A survey of the users of an online computer-mediated matchmaking service showed that their communication patterns and objectives varied by their sex, shyness level, and appearance. Intrinsic aspects of this system helped some users overcome relationship-initiation barriers rooted in sex role, shyness, and appearance inhibitions. (Author)

Explores the relationships among family interactions, personality variables, and courtship violence for 311 African American college students who were dating. Findings indicate that more than half had been verbally aggressive to a partner. Forty-seven percent of females and 35% of males reported at least one act of physical violence. (SLD)

Compared date rape attitudes in college students who did and did not complete a mixed-gender date rape workshop. Survey results indicated men were more tolerant of date rape than women; control group students were more tolerant than treatment group students; and men exhibited a greater program effect than women. (SM)

This study of 1,478 adolescents who attended 10 private schools tested an integrative theoretical model of sexually active peer association. The model consisted of social control elements, family and peer linkage factors, peer bonding, coercive relationship variables, and acceptance seeking. Results suggest the relevance of social control elements…

Survey vignette methodology was used to investigate undergraduate and graduate students' beliefs about what constitutes abusive behaviors in dating relationships. Although both contextual and demographic factors, especially gender and sexual orientation, affected student judgments of abusiveness, student characteristics explained relatively little…

Several theoretical perspectives regarding the manner in which parental behavior might increase the probability that an adolescent will engage in dating violence were tested using 113 adolescent males. Frequent exposure to corporal punishment increased the risk of dating violence; interparental aggression did not. Low support and involvement by…

Investigated implications of body-fat differences for dating and sexual activity and implications of heterosexual activity for dieting and weight concerns in adolescent girls. Found that among white girls, and blacks with college-educated mothers, more body fat was associated with lower dating probability, even among non-obese girls. Body fat was…

Compares recent dating experiences involving wanted and unwanted sexual contact, and investigates ethnic differences in dating. Findings from 267 female and 148 male community college students are similar to those found in a study by C. L. Muehlenhard and M. L. Linton (1987) for risk factors of unwanted sex. Responses were similar among ethnic…

To determine if the content in a sexual health fair was appropriate, a survey of 45 Ontario students in grades 9-10 assessed their knowledge of sexual health. Findings indicate that students had basic knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases, anatomy, and pregnancy prevention, but not about behavior in relationships. The health fair provided…

We examine whether self-esteem and depressive symptoms influence sexual onset when important controls such as age, dating, race, and income are examined. Analyses are based on the first two waves of the restricted-use sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. We examine adolescents who reported at wave 1 that they had not had…

This paper reports on a study of heterosexual adolescent dating violence among secondary school students in a South African community. Approximately half of the surveyed males, and just over half of the surveyed females reported involvement in a physically violent dating relationship either as a perpetrator and/or victim. The study found…

This study examined the effects of past and concurrent family conflict on adolescents' attitudes toward marriage and behavior in dating relationships. Participants were 75 adolescents who were part of a 7-year project that began when they were in fifth grade. Over 95 percent of their families were of European-American origin, with diversity in…

This is a report of a survey conducted to explore the relationships between dating patterns, dating preferences, and stereotypes of black and white Americans, among black college students on predominantly white campuses. Seventy-eight single black college students, ranging in age from 17 to 22 years old, and attending two predominantly white…

This paper reports on a study of teenage sexual activity and pregnancy in Utah, conducted to understand ways of dealing with the State's rising adolescent fertility rate. The paper identifies social and cultural characteristics which distinguish sexually active youth from their abstinent peers. Related research is reviewed and methodology is…

Individual differences in the motivation and skill to manage impressions can be measured by the Self-Monitoring Scale. "Blind" dating encounters were established to investigate whether complementarity rather than similarity in partner's self-monitoring would lead to greater attraction and satisfaction with the relationship. College students (N=64…