. Fifty-one percent of the participants declared themselves as believers (88, 83, 111, and 126, respectively). Only 100 declared that they attended church on a regular basis. Twenty-five percent had not received any religious education.

The participants were all nonpaid volunteers aged 18 or more. They were contacted in the streets of several large towns in the west of France (the area of Tours). These streets were always located near the center of the town. The people approached were told that our research team was conducting a survey on sexual attitudes, and they were given, some examples of the questions or shown the first page of the questionnaire. The acceptance rate was very high: 64% of the people contacted accepted to participate in the study.

Material

The material was composed of the French version (see Table 1) of the Sexual Attitude Scale devised by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a). In designing this version, the authors followed the guidelines proposed in the literature on cross-cultural methodology (Brislin, 1986): independent/blind/back translation, educated translation, and small-scale pretests. An English-French translation was executed by a bilingual translator (French-English) and then sent to another translator for back translation. The French version was submitted as a pretest to a small sample of volunteers.

The material was also composed of the French adaptation of the Life Satisfaction Scale developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin (1985) and by Blais, Vallerand, Pelletier, and Briere (1989).

Procedure

The purpose of the study was individually explained to the participants. Following this explanation, the participants individually answered the questionnaires at home or in a quiet room at the university, most often in the absence of the experimenter. The total time required to complete the two questionnaires was about 30 minutes. All of the data were gathered in 1998.

RESULTS

First Confirmatory Factor Analyses

A first Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted on the whole sample using the model proposed by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a). This was composed of four correlated factors: Permissiveness (21 items), Sexual Practices (7 items), Communion (9 items), and Instrumentality (6 items). The overall goodness of fit for this model was not very high. The value of the GFI index was .71; the adjusted value was .68, and the [Chi.sup.2] value was 6098 (df = 983). All path coefficients were significant except the path coefficient for item number 38 ("Sex is best when you let yourself go and focus on your own pleasure,". 18).

Three additional Confirmatory Factor Analyses were then conducted on each of the subsamples: young adults (less than 30 years old), adults (30-64 years old), and older adults (more than 64 years old), using the same correlated 4-factor model. The overall goodness of fit indices were substantially lower. The values of the GFI indices were .65, .65, and .62 respectively.

Subsequent Exploratory Factor Analyses

Considering the poor fit of the correlated 4-factor model, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the whole sample. Based on the scree test, a 6-factor orthogonal solution was chosen. Principal-components analyses were followed by VARIMAX rotation. All factors had eigen values greater than one and loaded more than one item.

The first factor was Permissiveness. It accounted for 9% of the total variance. It was loaded by items such as "It is OK to have ongoing sexual relationships with more than one person at a time" (.67), "Life would have fewer problems if people could have sex more freely" (.65), "Casual sex is acceptable" (.59), "I would like to have sex with many partners" (.59), "It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as long as no future promises are made" (.51), and "Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable" (.50). These items were also categorized as Permissiveness items in Hendrick and Hendrick's (1987a) study, except the last item, which was categorized as a Sexual Practices item.

The second factor was Responsibility. It accounted for 7% of the total variance. It was loaded by items such as "A man should share responsibility for birth control" (.73), "Birth control is part of responsible sexuality" (.71), "Sex education is important for young people" (.56), and "The best sex is with no strings attached" (-.55). The first three items were categorized as Sexual Practices items in Hendrick and Hendrick's (1987a) study. The fourth item, however, was categorized as a Permissiveness item.

The third factor was Pleasure. It accounted for 7% of the total variance. It was loaded by items such as "Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses" (.75), "Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses" (.72), "Life without sex would be very dull "(.60), and "During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the partner is the best frame of mind" (.49). All of these items were categorized as Communion items in Hendrick and Hendrick's (1987a) study.

The fourth factor was Instrumentality. It accounted for 7% of the total variance. It was loaded by items such as "Sex is primarily physical" (.59), "Sex is best when people approach it as a good physical release" (.59), "Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating" (.54), and "Sex is more fun with someone you don't love" (.52). The first and third of these items were categorized as Instrumentality items in Hendrick and Hendrick's (1987a) study. The second and fourth of these items, however, were categorized as Permissiveness items.

The fifth factor was Communion. It accounted for 5% of the total variance. It was loaded by items such as "A sexual encounter between two people deeply in love is the ultimate human interaction" (.60), "Sex is the closest form of communication between two people" (.54), "People should at least be friends before they have sex together" (.51), and "At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls" (.48). All items were categorized as Communion items in Hendrick and Hendrick's (1987a) study except the third one, which was categorized as a Permissiveness item.

Finally, the sixth factor was Depersonalization. It accounted for 5% of the total variance. It was moderately loaded by items such as "Unlimited premarital sex experiences is fine" (.49), "Prostitution should be accepted by society" (.49), and "I do not need to be committed to a person to have sex with him/her" (.48). All of these items were categorized as Permissiveness items in Hendrick and Hendrick's (1987a) study.

A correlated 6-factor solution was also studied. Correlations between all six factors were moderate in size (< .40) except between Depersonalization and Permissiveness (.56), which was expected. Two higher order factors were extracted. The first was called Sex centered on the self. It was strongly related to Permissiveness (.74), Instrumentality (.54), and Depersonalization (.70). The second factor was called Sex centered on the relationship. It was strongly related to Responsibility (.61) and Pleasure (.71), and moderately related to Communion (.49). It was negatively related to Instrumentality (-.34).

Further Confirmatory Factor Analyses

In view of the results of the Exploratory Factor Analysis, a correlated 5-factor model was designed and tested, using a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The model is presented in Table 1, which also displays parameter estimates obtained in the Confirmatory Factor Analyses, t values, and alpha coefficient for each subscale. The five factors retained were Permissiveness, Responsibility, Pleasure, Instrumentality, and Communion. The Depersonalization factor was not included in the model for two reasons: The loadings on this factor were judged too low, and this factor strongly correlated with the Permissiveness factor. The items retained were the ones listed in the previous point. All of these items significantly loaded one of the five factors. The fit of the model was reasonably good. The value of the GFI was .89 (AGFI = .87; [Chi.sup.2] = 1094, df = 199, MSR = .08). The highest correlation was between the Responsibility factor and the Pleasure factor (-.41).

Age, Gender, and Religious Beliefs Effects For each factor, a mean score was computed by simply averaging the scores for the corresponding four or six items. A series of five ANCOVAs were conducted with an Age x Gender x Believer, 4 x 2 x 2 design. The covariate was the educational level.

Figure 1 shows the results for the Permissiveness factor. The four age levels are on the horizontal axis. The two curves correspond to the two levels of religious beliefs. The two panels correspond to the gender factor. The permissiveness scores are on the vertical axis. The overall mean score was 2.84, closer to the left pole of the response scale (disagree) than to the right pole (agree). Overall, the permissiveness scores were not very high.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

The effect of age was significant, F(3, 783) = 23, p < .0001, with younger participants (3.08) more permissive than older ones (2.59). The effect of belief was significant, F(1,783) = 48, p < .0001, with believers (2.65) less permissive than nonbelievers (3.03). The effect of gender was also significant, F(1, 783) = 71, p < .0001, with women (2.61) less permissive than men (3.07). The Age x Believer interaction was significant, F(3,783) = 5.51, p < .0010. The difference in permissiveness between older and younger participants was stronger among believers (2.98-2.32 = 0.66) than among nonbelievers (3.20-2.86 = 0.34), Finally, the Gender x Believer interaction was significant, F(1,783) = 4.80, p < .03. The difference in permissiveness between believers and nonbelievers was stronger among men (3.32-2.74 = 0.58) than among women (2.82-2.48 = 0.34).

Figure 2 shows the results for the Instrumentality factor. It was composed in the same way as Figure 1. The overall mean score was 2.82, slightly closer to the left pole of the response scale (disagree) than to the right pole (agree). Overall, the instrumentality scores were average. The set of results was very complex. In general, younger participants (2.92) had higher instrumentality scores than older ones (2.73), F(3, 783) = 4.64, p < .004. The Age x Gender x Belief interaction was significant, F(3, 783) = 4.82, p < .003. Among men, believers had, overall, lower instrumentality scores than nonbelievers, and the main difference was observed among the more-than-64-year-olds. Among women, believers had, overall, higher instrumentality scores than nonbelievers, and the main difference was observed among the 50- to 64-year-olds and the more-than-64-year-olds.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Figure 3 (top panel) shows the results for the Responsibility factor. The four age levels are on the horizontal axis. The two curves correspond to the two genders. The responsibility scores are on the vertical axis. The overall mean score was 4.09, closer to the right pole of the response scale (agree) than to the left pole (disagree). Overall, the responsibility scores were high. The Age x Gender interaction was significant, F(3, 783) = 3.24, p < .03. Among older participants, the responsibility score (4.03) was not affected by gender. Among younger participants, women (4.34) were slightly more "responsible" than men (3.99). The effect of belief was not significant.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Figure 3 (center panel) shows the results for the Pleasure factor. It is composed in the same way as the top panel. The overall mean score was 3.89, closer to the right pole of the response scale (agree) than to the left pole (disagree). Overall, the pleasure scores were high. The gender effect was significant, F(1, 783) = 4.54, p < .04, with women's scores (3.77) lower than men's scores (3.90). The age effect was significant, F(3,783) = 3.84, p < .002, with the younger participants' scores (3.93) higher than older participants' scores (3.74). The Age x Gender interaction was significant and concentrated in its bilinear component, F(1,783) = 5.77, p < .02. Among older participants, women's scores were lower than men's scores. Among younger participants (< 30), women's scores were higher than men's scores. The belief effect (not shown) was also significant, F(1, 783) = 6.49, p < .02., with believers' scores lower (3.75) than nonbelievers' scores (3.91).

Figure 3 (bottom panel) shows the results for the Communion factor. The overall mean score was 3.62, closer to the right pole of the response scale (agree) than to the left pole (disagree). Overall, the communion scores were high. The age effect was significant, F(3, 783) = 27, p < .001. The Age x Gender interaction was also significant, F(3,783) = 3.25, p < .03. Among younger participants, the communion scores (3.36) were not affected much by gender. Among older participants, men's scores (3.99) were slightly higher than women's scores (3.76). The belief effect was not significant.

Other Effects

A series of five ANCOVAs were conducted with an Age x Gender x Currently in Love, 4 x 2 x'2 design, one for each factor. The covariate was the educational level. The effect of the Currently in Love factor on Permissiveness and on Communion was significant, F(1,777) = 13.76, p < .0002, and F(1,777) = 5.98, p < .02. Participants who declared themselves as currently in love were less permissive (2.76) and more interested in communion (3.66) than participants who did not declare themselves as currently in love (2.97 and 3.53).

A series of five ANCOVAs were also conducted with an Age x Gender x Feel Alone/Not Alone, 4 x 2 x 2 design, one for each factor. The covariate was the educational level. The effect of the Feel Alone/Not Alone factor on Permissiveness and on Instrumentality was significant, F(1,779) = 15.05, p < .0001, and F(1,779) = 24.18, p < .0001. Participants who characterized themselves as feeling alone were less permissive (2.76) and less instrumentalist (2.72) than participants who did not declare themselves as not feeling alone (2.98 and 3.05). The number of times participants declared themselves as having been in love had, however, no significant effect.

Comparison with Previous U.S. Data

Table 2 shows the results of a comparison between the present data and the data reported by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a). The second and fourth columns show the means for the overall sample and the means for the young adult subsample, the one with which the comparison with U.S. data can be directly made. Regardless of the origin of the U.S. subsample (Texas or. Miami) with which French results were compared, the French appear as more permissive, less responsible, more instrumentalist, and less interested in communion than the U.S. participants.

Sexual Attitudes and Subjective Well Being

Table 3 shows the results of a stepwise regression analysis with the well-being scores as the criterion and a whole set of other variables as predictors (gender, age, believer/nonbeliever, currently in love or not, educational level, loneliness, and the scores on the five factors). About 10% of the criterion variance was predicted.

The most important variable was loneliness. The more the participants felt alone, the lower were their well-being scores. Between well-being and Permissiveness, the relationship was negative. The more permissive the participants, the lower their well-being scores. Between wellbeing and Communion, the relationship was positive. The more interested in communion the participants were, the higher their well-being scores were. Finally, gender and educational level also appeared as moderately linked with well-being. Age per se was not linked to well-being.

DISCUSSION

The present study was mainly aimed at examining the effects of age and religious beliefs on sexual attitudes. Our first research question was: Is the correlated 4-factor structure previously identified in samples of young students able to account accurately for the data gathered over a full range of adult ages? Factor analyses showed that at least five correlated factors were needed to account for the data. Three of the four factors already identified by Hendrick and Hendrick were found: Permissiveness, Instrumentality and Communion. The fourth factor, Sexual Practices, was broken into two distinct factors: Pleasure and Responsibility. When subjected to confirmatory factor analysis, this correlated 5-factor model showed a reasonable fit to the data. In addition, two second-order factors were identified: Sex centered on self and Sex centered on the relationship. This two-dimensional underlying structure is consistent with what has been asserted from the results of several studies aimed at examining the differences in sexual attitudes linked to gender. According to Baumeister (2000), the sex centered on self attitude would be more typical of males and the sex centered on the relationship attitude would be more typical of females.

Our second research question was: Are older adults truly much less permissive and less instrumentalist than young people? With regard to permissiveness, the answer is definitely positive. Although the overall expressed level of permissiveness was not very high, the difference observed between older and younger participants was not negligible (approximately one-half point on a 5-point scale, precisely equivalent to the difference observed between genders). This difference held, regardless of the educational level. It remains, however, to be explained why older adult men (.> 64), believers as well as nonbelievers, were slightly more permissive than 50- to 64-year-old men. Do they experience difficulties satisfying their sexual needs with their aging partner, and therefore tend to occasionally turn to extramarital relationships?

Regarding instrumentality, the results are more complex. Overall, younger participants (< 40) appeared more instrumentalist than older participants, but this difference was restricted to men.

Our third research question was: To what extent are believers truly less permissive and instrumentalist than nonbelievers when age is taken into account? As regards permissiveness, the difference is notable. The difference observed between believers and nonbelievers was not negligible, as compared with the difference observed for gender and age (approximately one-third point). This difference was not affected by the educational level. This result is consistent with findings by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987b), Miller and Olson (1988), and Pluhar et al. (1998). In addition, religious beliefs interacted with age and gender. The religious beliefs effect on permissiveness was stronger among older than among younger participants and stronger among men than among women.

As regards instrumentality, the results are even more complex than in the case of permissiveness. Overall, nonbelievers did not appear to be more instrumentalist than believers. Nevertheless, the religious beliefs factor strongly interacted with age and gender. The main differences linked to religious beliefs appeared among older males (> 60) and among older females (> 50). Older male believers appeared less instrumentalist than older male nonbelievers. By contrast, older female believers appeared much more instrumentalist than older female nonbelievers. One way to explain this apparently contradictory pattern of results would be by stressing the fact that older people (more-than-64-year-old men and more-than-50-year-old women) tend to live their faith in a deeper way than young people do. In men, religious principles can possibly be traditionally interpreted as commanding to not instrumentalize sex. In women, these same religious principles can possibly be interpreted as commanding to not derive pleasure from sex. As a result, sex could be viewed more as a way to please (and to keep) the partner; in other words, sex would tend to more frequently become an instrumental matter.

Aside from these three guiding questions, several other interesting results have been found. First, young women scored higher on the Responsibility factor than older women and men did. This seems logical because they are the most concerned about undesired pregnancy. Second, older women scored lower on the Pleasure factor than younger women and men did (see above). This can be related to the fact that older women have experienced menopause. Finally, older men scored higher on the Communion factor than younger men and than women (see above). This can be related to the results of many studies showing the decline in frequency of sexual activity with age (e. g., Brubaker & Roberto, 1993), and the increase in the ability to "consistently act in a loving fashion and to speak and listen intimately" as the body loses some of its sexual capacities (Levine, 1998, p. 89).

Two additional questions were also examined. The first was: Are there strong intercultural differences between the U.S. and France in sexual attitudes? The answer is positive. French participants appeared more permissive, more instrumentalist and less interested in communion than did U.S. participants. However, with regard to pleasure, differences were minimal. These results are consistent with the view that "compared to the accepted sexual mores of most other countries, the sexual standards in the United States are ... repressive" (Hodson & Skeen, 1994, p. 220; see also Perlman, Josephson, Hwang, Begum, & Thomas, 1978). These results are also consistent with findings by Weinberg, Lottes, and Shaver (1995) indicating that Swedish students reported more accepting sexual attitudes compared to U.S. students.

The second question was: Are sexual attitudes in any way predictive of general well-being? The answer is also positive. Communion and Permissiveness explained significant parts of the variance of the well-being scores. The less permissive and the more interested in communion the participant, the higher were his or her well-being scores. These results are consistent with findings by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a).

Limitations of the present study

The main limitation of the current study resides in the fact that, as already emphasized by Oliver and Hyde (1993), "what we gathered was evidence of differences ... in reported sexual attitudes ... It is possible, therefore, that there are no actual ... differences in sexual attitudes ..." (p. 45). In the same vein, it must also be stressed that what we have measured in the present study are reported sexual attitudes, not reported or actual sexual behaviors. In other words, attitudes--that is, how people talk about sex--may vary over the course of a life in a way that can be different from how sexual behaviors themselves, reported or acted, may vary.

A second, important limitation of the study resides in the cross-sectional nature of the sample. As a result, the age effect is confounded with many other effects, notably cohort experience, generational differences and sociohistorical events (Hodson & Skeen, 1994). Although it was shown that the age differences observed in the present study were largely independent of the participants' educational level, they cannot be interpreted as merely reflecting the effect of aging on sexual attitudes. These differences, however, remain interesting findings in that they can help explain possible current conflicts between the young and old with regard to permissiveness or instrumentality. They also can be used in the training of professionals having to work with older people (doctors, nurses, and social workers) (see Fitzpatrick, 2000; Leiblum, Rosen, Platt, Cross, & Black, 1993). As recently stated by Willert & Semans (2000), "Sexual activity in the later life is incompatible with the ideology of some older people, their children, and their physicians." As a result, those who share these misconceptions "risk the mistreatment of elderly individuals and may unintentionally minimize or devalue their sexual needs" (p. 418).

A third limitation of the study resides in the sample studied. Participants were volunteers, and although special efforts were made to contact people from different geographic areas and from different educational levels, we are unsure about the representativeness of our sample. As a result, the value of the present study is not in precisely estimating permissiveness or instrumentality in the general French population but in adding evidence on the way age, gender, religious belief, and sexual attitudes are related to each other.

Another limitation resides in the way the 5-factor model has been tested. The initial 4-factor model being clearly unable to accurately fit the data, another, more-complex model was proposed. Theoretically, this model, issued from the current data, should have been tested on a new sample of participants. This- was not the case in this study, for obvious reasons. As a result, the relatively good fit of the proposed correlated 5-factor model only indicates that this model could present promising value.

A final limitation of the current study regards the cross-national comparisons made. The U.S. data were gathered by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a, 1987b) in 1983 and 1984. The current data were gathered 13 years later. As a result, country and time of observation were confounded variables. Although the observed differences are strong and go in the expected direction (Hodson & Skeen, 1994), they must be interpreted cautiously (see Rubinson & de Rubertis, 1991). They need to be replicated.

Implications for Future Research

Future research in this area should first focus on examining the completeness of the 5-factor model proposed in the study, and the extent to which this model has cross-cultural relevance. In particular, it would be interesting to answer the following questions: Is the Depersonalization factor encountered in the exploratory analysis truly independent from the Permissiveness factor? Is this model applicable to populations living in Africa (Soyinka, 1980) or Eastern Asia (Kaufman, Poston, Dudley, Hirschl, & Stycos, 1996)? And finally, it would be interesting to explore further the relationships between personal, social, and cultural characteristics (age, gender, religious affiliation, religious involvement, community), sexual attitudes (permissiveness, responsibility, communion, pleasure, instrumentality), and sexual behaviors (choice of partner, frequency of intercourse, use of protective devices, contraception).

Table 1. Results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis

                                                                Factors

Items                                                              I

It is OK to have ongoing sexual relationships
   with more than one person at a time                            .69
I would like to have sex with many partners                       .60
Casual sex is acceptable                                          .54
Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable                    .49
It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as
   long as no future promises are made                            .47
Life would have fewer problems if people could
   have sex more freely                                           .44
Birth control is part of responsible sexuality
A man should share responsibility for birth control
The best sex is with no strings attached
Sex education is important for young people
Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses
During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the
   partner is the best frame of mind
Life without sex would be very dull
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release
Sex is primarily physical
A sexual encounter between two people deeply in
   love is the ultimate human interaction
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people
People should at least be friends before they have sex
   together
At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls
Alpha coefficients                                                .71
     I-Permissiveness                                            1.00
     II-Responsibility (sexual practices)
     III-Pleasure
     IV-Instrumentality
     V-Communion

                                                                Factors

Items                                                             II

     I-Permissiveness
   with more than one person at a time
I would like to have sex with many partners
Casual sex is acceptable
Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable
It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as
   long as no future promises are made
Life would have fewer problems if people could
   have sex more freely
Birth control is part of responsible sexuality                    .70
A man should share responsibility for birth control               .69
The best sex is with no strings attached                         -.55
Sex education is important for young people                       .52
Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses
During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the
   partner is the best frame of mind
Life without sex would be very dull
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release
Sex is primarily physical
A sexual encounter between two people deeply in
   love is the ultimate human interaction
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people
People should at least be friends before they have sex
   together
At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls
Alpha coefficients                                                .73
     I-Permissiveness                                            -.09
     II-Responsibility (sexual practices)                        1.00
     III-Pleasure
     IV-Instrumentality
     V-Communion

                                                                Factors

Items                                                             III

It is OK to have ongoing sexual relationships
   with more than one person at a time
I would like to have sex with many partners
Casual sex is acceptable
Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable
It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as
   long as no future promises are made
Life would have fewer problems if people could
   have sex more freely
Birth control is part of responsible sexuality
A man should share responsibility for birth control
The best sex is with no strings attached
Sex education is important for young people
Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses        .81
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses       .73
During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the
   partner is the best frame of mind                             .47
Life without sex would be very dull                              .42
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release
Sex is primarily physical
A sexual encounter between two people deeply in
   love is the ultimate human interaction
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people
People should at least be friends before they have sex
   together
At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls
Alpha coefficients                                               .70
     I-Permissiveness                                           -.03
     II-Responsibility (sexual practices)                        .28
     III-Pleasure                                               1.00
     IV-Instrumentality
     V-Communion

                                                                Factors

Items                                                             IV

It is OK to have ongoing sexual relationships
   with more than one person at a time
I would like to have sex with many partners
Casual sex is acceptable
Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable
It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as
   long as no future promises are made
Life would have fewer problems if people could
   have sex more freely
Birth control is part of responsible sexuality
A man should share responsibility for birth control
The best sex is with no strings attached
Sex education is important for young people
Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses
During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the
   partner is the best frame of mind
Life without sex would be very dull
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love                      .62
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating                  .54
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release                                         .49
Sex is primarily physical                                        .48
A sexual encounter between two people deeply in
   love is the ultimate human interaction
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people
People should at least be friends before they have sex
   together
At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls
Alpha coefficients                                               .62
     I-Permissiveness                                            .40
     II-Responsibility (sexual practices)                       -.41
     III-Pleasure                                               -.15
     IV-Instrumentality                                         1.00
     V-Communion

                                                                Factors

Items                                                             V

It is OK to have ongoing sexual relationships
   with more than one person at a time
I would like to have sex with many partners
Casual sex is acceptable
Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable
It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as
   long as no future promises are made
Life would have fewer problems if people could
   have sex more freely
Birth control is part of responsible sexuality
A man should share responsibility for birth control
The best sex is with no strings attached
Sex education is important for young people
Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses
During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the
   partner is the best frame of mind
Life without sex would be very dull
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release
Sex is primarily physical
A sexual encounter between two people deeply in
   love is the ultimate human interaction                        .57
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people                                            .52
People should at least be friends before they have sex
   together                                                      .38
At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls            .34
Alpha coefficients                                               .60
     I-Permissiveness                                           -.22
     II-Responsibility (sexual practices)                       -.05
     III-Pleasure                                                .32
     IV-Instrumentality                                          .03
     V-Communion                                                1.00

                                                                Factors

Items                                                             t

It is OK to have ongoing sexual relationships
   with more than one person at a time                           24.88
I would like to have sex with many partners                      20.10
Casual sex is acceptable                                         16.82
Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable                   14.61
It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as
   long as no future promises are made                           13.83
Life would have fewer problems if people could
   have sex more freely                                          12.73
Birth control is part of responsible sexuality                   24.76
A man should share responsibility for birth control              24.10
The best sex is with no strings attached                        -17.28
Sex education is important for young people                      15.95
Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses        31.15
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses       27.15
During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the
   partner is the best frame of mind                             14.23
Life without sex would be very dull                              12.15
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love                      17.72
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating                  15.11
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release                                         13.13
Sex is primarily physical                                        12.91
A sexual encounter between two people deeply in
   love is the ultimate human interaction                        12.68
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people                                            11.72
People should at least be friends before they have sex
   together                                                       8.60
At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls             7.56
Alpha coefficients
     I-Permissiveness
     II-Responsibility (sexual practices)
     III-Pleasure
     IV-Instrumentality
     V-Communion

                                                                Factors

Items                                                              p

It is OK to have ongoing sexual relationships
   with more than one person at a time                           .0001
I would like to have sex with many partners                      .0001
Casual sex is acceptable                                         .0001
Using sex toys during lovemaking is acceptable                   .0001
It is OK to manipulate someone into having sex as
   long as no future promises are made                           .0001
Life would have fewer problems if people could
   have sex more freely                                          .0001
Birth control is part of responsible sexuality                   .0001
A man should share responsibility for birth control              .0001
The best sex is with no strings attached                         .0001
Sex education is important for young people                      .0001
Sexual techniques get better as a relationship progresses        .0001
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a relationship progresses       .0001
During sexual intercourse, intense awareness of the
   partner is the best frame of mind                             .0001
Life without sex would be very dull                              .0001
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love                      .0001
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like eating                  .0001
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release                                         .0001
Sex is primarily physical                                        .0001
A sexual encounter between two people deeply in
   love is the ultimate human interaction                        .0001
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people                                            .0001
People should at least be friends before they have sex
   together                                                      .0001
At its best, sex seems to be the merging of two souls            .0001
Alpha coefficients
     I-Permissiveness
     II-Responsibility (sexual practices)
     III-Pleasure
     IV-Instrumentality
     V-Communion

Table 2. Differences Between the Present Results and the Results
Reported by Hendrick and Hendrick (1987a)

                                                  French sample

Items                                         Overall M         SD

It is OK to have ongoing sexual
   relationships with more than one person
   at a time                                     2.85          1.41
I would like to have sex with many partners      3.22          1.38
Casual sex is acceptable                         2.97          1.43
Using sex toys during lovemaking is
   acceptable                                    2.21          1.28
It is OK to manipulate someone into having
   sex as long as no future promises are
   made                                          2.98          1.28
Life would have fewer problems if people
   could have sex more freely                    2.66          1.34
Birth control is part of responsible
   sexuality                                     4.15          1.14
A man should share responsibility for
   birth control                                 4.22          1.08
The best sex is with no strings attached         2.22          1.24
Sex education is important for young people      4.24          1.12
Sexual techniques get better as a
   relationship progresses                       3.77          1.24
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a
   relationship progresses                       3.79          1.23
During sexual intercourse, intense
   awareness of the partner is the best
   frame of mind                                 3.91          1.33
Life without sex would be very dull              3.78          1.19
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love      2.60          1.31
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like
   eating                                        3.01          1.26
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release                         2.81          1.37
Sex is primarily physical                        2.91          1.30
A sexual encounter between two people
   deeply in love is the ultimate human
   interaction                                   3.73          1.21
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people                            3.51          1.28
People should at least be friends before
   they have sex together                        3.38          1.27
At its best, sex seems to be the merging
   of two souls                                  3.84          1.11

                                                   French sample

Items                                           < 30 M          SD

It is OK to have ongoing sexual
   relationships with more than one person
   at a time                                     3.19          1.33
I would like to have sex with many partners      3.43          1.22
Casual sex is acceptable                         3.31          1.37
Using sex toys during lovemaking is
   acceptable                                    2.45          1.33
It is OK to manipulate someone into having
   sex as long as no future promises are
   made                                          3.13          1.18
Life would have fewer problems if people
   could have sex more freely                    3.03          1.20
Birth control is part of responsible
   sexuality                                     4.13          1.11
A man should share responsibility for
   birth control                                 4.43          0.91
The best sex is with no strings attached         2.23          1.18
Sex education is important for young people      4.33          0.91
Sexual techniques get better as a
   relationship progresses                       3.88          1.05
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a
   relationship progresses                       3.90          1.03
During sexual intercourse, intense
   awareness of the partner is the best
   frame of mind                                 3.89          1.30
Life without sex would be very dull              3.89          1.02
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love      2.49          1.17
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like
   eating                                        3.04          1.07
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release                         2.93          1.32
Sex is primarily physical                        3.18          1.20
A sexual encounter between two people
   deeply in love is the ultimate human
   interaction                                   3.46          1.18
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people                            3.19          1.25
People should at least be friends before
   they have sex together                        2.82          1.19
At its best, sex seems to be the merging
   of two souls                                  3.86          1.04

                                                     U.S. sample

Items                                         Dif. Miami    Dif. Texas

It is OK to have ongoing sexual
   relationships with more than one person
   at a time                                    0.89 *        1.49 *
I would like to have sex with many partners     0.83 *        1.63 *
Casual sex is acceptable                        0.31 *        1.01 *
Using sex toys during lovemaking is
   acceptable                                                 0.45 *
It is OK to manipulate someone into having
   sex as long as no future promises are
   made                                         0.93 *        1.53 *
Life would have fewer problems if people
   could have sex more freely                   0.43 *        1.13 *
Birth control is part of responsible
   sexuality                                   -0.37 *       -0.47
A man should share responsibility for
   birth control                                0.03         -0.07
The best sex is with no strings attached        0.03          0.53 *
Sex education is important for young people                  -0.27
Sexual techniques get better as a
   relationship progresses                     -0.42 *       -0.42 *
Sexual pleasure gets stronger as a
   relationship progresses
During sexual intercourse, intense
   awareness of the partner is the best
   frame of mind                               -0.21         -0.11
Life without sex would be very dull            -0.01
Sex is more fun with someone you don't love     0.79 *        1.09 *
Sex is primarily a bodily function, like
   eating                                       0.54 *        0.84 *
Sex is best when people approach it as a
   good physical release                       -0.17
Sex is primarily physical                       0.28          0.68 *
A sexual encounter between two people
   deeply in love is the ultimate human
   interaction                                 -0.84 *       -0.84 *
Sex is the closest form of communication
   between two people                          -0.71 *       -0.51 *
People should at least be friends before
   they have sex together                      -0.78 *       -0.88 *
At its best, sex seems to be the merging
   of two souls                                 0.06          0.06

Note. Significant differences are indicated by * (alpha
threshold = .05).

Table 3. Results of the Regression Analysis

Predictor          R     [R.sup.2]    [R.sup.2] change    Beta

Feel alone        .21      .046            .046           -0.20
Communion         .25      .064            .018            0.13
Education         .28      .078            .013            0.14
Permissiveness    .30      .091            .013           -0.15
Gender            .31      .099            .008           -0.09

Predictor         t(794)     p

Feel alone        -5.89     .00
Communion          3.84     .00
Education          3.98     .00
Permissiveness    -4.11     .00
Gender            -2.67     .01

This work was supported by the UPRES Vieillissement, Rythmicite et Developpement Cognitif (Francois-Rabelais University), and the UMR Travail et Cognition (Mirail University).

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Manuscript accepted February 18, 2002

Armelle Le Gall, Etienne Mullet, and Sheila Rivigre Shafighi Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, France

Address correspondence to Etienne Mullet, Laboratoire Cognition et Decision, Quefes 17bis, F-31830 Plaisance, France; e-mail: [e-mail].