SEXUAL MEANING SYSTEMS OF ENGAGED COUPLES

This study employed the Sexual Meaning Survey (Maddock, 1988) and a cross-sectional sample of 526 couples to examine the sexual meaning systems of engaged couples. Findings supported the hypothesis that engaged couples would be less discrepant in sexual meanings than randomly paired men and women. Regression analyses provided evidence that level of education, church attendance, discrepancy in religious affiliation, cohabitation status, and agreement on family planning methods significantly contributed to the variance in sexual meaning discrepancy scores. Implications for practitioners are discussed.