Personality traits as predictors of sexual attitudes in a sample of Greek University students

Abstract

Previous studies have shown the relation of dogmatism to political, religious and racial attitudes, but few have explored if this finding can be extended generally to sexual attitudes. This study explored if the findings can be extended to sexual attitudes by examining if religious fundamentalism, political conservatism, years of education, age and geographic immobility could predict (1) sexual attitudes and (2) early sexual experience. The sample (N = 215) consisted of undergraduates from a public university in Greece. Multiple regression analysis was used to predict sexual attitudes (using the Attitude Scale of the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory) and early sexual experience (age of first coital experience). The results suggested that religious fundamentalism and political conservatism were significant predictors of conservative sexual attitudes. Political conservatism was also a significant predictor of earlier sexual experience. The results did not support the assumption that politically conservative students will have a delayed sexual involvement. They suggested that while political conservatives hold more traditional sexual attitudes, they do not necessarily report behaviour that is consistent with these attitudes. © 2012 Taylor & Francis.