Research on the sexual behavior of Afro-American women has been limited and has paid little attention to those aspects of the Afro-American culture and early socialization experiences which tend to inhibit or facilitate sexual expression. In this study, 240 Afro-American women, ranging in age from 18-50 years, reared in urban or rural settings, from a variety of experiential and economic backgrounds, will be interviewed on two occasions at two sites: at an office in an Afro-American community or at UCLA. A comparison group of 120 Anglo-American women will also be asked to respond to the same measures. Subjects will be volunteers who are referred to the Principal Investigator through Anglo and Afro-American physicians selected at random through rosters of the Los Angeles County and National Medical Associations. The study will identify the similarities and differences of socialization experiences within and between the ethnic groups which influence sexual knowledge, behavior, attitudes, sexual guilt and a measure of social desirability. The general hypothesis to be tested is that societal stereotypes regarding the sexual behavior of Afro-American women often conflict with cultural, parental and other values communicated in early childhood and adolescence, resulting in Afro-American women's awareness of this role conflict. Adult expression and the deferment or onset of sexual activity is influenced by the subjects' reported adherence to sexual behavioral expectations communicated by the sub-culture, from parents, the church, etc., or to those sexual behavioral expectations communicated through stereotypes perpetuated in the larger society.
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