Doing “a lot of learning myself”: how college students learn about sexual and dating relationships

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore how first-year college students learn about dating and sexual relationships prior to and during their first semester of college. Participants: Twenty-seven first-year students from two large public research universities participated in this study. Methods: Participants engaged in an initial interview at the beginning of their first-semester of college, completed eight weekly journal prompts throughout the semester, and participated in a follow-up focus group or interview at the end of the semester. Results: Students learn about sex and dating by 1) directly receiving information, 2) observing others and the media, 3) engaging in sexual and dating relationships themselves, and 4) filling gaps through searching for information. Conclusions: Employing the concept of conscientization and social cognitive theory, we demonstrate that students learn more from experiences and their family and peers’ behaviors, as school-based education does not critically engage students to deepen their understanding. We discuss implications for campus sex education and sexual violence prevention programming.