Degree of permitted public displays of affection across different cultures?

Question

I am doing a school project in which I am comparing the degree of permitted public displays of affection (like holding hands, kissing, hugging, etc.) and the demographics of sexual intercourse (average age of first time, rate of pregnancy, etc.) Can you help me find reliable sources on this information? I don't even know where to begin looking.

It would also be helpful if I could also find a more quantitative measurement for the first comparison value, so instead of degree of permitted public displays of affection, I could use "percentage of under-18s that have talked about sex with their parents" or something like that.

Thanks very much.

Answer 1

1. You've got to look for yourself, because you won't find it all in one place - it's called research. lol Here's some help, as follows..

2. Public displays of affection
a) Indonesia
"Public displays of affection between the sexes (such as holding hands or kissing) are taboo (forbidden)."
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Germany-to-Jamaica/Indonesians.html
b) Hindu-Americans
"Touching or embracing are not acceptable for displaying affection. Even between spouses, a public display of affection such as hugging or kissing is frowned upon, being considered strictly a private matter."
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~efhayes/hindu.htm
c) Nepal
"Public displays of affection are not good manners"
http://www.nepaltrekadventures.com/aboutnepal.html
d) Algeria
"Public displays of affection—touching, hand-holding— between men and women are rare, but not between members of the same sex."
http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Algeria.html
e) Interracial
"interracial couples are less likely than intra-racial couples to exhibit public and private displays of affection"
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~vaquera/SSQ2005.pdf

3. First sexual experience
a) Asian American adolescents
Overall, 24% of young women and 20% of young men had had sexual intercourse.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3802806.html
b) Multicultural London
"Males generally reported more experience of sexual intercourse than females (38% versus 24%). Black Caribbean males were most likely to have experienced sex (65%) and Asians were generally the least likely of all groups to report experience of sexual intercourse, especially Asian females (12%)."
"Almost one-in-five (18%) reported their first sexual intercourse before the age of 16, with males twice as likely as females (24% versus 13%) to report underage sex. Ethnic differences followed sexual experience trends, with 48% of Black Caribbean males reporting having had underage sex compared to none in the group of Bangladeshi females."
[NB In UK, the term "Asian" means from the Indian sub-continent]
http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/B7DDFA75-203C-4F55-A034-D1652B9CB4E0.asp
c) Black/White/Hispanic USA
See table at foot of page
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5138a2.htm