Annette: You are right that age at marriage and age at the birth of your first child probably has been increasing (certainly age of first marriage has been increasing) but I also know that age at menarche has been steadily decreasing. This is leading to a much wider gap between when a person can reproduce and when society says they are ready to start a family.
Rick Dr. Rick Froman Associate Professor of Psychology John Brown University 2000 W. University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (479) 524-7295 http://www.jbu.edu/academics/sbs/faculty/rfroman.asp -----Original Message----- From: Annette Taylor, Ph. D. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 12:56 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: Questions about adolescent sexuality Quoting Jean-Marc Perreault <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > 3. Our society is going faster and faster. My generation was earlier > than my parents', and perhaps the trend is simply still going. Puberty > hits earlier today than it did 100 years ago. This is bound to influence > the desire for sex. > Are you sure? I have this impression that when infant mortality was higher and life expectancy was shorter people were having children (thus they were sexually active) at a MUCH younger so that they could produce as many offspring as possible that might survive to their reproductive age. In fact, it seems that over the last 20-40 years the average age of childbirth has risen, although I don't have a statistic to back that up and do not feel motivated enough to give up grading papers and writing a manuscript to do so; but someone correct me if I'm wrong here. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Department of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
