General Shifts In Attitudes Toward Sex: Are Millennials More Accepting?

New findings presented in the Archives of Sexual Behavior examined a substantial generational shift in attitudes toward non-marital sex and the number of sexual partners involved.

"The changes are primarily due to generation -- suggesting people develop their sexual attitudes while young, rather than everyone of all ages changing at the same time," lead study author Jean Twenge, said in a news release. "This has caused a large generation gap in both attitudes toward premarital sex and number of sexual partners."

For the study, researchers analyzed data from the General Social Survey, a nationally representative survey that involves over 33,000 U.S. adults taken between 1972 and 2012.

Researchers found generational shifts in attitudes toward non-marital sex and the number of sexual partners involved, with the biggest changes between those born in the early 1900s and the Boomers born in the 1940s-1950s. For instance, 1980s-1990s born Millennials are typically more accepting of premarital sex than their 1960s-born GenX parents. And after struggling to change much during the 1980s and 1990s, acceptance of premarital sex increased from 42 percent in 2000 to 58 percent in 2012.

Acceptance of same-sex relations also grew. Findings revealed that it more than triped from 13 percent in 1990 to 44 percent in 2012. The number of sexual partners (controlled for age) also shifted substantially, from 2.16 for the Greatest Generation to 11.68 for 1950s-born Boomers and 8.26 for Millennials.

"Millennials are more accepting of premarital sex than any previous generation, yet have had fewer sexual partners than GenX'ers," Twenge added. "This is consistent with their image as a tolerant, individualistic generation accepting others' choices and making their own."

Could growing cultural individualism be the reason why? 

"When the culture places more emphasis on the needs of the self and less on social rules, more relaxed attitudes toward sexuality are the almost inevitable result."