Exploring normative and healthy sexual development.

My research on sexual development is rooted in a “positive” or “healthy” approach to adolescent sexuality that recognizes that sexual behavior, broadly defined, is a normative component of development. Most children have little or no voluntary experience with any type of sexual behavior when they enter adolescence, but most will experience their first kiss, first serious romantic relationship, and first intercourse during the adolescent years. My research focuses on individual differences in the timing of these firsts, as well as adolescents’ subjective perceptions of their experiences. The latter topic is rarely examined in American populations (Smiler, 2007). This research has been heavily influenced by my postdoctoral work with L. Monique Ward (University of Michigan).

One component of my research is simply to describe sexual development. In one study, Dr. Ward and I examined the subjective perceptions of first intercourse as reported by 579 undergraduates. They described their experience in terms of positive mood states (e.g., happiness), loving feelings, power and empowerment, and negative mood states (e.g., embarrassment). Further, young women’s perceptions of coitus were related to the messages they had received about intercourse from their parents, but young men’s perceptions were unrelated to parental messages (Smiler, Ward, Meriwether, & Caruthers, 2005). My collaborators and I are in the process of examining age and subjective perceptions of several “firsts” among men who have had sexual experience with only women, only men, and both women and men. Findings indicate that many firsts are more positive and less awkward for those with only female partners. In addition, the average age of first kiss with a female partner was significantly younger that the average age of first kiss with a male partner (~14 years vs. ~17 years) and almost all men with female partners, but fewer than half of the men with male partners, reported an interval of at least one year between their first kiss and first intercourse (Smiler, Frankel, & Savin-Williams, under review). These findings suggest that achievement and perception of sexual developmental milestones is influenced by contexts such as gender and sex-of-partner.

I have also attempted to explore sexual development from the perspective of adolescents and young adults. An analysis of archival data collected by Deborah Tolman revealed that 10th grade boys endorsed dating and coital reasons that highlighted relational connection, peer pressure, and situational motives (e.g., “I was pursued,” “[intercourse] just happened”). Those with relational motives for dating reported experience with a greater variety of sexual behaviors (Smiler, 2008). Two graduate students have taken the lead an analysis of interviews I conducted with 20 undergraduate men. Their analysis indicates that the men clearly distinguished between terms such as “dating,” “casual sex,” and “hooking up.” However, these linguistic distinctions often disappeared when they described their actual experiences. Hookup experiences, in particular, alternated between referring to single encounters with a sexual partner and early sexual experiences with someone who they later identified as a girl/boyfriend (Epstein, Calzo, Smiler, & Ward, under review). These findings highlight the importance of individual motives and the ambiguous connections between relationships and sexual behavior, as well as the importance of studying both individual and dyadic factors. Future research in this line will examine factors related to the time between milestone behaviors, characteristics of desired partners (expanding on an undergraduate honors thesis), and, hopefully, a prospective study of sexual milestone achievement.

The third component of my sexuality research examines ways in which gender influences sexual behavior. Among the sample of 10th grade boys, those with higher masculinity scores were less likely to have been “pursued” (i.e., in the passive role) and reported more coital partners (Smiler, 2008). A current project positions gender as a force that influences sexuality directly, as well as indirectly through sexual attitudes, body image, and perceptions of peers’ sexual behavior. Structural equation modeling demonstrated strong support for this model among European-Americans and indicated that women and men had nearly identical models. The model was less effective in predicting the behavior of African-American and Asian-American women, highlighting the different gender and sexual norms of cultural groups (Smiler, Ward, Caruthers, & Meriwether, under review). Among the 20 men I interviewed, their different enactments of masculinity were paralleled by different patterns of sexual behavior. Some men embraced stereotypical notions of masculinity and had engaged in sexual activity with multiple partners both in casual and in dating relationships. Others amended masculinity to incorporate their Christian faith, rejected casual sex, reported few dating relationships, and intended to remain abstinent until they were married. A third group appeared to reject masculine norms, adopted a stereotypically feminine role (i.e., passive, reactive), and reported low levels of experience with both casual and relational sexual behavior (Smiler & Ward, in preparation). I am currently collaborating with Dr. Ward on a proposal to further explore normative aspects of men’s sexual development (Ward & Smiler, under review).

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