Constructing a sexual self: Adolescents' sexual self-perceptions and sexual risk-taking

This study examined the constructions of sexuality among a sample of 470 adolescent high schoolers in Grades 10-12. Using cluster analysis, five different sexual styles were identified: Sexually Naive, Sexually Unassured, Sexually Competent, Sexually Adventurous, and Sexually Driven. These styles were characterized by differences in gender, age, and virginity status. The styles, however, were not simply delineated along demographic lines, indicating the efficacy of examining patterns of sexual self characteristics rather than single variables to explore adolescent sexuality. The sexual styles also differed in their levels of sexual risk-taking with both casual and regular partners, number of sexual partners in the last 6 months, and number of ''one-night-stands.'' These differences were coherent with the sexual styles and thus offered both concurrent validity for the styles and an indication that these styles may be associated with sexual behavior. To understand adolescent sexual behavior and sexual risk-taking, it is essential to consider the ways in which young people construct a sense of themselves as sexual beings.