Self-Esteem in Relation to Casual Sex Behavior, Attitudes, and Affect.

• Main Author: Bieda, Kathryn
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2008
• Subjects: Attitudes; Casual sex; Sociosexuality; Affect; Experimental Analysis of Behavior; Gender and Sexuality; Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Sociology
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1949; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3301&context=etd

Casual sex is common on college campuses and is potentially relevant to a person's self-esteem. Unfortunately, data are mixed regarding how self-esteem is influenced by casual sex. This thesis is an attempt to understand how casual sex influences women's self-esteem through a series of questionnaires. Three hypotheses were of interest. The first predicted that sociosexuality and desire would explain casual sex engagement. Second, that casual sex behaviors and attitudes would predict self-esteem. Third, looking only at those who engaged in casual sex; casual sex attitudes and affect would predict self-esteem. Using hierarchical regression, results indicated that there was a curvilinear effect for sociosexuality on number of casual sex partners. Results for the second hypothesis showed an interaction between behavior and attitudes to predict selfesteem. Finally, for hypothesis three, results showed a moderation effect for attitudes on negative affect regarding overall casual sex experience and self-esteem.