Sexual Behavior

Abstract

All societies have moral rules regulating sexual behavior. These rules are very different from society to society, and although the de facto enforced rules are not always in agreement with the written rules, they are usually sufficiently specific to be studied and compared with reasonable accuracy. Comparison of the sexual morals of various societies reveals a distinct connection between the morals and the social structure. Goethals (1978) finds that the strongest sanctions against premarital sex are found in complex patriarchal societies. More generally speaking, it can be said that regal societies have strict sexual morals, whereas kalyptic societies are more liberal. This connection is quite analogous to what applies to other areas of morality, but still puzzling because there is no obvious rational or functionalistic explanation for the sexual morals.