Is teen sex wrong? (Demographic Patterns)

There's been a lot of discussion about the way morals and attitudes about sex are changing in this country. If [a man and a woman] are in their early teens, say fourteen to sixteen years old, in that case, do you think sex relations before marriage are always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at all? Results weighted by WTCOMBNR (General Social Survey 2010 Cross-Section and Panel Combined)

Is teen sex wrong? by Sex

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Always wrong	60.9% 922	71.6% 1280	66.7% 2202
Almost always wrong	18.6% 282	15.1% 269	16.7% 551
Sometimes wrong	12.3% 186	8.8% 158	10.4% 344
Not wrong at all	6.5% 99	3.9% 69	5.1% 168
Dont know	1.4% 21	0.3% 5	0.8% 26
No answer	0.3% 4	0.3% 6	0.3% 10
Missing	743	857	1600
TOTAL	100.0% 1514	100.0% 1787	3301

Is teen sex wrong? by Political ideology

	Extremely liberal or liberal	Slightly liberal	Moderate	Slightly conservative	Conservative	Extremely conservative	Missing	TOTAL
Always wrong	48.3% 251	55.8% 235	67.4% 769	73.2% 355	82.8% 425	80.2% 105	62	66.6% 2140
Almost always wrong	21.5% 112	24.2% 102	16.6% 189	15.3% 74	10.1% 52	9.9% 13	8	16.9% 542
Sometimes wrong	18.1% 94	12.1% 51	10.3% 117	8.5% 41	4.5% 23	5.3% 7	10	10.4% 333
Not wrong at all	10.4% 54	5.9% 25	4.5% 51	3.1% 15	2.3% 12	4.6% 6	6	5.1% 163
Dont know	1.0% 5	1.9% 8	0.8% 9	0.0% 0	0.2% 1	0.0% 0	3	0.7% 23
No answer	0.8% 4	0.0% 0	0.5% 6	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0	0.3% 10
Missing	259	177	582	184	280	62	0	1544
TOTAL	100.0% 520	100.0% 421	100.0% 1141	100.0% 485	100.0% 513	100.0% 131	89	3211

Is teen sex wrong? by Age

	18 to 29 years old	30 to 44 years old	45 to 59 years old	60 to 74 years old	75 years or older	Missing	TOTAL
Always wrong	53.4% 354	62.8% 543	73.9% 688	72.8% 423	73.0% 157	36	66.5% 2165
Almost always wrong	18.4% 122	18.5% 160	14.9% 139	15.1% 88	17.7% 38	4	16.8% 547
Sometimes wrong	18.9% 125	11.2% 97	7.2% 67	7.6% 44	4.7% 10	0	10.5% 343
Not wrong at all	8.1% 54	6.6% 57	3.3% 31	3.4% 20	1.4% 3	2	5.1% 165
Dont know	1.1% 7	0.7% 6	0.4% 4	0.3% 2	2.3% 5	2	0.7% 24
No answer	0.2% 1	0.1% 1	0.2% 2	0.7% 4	0.9% 2	1	0.3% 10
Missing	304	439	478	246	129	0	1596
TOTAL	100.0% 663	100.0% 864	100.0% 931	100.0% 581	100.0% 215	45	3254

Is teen sex wrong? by Region

	Northeast	Midwest	South	West	TOTAL
Always wrong	56.8% 330	69.0% 493	72.6% 920	62.2% 460	66.7% 2203
Almost always wrong	19.1% 111	15.2% 109	14.0% 177	20.7% 153	16.7% 550
Sometimes wrong	13.4% 78	11.5% 82	8.5% 108	10.3% 76	10.4% 344
Not wrong at all	9.1% 53	3.4% 24	3.9% 50	5.5% 41	5.1% 168
Dont know	1.4% 8	0.6% 4	0.5% 6	1.1% 8	0.8% 26
No answer	0.2% 1	0.4% 3	0.5% 6	0.1% 1	0.3% 11
Missing	263	338	610	388	1599
TOTAL	100.0% 581	100.0% 715	100.0% 1267	100.0% 739	3302

Is teen sex wrong? by Religion

	Protestant	Catholic	Jewish	None	Other	Missing	TOTAL
Always wrong	76.0% 1184	68.3% 570	45.0% 27	43.8% 247	62.0% 160	14	66.8% 2188
Almost always wrong	13.1% 204	16.0% 134	30.0% 18	24.6% 139	19.4% 50	5	16.6% 545
Sometimes wrong	6.8% 106	10.5% 88	20.0% 12	19.3% 109	10.1% 26	3	10.4% 341
Not wrong at all	3.5% 54	4.4% 37	5.0% 3	10.5% 59	4.7% 12	3	5.0% 165
Dont know	0.4% 7	0.4% 3	0.0% 0	1.2% 7	2.7% 7	2	0.7% 24
No answer	0.1% 2	0.4% 3	0.0% 0	0.5% 3	1.2% 3	0	0.3% 11
Missing	778	410	33	246	126	0	1593
TOTAL	100.0% 1557	100.0% 835	100.0% 60	100.0% 564	100.0% 258	27	3274

Is teen sex wrong? by Race

	White	Black	Other	TOTAL
Always wrong	67.2% 1691	69.7% 315	59.6% 196	66.7% 2202
Almost always wrong	17.8% 448	10.4% 47	16.7% 55	16.7% 550
Sometimes wrong	9.8% 248	11.1% 50	14.0% 46	10.4% 344
Not wrong at all	4.2% 107	8.2% 37	7.0% 23	5.1% 167
Dont know	0.6% 15	0.2% 1	2.7% 9	0.8% 25
No answer	0.4% 9	0.4% 2	0.0% 0	0.3% 11
Missing	1209	209	183	1601
TOTAL	100.0% 2518	100.0% 452	100.0% 329	3299

Is teen sex wrong? by Church attendance

	Less than once a year	Once a year	Several times a year	One to three times a month	Nearly every week	Once a week or more	Missing	TOTAL
Always wrong	54.6% 531	55.5% 259	65.3% 203	70.5% 360	73.0% 108	82.4% 524	216	65.2% 1985
Almost always wrong	21.9% 213	22.5% 105	19.3% 60	15.9% 81	12.2% 18	8.8% 56	18	17.5% 533
Sometimes wrong	13.9% 135	15.0% 70	9.0% 28	9.8% 50	8.1% 12	5.8% 37	12	10.9% 332
Not wrong at all	8.4% 82	6.4% 30	5.8% 18	2.3% 12	6.1% 9	1.9% 12	4	5.4% 163
Dont know	1.0% 10	0.2% 1	0.3% 1	0.6% 3	0.7% 1	0.9% 6	4	0.7% 22
No answer	0.2% 2	0.4% 2	0.3% 1	1.0% 5	0.0% 0	0.2% 1	0	0.4% 11
Missing	441	215	199	274	61	278	0	1468
TOTAL	100.0% 973	100.0% 467	100.0% 311	100.0% 511	100.0% 148	100.0% 636	254	3046

Notes

The General Social Surveys (GSS) have been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) annually since 1972, except for the years 1979, 1981, and 1992 (a supplement was added in 1992), and biennially beginning in 1994. The GSS are designed to be part of a program of social indicator research, replicating questionnaire items and wording in order to facilitate time-trend studies. This data file has all cases and variables asked on the 2010 GSS. There are a total of 4,901 cases in the data set but their initial sampling years vary because the GSS now contains panel cases. Sampling years can be identified with the variable SAMPTYPE.