Sexual attitudes and myths among medical and non-medical undergraduate students

 

Brahmani Dantala¹, Y Sanjay^2*, Raghuram Macharapu³, Pramod K R Mallepalli⁴,

Ravulapati Sateesh Babu⁵

 

¹Post Graduate, ³Associate Professor, ⁴Professor and HOD, ⁵Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Mamata Medical College, Khammam,

²Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Katuri Medical College, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA.

Email: yalamanchilisanjay69@gmail.com

 

Abstract               Background: Undergraduates undergo sudden physical, emotional and psychological changes and become intensely aware of their sexuality while passing through this phase many doubts and questions arise in their minds giving rise to worries and anxieties. With emerging westernization, there is growing concern about sexual promiscuity and changing attitudes towards sexuality. It can be argued that we live in an age of sexual enlightenment; there may be more heat than light in the sex lives of college men and women. Aim: The present study was planned to assess and compare the sexual attitudes and sexual myths among medical and non medical undergraduate students. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 248 unmarried medical and 155 non medical students. The students were assessed using Sex Attitude Scale and Sex Myth Checklist. Independent Sample T-test was used to know difference between these two groups. Results: When comparison was made between medical and non-medical groups the total mean scores were found to be 72.645 and 75.909 respectively in which medical students have more liberal sexual attitude which was found to be significant (p=0.0007). When there was a comparison between the males of the two groups there was a statistical significance (p=0.0002) as well as with females of the two groups (p=0.0007) among female groups. When comparison was made between the two groups in the aspect of sexual myths, there was a significant difference (p=0.0080). In which the non-medical subjects have more myths than the medical ones. There was a statistical significance (p=0.0005) found in relation to males and females (p=0.0207) among the two groups inferring that non-medical subjects have more sexual myths than the medical ones. Conclusion: It will be useful to incorporate courses on effective communication and human sexuality in the curriculum of medical and non medical students which will enhance the student’s awareness of their own values and prejudices related to human sexuality.

Key Words: Sexual attitudes, Sexual myths, Sexual knowledge.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

The sexuality is a basic human experience. Apart from its anatomical, physiological, biochemical and psychological components, it has a personal component which gives it a private meaning and thus, it has been a topic not discussed openly.¹ Sexual attitude refers to how accepting people are of sexual activity for themselves or others. The sexual attitudes have changed in the last half a century, as previously sex was mainly for reproductive purposes with emphasis on pleasure not as important. But now, many youngsters are engaging in premarital sexual practices with the changing times. Longitudinal studies among US adolescents found that exposure to sexual content in television² and degrading music lyrics³ predicted the sexual initiation. In another longitudinal survey, researchers combined sexual content across television, movies, music, and magazines and found it to be associated with sexual initiation among white but not black adolescents.⁴ In a classical study, on male and female sexual behavior, reported that 50% of unmarried women and 85% of the unmarried men had pre-marital sexual intercourse.^5,6 It has been concluded, after checking the US trends, that premarital sex is not surprising in an era when men and women typically marry in their mid to late twenties and are sexually active as singles for extensive periods.⁷ A sex myth is a false belief about sexual behavior or physiology that is either scientifically inaccurate or have questionable authenticity. Sex myths are never useful, and frequently they are baleful. For many young people, especially those who are unmarried, social and cultural norms impose barriers to the transfer of sexual health information. Consequently, many young people remain ignorant of even the basic knowledge required for safer sexual behavior and develop deep rooted myths about sexuality.⁸ Some sex myths are promoted as warning to inhibit sexuality e.g. boys, who masturbate excessively, harm themselves by loosing protein and blood through the semen that is ejaculated. Evidence shows that sex education delivered in school can serve to prevent development of sexual myths.⁹ Family and educational institutions exercise great control over the sexual behavior of unmarried youth in India than west.¹⁰ contemporarily, the beliefs, attitudes and myths related to sexuality have changed and evolved. There is a paucity of studies on this subject in India as there is a social stigma among the people regarding the sexual practices.

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Methodology: This was a cross sectional, comparative study among unmarried medical students from Mamata Medical College, khammam and non-medical students from Kavitha Degree college, khammam. From the medical college 248 medical students gave consent for the study. Among them 96 were males and 152 were females. All the students were explained prior to the study and confidentiality was assured regarding the study. The questionnaires been distributed to the students and they are collected after a while. Among 155 non-medical students from Kavitha degree college 48 were male and 107 were females, they have been explained about the study and the questionnaires been distributed. They have been assured about the confidentiality regarding the results after the tests and the papers are collected after a while.

Inclusion Criteria: All students who had given verbal consent to participate in the study and students who are unmarried. The study was approved by the Research and Ethical committee.

Exclusion Criteria: All students who had not given verbal consent for the study and students who are married.

Socio-demographic profile: Gender is considered.

Sexual attitude scale¹¹: This is a scale designed to measure liberal versus conservative attitudes towards human sexual expression. It is a 25 likert type items, two of which are worded negatively to partially offset the potential for response set bias. Each item has been scored on a relative frequency scale. The scores ranges from 0-100, higher scores indicate greater degrees of conservative attitude and lower scores indicate more liberal attitudes. Scores >50 indicate more conservative attitude and <50 shows liberal attitude. A score of 0 indicates more liberal position and 100 represents conservative position.

Sex myth schedule¹²: A list of 23 items showing sex related myths was prepared taking help from sources like stone and stone (1967), Goldenberg (1977), Wrightsman (1977) and Mosher (1979) and following intensive interviews of a groups of 25 college going students. These myths items were submitted to 5 psychologists to assess if the given item clearly expressed a sex related myth, 23 items showing 100 per cent agreement among the judges were taken to form the sex myth checklist for the study. Of those 23 items, 8 items belonged to female related myths, 7 items belongs to male related myths and the remaining 8 items belongs to myths applicable to both sexes. A numerical value of 1 is assigned to all the items answered to all the items answered as true. The total score thus varies from 0 to 23, giving the lowest to the highest myth score for the person.

Male related myths: 6, 11, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22(7)

Female related myths: 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 16, 17, 20(8)

Both sex related myths: 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 12, 13, 23(8)

Statistical Analysis: Independent sample t-test was used to find out the differences in the sexual attitudes and sexual myths among the medical and non-medical undergraduate students. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, Version 18. P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant

 RESULTS

 

Table 1: Sexual attitude among medical and non-medical undergraduate students:

The analysis showed that the mean score for medical students was 72.645 (SD=10.539) and for non-medical students the mean score was 75.909 (SD=10.424). The t-test yielded significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.0007), t value is 39.07. This result showed that there is a significant difference in sexual attitude among the medical and non-medical undergraduate students.

 

Table 2: Comparison of Sexual attitude among males in medical and non-medical undergraduate students

The analysis showed that the mean score for male group in medical students was 70.427 (SD=10.553) and for male group in non-medical students the mean score was 72.116 (SD=10.709). The t-test showed that there is a significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.0002), t value is 71.50. This result showed that there is a significant difference in sexual attitude among the male groups of both the medical and non-medical undergraduate students.

 

Table 3: Comparison of Sexual attitude among females in medical and non-medical undergraduate students

The analysis showed that the mean score for female group in medical students was 74.046(SD=10.320) and for female group in non-medical students the mean score was 77.588 (SD=9.890). The t-test showed that there is a significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.0007), t value is 36.83. This result showed that there is a significant difference in sexual attitude among the female groups of both the medical and non-medical undergraduate students.

Table 4: Sexual myths among medical and non-medical undergraduate students

The analysis showed that the mean score for medical students was 10.483 (SD=3.792) and for non-medical students the mean score was 11.435 (SD=4.553). The t-test showed that there is a significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.008), t value is 11.14. This result showed that there is a significant difference in sexual myths among both the medical and non-medical undergraduate students.

 

Table 5: Comparison of sexual myths among males in medical and non-medical undergraduate students

The analysis showed that the mean score for male group in medical students was 11.020 (SD=3.855) and for male group in non-medical students the mean score was 11.250 (SD=3.629). The t-test showed that there is a significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.0005), t value is 45.85. This result showed that there is a significant difference in sexual myths among the male groups of both the medical and non-medical undergraduate students.

 

Table 6: Comparison of sexual myths among females in medical and non-medical undergraduate students:

The analysis showed that the mean score for female group in medical students was 10.039 (SD=3.228) and for female group in non-medical students the mean score was 12.075(SD=3.994). The t-test showed that there is a significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.0207), t value is 6.846. This result showed that there is a significant difference in sexual myths among the female groups of both the medical and non-medical undergraduate students.

DISCUSSION

The present study attempted to explore the area of sexual attitudes and myths in unmarried student population, which is a little investigated area for an Indian setting. The present study analysis showed that the mean score for medical students was 72.645 (SD=10.539) and for non-medical students the mean score was 75.909 (SD=10.424) and showed significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.0007). Based on this the sexual attitudes of medical students appear to be more liberal compared to their non medical counterparts. This finding was in line with the previous study saying that the frequency of sexual encounters was relatively higher in medical compared to non medical students.¹³ The non medical students were not sexually active and reasons might be their fear to get pregnant, parental pressure and fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. The scores on Sexual Attitude Scale suggested that medical students had significantly higher acceptability of pornographic writings, books films and educating children about sex compared to the non medical students. The findings in the male group of medical students was 70.427 (SD=10.553) and for male group of non-medical students was 72.116 (SD=10.709) with (p=0.0002). This showed that there is a significant difference in sexual attitude among the male groups of both the medical and non-medical undergraduate students. It is further substantiated with the findings that medical students have given frequent consented to sexual affairs, acceptability of dual standard in morality, permission of elders for their wards to stay out at night and easy availability of contraceptive pills compared to non medical students. The medical students have less sex-related guilt than their non medical counterparts and finally, they endorsed the view that virginity of girl should not be considered important in the contemporary context.

The analysis showed that the mean score for medical students was 10.483 (SD=3.792) and for non-medical students the mean score was 11.435 (SD=4.553). There is a significant difference between these two groups, (p=0.008), t value is 11.14. The present study found less sexual myths in the medical students than non medical students. Therefore, it can be inferred that medical students had a more liberal attitude towards sexuality and less sexual myths than non medical students, which is in line with previous study.¹⁴ The difference might be attributable to more appropriate sexual knowledge among medical students, exposure to anatomical and sexual knowledge as part of medical curriculum and more casual and more frequent interaction between medical girls and boys. This view is supported by study, who found that higher sexual knowledge was associated with more liberal and positive attitude towards heterosexual relations and rejection of the commonly held sexual beliefs.¹⁵ On the other hand, non medical students have lower sex knowledge which might be related to negative attitudes toward gay/lesbian/bisexual behavior, masturbation, premarital sex and contraception.

 

SEXUAL ATTITUDE SCALE (SAS)

Name:

Sex:

1=strongly disagree

2=Disagree

3=neither agree nor disagree

4= agree

5=strongly agree

1. I think there is too much sexual freedom given to adult these days.
2. I think that increased sexual freedom undermines the family.
3. I think that young people have been given too much information about sex.
4. Sex education should be restricted to the home.
5. Older people do not need to have sex.
6. Sex education should be given only when people are ready for marriage.
7. Premarital sex is a sign of decaying social order.
8. Extramarital sex is never excusable.
9. I think there is too much sexual freedom given to teenagers these days.
10. I think there is not enough sexual restraint among young people.
11. I think people indulge in sex too much.
12. I think the only proper way to have sex is through intercourse.
13. I think sex should be reserved for marriage.
14. Sex should be only for the young.
15. Too much social approval has been given to homosexuals.
16. Sex should be devoted to the business of procreation.
17. People should not mastrubate.
18. Heavy sexual petting should be discouraged.
19. People should not discuss their sexual affairs or business with others.
20. Severely handicapped ( physically and mentally) people should not have sex.
21. There should be no loss prohibiting sexual acts between consenting adults.
22. What to consenting adults do together sexually is there own business.
23. There is too much sex on television.
24. News today are sexually explicit.
25. Pornography should be banned from all book stores.

 

LIMITATIONS

The study is limited by the small size and results may be treated as preliminary. The sample was not collected based on the academic year as the maturity levels would have been added to the sample. Like any other survey, which depends on the questionnaire method, this study also suffers from the limitations like inability to ascertain the truthfulness of the answers, more so when the issue under study is delicate, personal and prone to being misreported.

 

CONCLUSION

To conclude, the present study found increased frequency of sexual encounters, more sexual attitude and lesser sexual myths in medical students compared to non medical students, which might be due to more appropriate sexual knowledge among medical students among other factors. In light of this, it will be useful to incorporate courses on effective communication and human sexuality in the curriculum of non medical students which will enhance the students awareness of their own values and prejudices related to sexual myths and human sexuality.

 

REFERENCES

1. Sujata Sethi, Subhash C. Bhargava. Human sexuality: myths and realities. Journal of Mental Health and Human Behaviour 2002; 7 : 67-70.
2. Collins RL, Elliott MN, Berry SH, Kanouse DE, Kunkel D, Hunter SB, Miu A. Watching sex on television predicts adolescent initiation of sexual behavior. Pediatrics. 2004 Sep 1; 114(3):e280-9.
3. Martino SC, Collins RL, Elliott MN, Strachman A, Kanouse DE, Berry SH. Exposure to degrading versus nondegrading music lyrics and sexual behavior among youth. Pediatrics. 2006 Aug 1; 118(2):e430-41.
4. Brown JD, L'Engle KL, Pardun CJ, Guo G, Kenneavy K, Jackson C. Sexy media matter: exposure to sexual content in music, movies, television, and magazines predicts black and white adolescents' sexual behavior. Pediatrics. 2006 Apr 1;117(4):1018-27.
5. Kinsey AC. Sexual behavior in the human male, Philadelphia (WB Saunders Company) 1953.
6. Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WB, Martin CE, Gebhard PH. Sexual Behavior in the Human Female Philadelphia and London: Saunders.
7. Finer LB. Trends in premarital sex in the United States, 1954–2003. Public health reports. 2007 Jan; 122(1):73-8.
8. Stone N, Ingham R, Simkhada P. Knowledge of sexual health issues among unmarried young people in Nepal. Asia Pacific Population Journal. 2003 Jun 1; 18(2):33-54.
9. David O. Social influences as determinants of sexual attitudes and behaviours among adolescents of reproductive age in Nigeria. Pak. J. Soc. Sci. 2007; 4(2):169-74.
10. Nathawat SS, Gehlot S, Chand M, et al. Sexual attitudes and experiences of junior and senior medical students. Prasar: Contemporary journal of population and adult education 2002; 1: 35-42.
11. Hudson WW, Murphy GJ. Sexual attitude scale. Handbook of sexuality-related measures. 1998:83-4.
12. Kumar, P. Manual for sex myth checklist. Department of Psychology, Sardar Patel University; 1993.
13. Mudd JW, Siegel RJ. Sexuality- The experience and anxieties of medical students. New England Journal of Medicine. 1969 Dec 18; 281(25):1397-403.
14. Ozan S, Aras S, Semin S, Orcin E. Sexual attitudes and behaviors among medical students in DokuzEylul University, Turkey. The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care. 2005 Jan 1; 10(3):171-83.
15. Low WY. Impact of sexual health course on Malaysian university students. Med J Malaysia. 2004 Oct; 59(4):443-9.