Predicting the intention of South African female students to engage in premarital sexual relations: An application of the theory of reasoned action
Journal Article
2003
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Authors
Journal Title
South African Journal of Psychology
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Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Publisher
University of Cape Town
Department
Faculty
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Abstract
The Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen &Fishbein, 1980) was used to investigate the factors influencing South African female students' decision on whether or not to engage in premarital sexual intercourse. The group of
participants consisted of 100 female heterosexual university students who were selected from a larger sample on the basis of sexual inexperience. As anticipated by the theory, both attitudes and subjective norms were found
to predict intentions, with altitudes emerging as the stronger predictor. Additional analyses revealed that the hypothesized relationship between attitudes and the cognitive bases, beliefs about the outcome of premarital
sexual relations, and the evaluation of these outcomes was supported. However, contrary to the theory, subjective norms were not correlated with motivation to comply with the perceived views of salient referents. The
results are discussed in the context of a society in which AIDS is epidemic.
Description
Reference:
Chitamun, S., & Finchilescu, G. (2003). Predicting the intention of South African female students to engage in premarital sexual relations: An application of the theory of reasoned action. South African Journal of Psychology, 33(3), 154-161.