Political dissonance: The effect of political ideology on premarital sex Destini A. Smith, Lakin N. Douglas, Damien R. Jones, Alison J. Patev, & Kristina B. Hood, Ph.D. Mississippi State University Introduction Conservatives tend to think of premarital sex as more morally wrong compared to liberals (Gallup, 2003). Less permissive groups are more susceptible to outside forces affecting their attitudes towards premarital sex (Staples, 1978). Political ideologies reflect and reinforce preferences, styles, and activities (Jost, Federico, & Napier, 2009). Hypotheses H1: Conservatives will be less permissive of premarital sex than liberals. H2: Conservatives will be less likely to have premarital sex than liberals Measures The Liberalism Conservatism Scale, a five-point Likert scale, was used to measure political ideology. The item used was, “How would you describe your political outlook?” Experimenter-designed questions assessed acceptability and incidence of premarital sex. The items used were, “Rate how morally acceptable you think the following behaviors/ activities are – Premarital sex,” and, “Were you married the first time you had vaginal intercourse?” Method Undergraduate psychology students (N = 393) at a rural university in the southeastern United States participated in the Sexual ideology and sexual health study online via Qualtrics Online Survey Software. Participants received one hour of course credit for their participation. Participants Participants were 393 undergraduate students at a rural Southeastern university. The sample consisted of mostly freshman (44.9%), and was mostly Caucasian (65.1%) and female (65.4%). The mean age was 20.00 (SD = 2.739). In the sample, 43.9% identified their views as Conservative, 34.7% identified their views as moderately conservative and liberal, and 21.4% identified their views as Liberal. Further, 62.8% of the participants reported having had vaginal intercourse in their lifetime, and of those, 97.6% reported having a premarital sexual debut. Results A one-way analysis of variance found significant differences in likelihood, F (6, 238) = 3.06, p = .007, and permissibility, F (6, 241) = 2.92, p = .009, of premarital sex. Post hoc analyses found that conservatives were less likely to be permissive of premarital sex. However, contrary to prediction, very conservative individuals were more likely to have had premarital sex. Discussion The data reveals that though conservatives are less permissive of premarital sex, they are more likely to have had premarital sex. The results imply that there is dissonance between attitudes and behavior with regard to premarital sex. Limitations One limitation to this research is that data was collected in a conservative state; thus there wasn’t much variation in our sample. Further only one question assessed political outlook, which may not provide a holistic picture of one’s political views. Also, this study defined premarital sex as being unmarried at sexual debut. This definition may not be completely adequate to evaluate premarital sex. Conclusions Results can be implemented in prevention programs to help attitudes towards premarital sex more consistent with behaviors. Future research should examine how sexual ideology can affect the relationship between political ideology and premarital sex. References Gallup, G.H. (2003). Current views on premarital, extramarital sex. Gallup. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/8704/current-views-premarital-extramarital-sex.aspx Jost, J.T., Federico, C.M., & Napier, J.L (2009). Political ideology: Its structure, functions, and elective affinities. Annual Review of Psychology 60, 307-337. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163600 Staples, R. (1978). Race, liberalism-conservatism and premarital sexual permissiveness: A bi-racial comparison. Journal Of Marriage And The Family, 40(4), 733-742. doi:10.2307/351194