Influence of Religiosity, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Sensation Seeking on Sociosexuality in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

Sociosexuality is a sexual risk behaviour, which poses public health concerns. This study aimed at determining some predictors of sociosexuality among young adults in Accra, Ghana. A sample size of 315 (164 = males, 151 = females) was recruited for this study. Participants completed questionnaires assessing dimensions of sociosexuality (i. e. sociosexual behaviour, sociosexual attitude, and sociosexual desire), sexual sensation seeking, sexual attitudes, dimensions of religiosity, and personality. Hierarchical linear regression procedures were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that sexual sensation seeking was a significant positive predictor of sociosexual attitude, desire, and behaviour. Sexual attitudes were a significant positive predictor of sociosexual attitudes, desire, and behaviour. Also, dimensions of religiosity had a negative relationship with sociosexuality but this relationship was not significant. Moreover, sexual attitudes and religiosity moderated the relationship between sexual sensation seeking and sociosexuality. MANOVA results also revealed that there were statistically significant differences in all three dependent variables by gender. These results indicate that for policymakers to make good policies that can help reduce risky sexual behaviours associated with sociosexuality, sexual attitudes and sexual sensation seeking among young adults should be targeted for intervention.