Sources of Sexual Knowledge, Sex Negativity, and Sexual Shame: Honors Capstone Thesis

This study examined relations between (a) the sources of people’s knowledge about sex, (b) their trust in information obtained from each source, (c) sex-negative attitudes and misinformation about sex (SNAM), and (d) sexual shame. Using an online questionnaire, 354 participants from a large, comprehensive university in Georgia indicated the relative amount they learned about sex from 11 sources, the degree of trust in each as a source of sexual information, agreement with the 45 items comprising the measure of SNAM, and the Kyle Inventory of Sexual Shame (Kyle, 2013). The more participants expressed sex-negative attitudes and endorsed misconceptions about sex (higher SNAM scores), the more they indicate having learned about sex from church and other religious institutions and from school, and the less from sexual partners, the internet, and pornography. Higher SNAM scores also correlated with higher trust in church, parents, and school as sources of information about sex. Finally, higher SNAM scores correlated with more sexual shame