Is Teenage strongSexualstrong Behavior Rational1 - CMU.pdf

IsTeenage Sexual Behavior Rational?’ GEORGELOEWENSTEIN~ CarnegieMellon University FRANKFURSTENBERG Uniwrsity of Pennsylnaniu We evaluate the applicability of a decision making framework to the teenage contraceptive and sexual behavior of 1032 Philadelphia teenagers. We examine three reasons why the decision making perspective may not apply in this domain: (a) because the decision makers are teenagers, (b)because the decision concerns sexual behavior, and (c)because the costs of contraception and abstinence are im- mediate and certain, while the benefits are delayed and uncertain. Using multiple regression, we examine the predictors of sexual activity and contraceptive use. We find support for the decision making model in that the variables ordinarily in- cluded in decision analyses do significantly predict behavior. But respondents seem to place disproportionate weight on some considerations, such as the dis- comfort of using birth control, and very little on others, such as the effectivenessof birth control or their attitude toward motherhood. Increasingly, researchers interested in understanding teenage sexual behavior have begun to consider the transition to intercourse and use of contraception as outcomes of decisions. Whether or not to have sex and use birth control are weighed on the basis of the costs and benefits of sex, birth control, and pregnancy, and the perceived effectiveness of contraception. This perspective has profoundly influenced empirical research on teenage sexual decision behavior-the types of data that are collected, variables that are constructed, and analyses that are per- formed. Luker (1975) was the first to adopt a decision theoreti