Adolescent Date Selection

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate the factors which influence adolescents in selecting dating partners. The sample consisted of 801 high school students, of which 402 were male and 399 were female. The following independent variables were investigated; gender, age ethnicity, relationship status, and family structure. The dependent variables were the scores from the following subscales of the Date Selection Inventory: Personality, Physical, Prestige, and Total. Five composite null hypotheses were tested at the .0500 level. A three-way analysis of variance (general linear model) was employed for each composite null hypothesis. A total of 72 comparisons were made, plus 68 recurring. Of the 20 main effects, 12 were statistically significant at the .0500 level. The results of the present study appeared to support the following generalizations 1. Asian/Pacific high school students give more importance to Physical than Hispanic and students of Other nationality; 2. High school students not dating and those casually dating give Physical more importance than students married/living together; 3. Gender and age should be interpreted concurrently for Personality; 4. Age and nationality should be interpreted concurrently for Prestige; 5. Age and relationship status should be interpreted concurrently for Personality; 6. Gender and age should be interpreted concurrently for Physical; 7. Gender and age should be interpreted concurrently for Prestige; 8. Gender, age, and relationship status should be interpreted concurrently for Prestige; 9. Gender and age should be interpreted concurrently for Total; 10. Gender, age, and relationship status should be interpreted concurrently for Total; 11. Age and nationality should be interpreted concurrently for Prestige; 12. Age and nationality should be interpreted concurrently for Total; 13. Nationality and relationship status should be interpreted concurrently for Personality, and 14. Family structure, gender, and nationality should be interpreted concurrently for Personality.