Resea rch Journal of Recent Sciences ______ ______________________________ ______ ____ ___ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 201 2 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J. Recent .Sci. International Science Congress Association 296 Emerging Adult’s Perception on Romantic Love, Homosexuality and Pre Marital Sexual Relationship Pandey Alka and Mayuri K. Department of Human Development and Family Studies. College of Home Science, saifabad , Hyderabad, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in Received 13 th September 2012, revised 2 9 th December 2012, accepted 14 th January 201 3 Abstract The present exploratory study entitled “Emerging Adult’s Perception on Romantic Love, Homosexuality and Pre Marital Sexu al Relationship” was undertaken in Hyderabad city. Self developed questionnaire was used to collect data and data were collected from 30 unmarried male and 30 unmarried female respondents who were in the age group 20 - 25 years. The main purpose of the prese nt study was to understand unmarried emerging adult’s perception on Romantic Love, Homosexuality and Pre Marital Sexual Relationship and also to understand the gender differences in their perceptions on sexual relationships. Findings of the study revealed the gender differences in perception of Romantic Love, Homosexuality and Pre Marital Sexual Relationship. More male respondents compared to female respondents agreed on the concept of love at first sight and both male and female respondents perceived under standing is the most important component of love but people often mistake sexual attraction as love. Male respondents perceived sex as most important component of love where as female respondents perceived sex as not necessary; romance is psychological con nection between two people. Male respondents considered physical appearance whereas female respondents considered good job as a most important characteristics to impress opposite sex. Males considered moving apart and females considered family compulsions are the main reasons of breakup of romantic love. Males perceived that in love relationship partners are generally expected to help partner as and when required and females perceived partners are expected to not get involved with other activities and give full attention to them. Majority of male respondents considered homosexuality as normal. In contrast female respondents considered it as abnormal behaviour. Most of the male respondents said sexual intercourse is acceptable if the couple is dating regularl y whereas females disagreed on this point. Male and female respondents perceived that people generally get involved in premarital sexual relationship when they consider themselves in romantic relationship and male respondents said that fear of contacting S TD and female respondents said that fear of pregnancy is a major repercussion of premarital sexual relationship. Keywords: Emerging Adult , homosexuality, perception, pre marital sexual relationship, romantic love. Introduction Human sexuality is how people experience the erotic and express themselves as sexual beings; the awareness of themselves as males or females; the capacity they have for erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person of the opposite sex (heterosexuality), to the same sex (homosexuality), to both sexes (bisexuality), or attracted to no sexes in a sexual way. Emerging adulthood has been characterized, in part, as a time to explore sexuality and to gain s exual experience 1 . Part of this sexual exploration may involve experimenting with casual sex behaviors. Sex in emerging adulthood is full of contradictions. Biologically, young people ages 18 – 29 are mature adults, with the same flow of hormones and basic physical drives that the species has experienced throughout history. Socially, however, emerging adults are not quite “full” adults. They are completing their education, gaining entry - level work experience, and slowly attaining financial and personal indep endence. In short, most are not entirely prepared for married life with a consistent and socially sanctioned sexual partner whom their parents or grandparents might have enjoyed at the same age. Premarital sex referred to acts of intercourse between a co uple that occurred prior to marrying. In 2006, the Guttmacher Institute released a report about the historic prevalence of premarital sex. Their news: about 95% of the American public had their first experience of intercourse before getting married. Even 9 0% of women born in the 1940s said the same. Add Health estimates are not much different from this: 89% of young adults in the Sexual Behavior in Young Adulthood women report sex before marriage. Only 3% postponed sex until marriage, and another 8% are no t married and still virgins. Among men, 91% had sex before marriage, less than 2% married before having intercourse, and 8% remain virgins 2 . Half of the Indian population still believes premarital sex is taboo. Men led more sexually satisfied lives than women. Women are still more loyal to their partner - while almost 71 per cent women have had only one sexual partner, 37 per cent men have experimented with more than one. 25 per cent couples Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 297 accept pre marital sex if it doesn’t involve their families. Yet 3 2 per cent of them indulge in premarital sex themselves. 19 percent couples are open to premarital sex and live - in relationship 3 . Romance does not have to fizzle out in long - term relationships and progress into a companionship/friendship - type love, a new study has found. Romantic love can last a lifetime and lead to happier, healthier relationships. Study found that those who reported greater romantic love were more satisfied in both the short - and long - term relationships. Companion - like love was only mode rately associated with satisfaction in both short - and long - term relationships. And those who reported greater passionate love in their relationships were more satisfied in the short term compared to the long term. Couples who reported more satisfaction in their relationships also reported being happier and having higher self - esteem 4 . Among a sample of undergraduates, the antecedents to casual sex have been found to vary according to gender. Men with lower levels of depression are more likely to be classi fied as having casual sex. Interestingly, the opposite is true for women. Women with a greater number of depressive symptoms are more likely to report having casual sex 5 . Among the sexually active, 72% reported having regretted on participating in at leas t one sexual event in their past. Morality was the top reason cited for such regret. The stable predictor of regret was number of partners: the more partners they had, the more likely they were to report sexual regrets 6 . Research on sexual relationships in the Indian context is few, though popular surveys by market research groups and magazines are taken up once in a while. Since sexual behaviours are a reflection on sexual perceptions that people hold, it was felt important to study this aspect. This stu dy was therefore taken up with the following objectives. Objectives : To study the Emerging Adults perception on romantic love, homosexuality and pre marital sexual relationship. To study the gender differences in the perception of romantic love, homosexua lity and pre marital sexual relationship. Methodology Research design : Exploratory research design was used to investigate the present study. Sampling procedure : Sampling criteria : Educated middle class and upper middle class group age 20 - 25 year was sel ected for study. Area: Data was collected in the city of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Sampling technique : Purposive sampling technique was used for the study (since persons who were willing to fill the questionnaire was included for the study). Population : people under the age group of 20 - 25 years, both men and women. Sample size : 60 respondents were selected for the study in which 30 respondents were male and 30 respondents were female. Tools: A questionnaire was developed for the present study which includes 16 questions divided into 3 sections to understand the perception on Romantic Love, Homosexuality and Pre Marital Sexual Relationship among emerging adults. Analysis: Frequency percentages in Figures were used along with weighted scores for Ranke d Items Weighted Score : For Ranked Scores weighted Scores were calculated by giving each rank a score in Descending order of the ranks. For Instance, If there were 12 options for ranking, Rank 1 would get a score of 12. For each item, the weighted score s were calculated as follows Rank 1 x Number of Respondents giving that rank x Score + Rank 2 Number of Respondents giving that rank x Score ….. = Final Score Items were then placed in Descending order of the Final Scores they achieve Result and Discu ssion Romantic Love : More than 50 per cent of males agreed on the point that the concept of love at first sight exists, whereas fewer females (40 per cent) compared to males said that there is any such thing. They don’t believe on the concept of love at fi rst sight. Figure - 1.1 Perception on Concept of “love at first sight" Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 298 Figure - 1.2 Perception on most important component of love Figure 1.2 depicts that both male and female respondents felt that understanding is the most important component of love. They felt until and unless they don’t understand each other it is difficult for them to maintain love or romantic relationship. 53.33 per cent males and 76.67 percent females considered it as a most important component of love. Few males and females also v oted for commitment and considered it as important component but very few respondents considered passion, intimacy and warmth as important components of love. Figure - 1.3 Perception on people often mistake sexual attraction as love Perception on connec t between romance and sex : According to Figure 1.3 Most of the emerging adults agreed on the point that people often mistake sexual attraction as love but more females compared to males perceived the same, shows more mature nature of emerging adult females compared to males. Approximately 74 per cent females and 47 per cent males agreed on the point that people often mistake sexual attraction as love where as 34 per cent male and 8 per cent female disagreed on this point. Figure - 1.4 When asked emerging adult’s perception on connection between romance and sex, most of the male respondents said that sex is an essential part of romance (66.67 per cent) compared to female respondents (26.67 per cent); females believed that sex is not necessary; romance is ps ychological connection between two people (70 per cent). Only 4 per cent females and no male said that sex is detrimental; reduces romantic feeling. According to table 1.1 Males perceived that the main reason for the breakup of romantic love is moving apa rt from partner, which shows that males are generally less emotionally involve in romantic relationships compared to females, and for them absence of romantic partner in love relationship leads breakup. Lacking in warmth, Loss of attraction, and differenc es in opinion are the other important reasons of breakup of romantic relationship for males. Females perceived that family compulsions are the main reason for breakup of romantic relationships which indicates that females are still not independent to take their own decisions about their partner. This is another indication of the fact that they are more attached to their family and family values and norms. Lacking in warmth, being suggested to breakup by friends and family members and moving apart are the ot her important reasons for breakup of romantic relationships according to females. Table 1.2 depicts that males perceived, in a love relationship partners are generally expected to h elp partner, be with partner as and when desired, agree with partner, dre ss well, whereas females perceived that in love relationships partners are generally expected to not get involved with other activities, be with partner as and when desired, dress well and not disagree with partner. Homosexuality : More number of females c ompared to males perceived homosexuality as an abnormal activity going against human nature. 66.67 per cent males and only 13.33 per cent females said that it is normal; some people have this sexual orientation. 86.67 per cent females said that it is an ab normality, Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 299 going against human nature again depicts conservative attitude of female respondents. Pre marital sexual relationships : According to figure 3.1 many male respondents (66.67 per cent) perceived that sexual intercourse is acceptable if the couple is dating regularly/engaged. Whereas most of the females (66.67 per cent) disagreed on this point and said it is not acceptable even though couples are engaged and dating regularly. They also perceived that males are generally responsible for initiating p remarital sexual relationship. When asked their opinion on this 70 per cent male and approximately 97 per cent female said that males generally initiate premarital sexual relationship whereas only 30 per cent males and only 3 per cent females said females initiate premarital sexual relationship. When respondents were asked to compare the situation of premarital sexual relationships in India from past to present, most of the respondents said that Pre marital sexual relationships have increased and very few said that it has decreased. 66.67 per cent males and 90 per cent females said that pre marital sexual relationships have increased whereas 33 per cent male and 6.67 per cent female said that it has remained the same. Table - 1. 1 Main reasons of breakup of a romantic relationship MALE FEMALE Preferences Weighted Score Rank Preferences Weighted Score Rank Moving apart 286 1 Family compulsions 284 1 Lacking in warmth 258 2 Lacking in warmth 279 2 Loss of attraction 247 3 Being suggested to breakup 2 69 3 Differences in opinion 226 4 Moving apart 245 4 Self centered behaviour 220 5 Uncooperative with sex 233 5 Poor listening skills 219 6 Loss of job 223 6 Other attractions 200 7 Difference of opinion 207 7 Family compulsions 179 8 Other attra ctions 206 8 Being suggested to breakup 173 9 Poor listening skills 171 9 Boredom 163 10 Loss of attraction 155 10 Uncooperative with sex 155 11 Self centered behaviour 120 11 Loss of job 96 12 Boredom 111 12 Table - 1.2 Partners Expectations in Love Relationship MALE FEMALE Preferences Weighted Score Rank Preferences Weighted Score R ank Help partner 244 1 Not get involved with other activities 281 1 Be with partner when desired 234 2 Be with partner when desired 274 2 Agree with partner 2 32 3 Dress well 268 3 Dress well 227 4 Not disagree with partner 259 4 Be nice to family/friends/ relatives 215 5 Help partner 253 5 Not get involved with other interesting activities 207 6 Be nice to family/friends/ relatives 242 6 Pay attentio n to partner 200 7 Appreciate 238 7 Willingness for sex 182 8 Pay attention to partner 188 8 Be subservient to partner 166 9 Be dependent on partner 152 9 Be dependent on partner 151 10 Agree with partner 139 10 Not disagree with partner 139 11 Will ingness for sex 100 11 Appreciate 138 12 Be subservient to partner 92 12 Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 300 Figure - 2.1 Perception on Homosexuality Figure - 3.1 Perception on acceptance of sexual intercourse in the case of regular dating Figure3.2 Perception on initiation of prema rital sexual relationship Figure - 3.3 Perception on present status of Pre marital sexual relationship Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 301 Figure - 3.4 Perception on premarital sexual relationships Table - 3.1 Circumstances in which people generally get involved in premarital sexual relation ship MALE FEMALE Preferences Percentile Rank Preferences Percentile Rank Consider themselves in love 226 1 Consider themselves in love 277 1 Sexually attractive partner 218 2 Due to fear, person will hurt them 259 2 Everyone is doing 214 3 Fear of losi ng person’s companionship 237 3 Experience thrill 212 4 Sexually attractive partner 233 4 Anticipating new and exciting 196 5 Please particular person 217 5 Fear of losing person’s companionship 188 6 Understand the partner Better 205 6 Understand th e partner better 179 7 Anticipating new and exciting 157 7 Out of boredom 157 8 Experience thrill 148 8 Please particular person 144 9 Everyone is doing 144 9 Understand self better 141 10 Understand self better 130 10 Due to fear, person will hurt t hem 129 11 Out of boredom 109 11 When asked respondents perception on premarital sexual relationships most of the female respondents (53.33 per cent) compared to male respondents said that marriage and its roles are sacred; and it should not be violated by any one. Whereas 56.67 per cent male respondents thought that as long as they are discreet, it does not matter what they do. 20 per cent males and 36.67 per cent females said it is wrong since we are in society that has many rules related to marital re lationships. It was not surprising to note that in traditional Indian culture very less percentage of males and females perceived that people should have this experience before deciding their life partner and it is okay, if someone wants to experiment with such relationship. Table 3.1 depicts that most of the male respondents perceived that people generally get involved in premarital sexual relationship when they consider themselves in a romantic relationship, with a sexually attractive partner and when ot her friends in the group are also involved in such relationships and few involve in premarital sexual relationship only to experience thrill whereas male respondents considered due to fear that person will hurt them as a least important reason. Females per ceived that the major reasons to get involved in premarital sexual relationship are to consider themselves in love, due to fear that person will hurt them if they don’t get involved in sexual relationship and some time fear of losing the person’s companion ship, whereas the least important circumstances in which they get involved in premarital sexual relationship are to understand self better and out of boredom. According to table 3.2 male respondents perceived major repercussions of premarital sex as fear of contracting sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, fear of losing self respect, and fear that partner can use incidents as evidence to threaten. Fear of guilt and lose interest in sex were not considered as major repercussions of premarital sexual rel ationship according to male respondents. Female respondents thought pregnancy, lose interest in each other, lose face with other friends and fear that partner can use incidents as evidence to threaten as important repercussions. According to female respond ents lose interest in sex is the least important repercussion of premarital sexual relationship. Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 302 Table - 3.2 Repercussions of premarital sex MALE FEMALE Preferences Percentile Rank Preferences Percentile Rank Fear of contacting STD 239 1 Pregnancy 288 1 Pregnancy 227 2 Lose interest in each other 236 2 Fear of losing self respect 222 3 Lose face in other friends 225 3 Fear, partner use incidents as evidence to threaten 220 4 Fear, partner use incidents as evidence to threaten 223 4 Fear, future prospe cts of a good marriage are lost 205 5 Fear of Guilt 222 5 Fear partner leave the relationship 196 6 Fear partner leave the relationship 210 6 Fear of losing reputation in society 196 7 Fear of losing self respect 209 7 Lose interest in each other 191 8 Fear, future prospects of a good marriage are lost 204 8 Lose face with family 181 9 Lose face with family 193 9 Lose face in other Friends 172 10 Fear of losing self respect 168 10 Fear of Guilt 153 11 Fear of contacting STD 167 11 Lose interest in se x 129 12 Lose interest in sex 145 12 The occurrence of premarital sexual behaviors for adolescents and adults alike has become increasingly more accepted in today’s society 7 . With 69% of female adolescents and 64% of male adolescents aged 18 - 19 having h ad experienced sexual intercourse although never married 8 , specific concerns for unmarried sexually active individuals are apparent. If unwed individuals are not taking advantage of the various forms of contraception, the risk of an unwanted pregnancy is p resent. The four leading STDs in the U.S., which account for 14.5 million new STD cases each year, are Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Trichomoniasis, Chlamydia, and Genital Herpes; these four STDs are transmitted by skin - to - skin contact and cannot be prevent ed by any form of protection available 9 . The most prevalent STD, HPV, is the cause of nearly 100% of all cervical cancer worldwide 10 which supports the above finding that major repercussion of premarital sex as fear of contracting sexual transmitted diseas e. The 5.5 million male adolescents and 5.2 million female adolescents aged 15 - 19 who reported never having had sexual intercourse listed religion and morality (31.4% of males; 37.8% of females) and the fear of pregnancy (25.2% of males; 18.7% of females) as the main reasons for their sexual abstinence 8 . Another study found that individuals who chose to remain sexually abstinent reported four reasons for their decisions: inadequate love within the relationship, fear of STDs and pregnancy, beliefs supportin g sexual abstinence, and feelings of inadequacy or insecurity 11 . Table 3.3 depicts that emerging adults male perceived that major reasons of premarital sex are delay in marriage, easy availability of abortion facilities, easy availability of birth control methods, and legal approval of live – in relationships whereas emerging adults female perceived that the main reasons of premarital sex are limited parental expectations, no parental supervision, moving out of parental home, w estern style work environments, easy availability of abortion facilities etc. Conclusion The results of the study revealed, on an overall basis that there were very clear gender differences in Emerging Adult’s Perception on Romantic Love, Homosexuality and Pre Marital Sexual Relationsh ips. Women showed more mature attitude on concept of romantic love and premarital sexual relationships but they also had gender stereotypical perceptions on some concepts of romantic love, homosexual and premarital sexual relationships. Study showed that i n present Indian society, where most of the young generations are influenced by western culture, our young adult women give more importance to their family in taking any decision on premarital and romantic relationships. Men’s perception on these topics, d epicts that they are more liberal and independent in taking decision on romantic love and premarital sexual relationship and considered homosexuality as normal whereas women considered it totally abnormal behaviour which also depicts that in present young adult males are ready to adopt change in society where as women still consider these issues personal and something which should not be discussed in public. Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 296 - 303 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 303 Table - 3.3 Main reasons for premarital sex MALE FEMALE Preferences Perc entil e Ra nk Preferences P erc entil e Ra nk Delay in marriage 222 1 Limited parental expectations 236 1 Easy availability of abortion facilities 207 2 No parental supervision 229 2 Easy availability of birth control methods 194 3 Moving out of parental homes 228 3 Legal approva l of live - in relationships 191 4 Western style work environments 227 4 Gender role equality leading to females becoming sexually active 183 5 Easy availability of abortion facilities 215 5 Western style work environments 180 6 Easy availability of bi rth control methods 192 6 Moving out of parental homes 175 7 Delay in marriage 176 7 No parental supervision 172 8 Legal approval of live - in relationships 168 8 Night shift jobs 168 9 Easy accessibility to potential partners with the advent of cell p hones, social networking sites 166 9 Limited parental expectations 152 10 Night shift jobs 159 10 Easy accessibility to potential partners with the advent of cell phones, social networking sites 139 11 Gender role equality leading to females bec oming sexually active 126 11 References 1. 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