The Role of Personality Correlates and Threat Perception in Attitudes Toward Sex Education

Abstract

This study investigated the role of moral foundations, regulatory focus, and threat perception in attitudes toward sex education using a crowd-sourced sample of 473 participants (48% women, 52% men; ages 18-80, median age 33.5). Two dimensions of attitudes were identified (58.2% of total variance): Pragmatism, reflecting importance of sex education and its focus on tangible outcomes; and Moral Threat, reflecting perceptions that sex education could be threatening to moral values about sexuality or have harmful moral consequences. Regression analysis showed that combining social conservatism, religious attendance, moral foundations, and regulatory focus accounts for 37% of variance explained in Pragmatism and 44% in Moral Threat (p<.001). Mediation analyses indicated that most effects were direct rather than conveyed through threat perception. Findings showed that regulatory fit is unlikely to improve communication effectiveness of sex education materials, yet individualizing moral foundations and promotion focus represent promising targets for future research.