Adolescents' sexual attitudes: a Mennonite sample

One hundred fifty-six adolescent respondents from the Virginia Mennonite Conference were surveyed regarding their perceived influences of their attitudes toward sexuality and the Mennonite Church's position on various sexual issues. The adolescents were more sure of their own beliefs about sexuality than they were about the church's position. The church was not perceived as a major source of influence on their attitudes when compared to friends, the media, and the family. A comparison of early and late adolescents did not reveal any significant difference in the amount of perceived influence of the church. The gender of the respondent was not found to differentiate significantly on any of the variables under investigation. The type of school the adolescent attended--either public or Mennonite--was related to a difference in the response to beliefs about premarital sex and pregnancy outside of marriage. Students at public schools held more accepting views on these issues.