Running Head: INFORMATION AND NORMS REGARDING SEXUAL ISSUES 1 Sources of Information and Norms Regarding Sexual Issues Among Indian Male Young Adults By

INFORMATION AND NORMS REGARDING SEXUAL ISSUES 2 Little is known about the risky sexual behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and sources of information among Indian young adults, especially males. In most of India, students currently are not provided structured, comprehensive sexual health or sexuality education in secondary schools (Sengupta, 2009). To explore these predictors for sexual behavior, qualitative data were collected via in-depth interviews among 23 young adult males (18-25 years) of various religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. Participants shared their desire for quality sex education in schools and that social taboos heavily dictate the space in which awareness of sexual topics is gathered from both reliable and unreliable sources. These findings have important implications for laying the groundwork for culturally specific education interventions to meet the need of a distinct youth population