Sex Life on Campus: Psychosocial Variables and the Sexual Attitudes of Students in Tertiary Institutions: Implications for Sexuality Education

Colleges and Universities are micro-communities that naturally reflect the wider society. When students thus converge from their diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, their psycho-academic interactions tend to be spiced with cultural, behavioural, and personal diversities. This in turn results in psychosocial acculturation that has a persuasive influence on students' personality development. Such influence may be healthy or maladaptive. The general public outcry on the sexuality of tertiary institution students derives from the expectation that these students are to contribute to all spheres of communal life development?serving as personality models for the younger generation. The challenge for college Counsellors in the area of sexuality counselling and education has hitherto hinged on having a sound understanding of the variables at the root of students' sexual maladjustment. This publication therefore examines the psychosocial variables believed to subtly sustain sexual maladjustment among students in tertiary institutions. Also, measures that could be employed in sexuality education to forestall the influence of the identified variables are discussed.