Social Exchange and Sexual Behavior in Young Women's Premarital Relationships in Kenya
Open accessAbstract
Transactional sex, or the exchange of money and gifts for sexual activities within nonmarital relationships, has been widely considered a contributing factor to the disproportionate prevalence of HIV/AIDS among young women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study applied social exchange theory to premarital relationships in order to investigate the linkages between a variety of young women's resources-including employment and material transfers from male partners-and sexual behaviors. Data on the first month of premarital relationships (N=551 relationships) were collected from a random sample of young adult women ages 18-24 in Kisumu, Kenya, using a retrospective life history calendar. Consistent with the hypotheses, results showed that young women's income increases the likelihood of safer sexual activities, including delaying sex and using condoms consistently. Material transfers from the male partner displayed the opposite effect, supporting the view that resources obtained from within the relationship decrease young women's negotiating power.
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Economic transfers from men to women have been associated with unprotected sex and with HIV seropositivity.
“These economic transfers from men to women have been linked to unprotected sex [10, 19, 20] and HIV seropositivity [21].”
From Relationship power and sexual violence among HIV-positive women in rural Uganda (2016) · cites this paper as [19]
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- Authors
- Luke, N., Goldberg, R. E., Mberu, B. U., & Zulu, E. M.
- Affiliations
- Brown University (US)
- African Population and Health Research Center (KE)
- African Institute for Development Policy (KE)
- Venue
- Journal of Marriage and Family
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-09-28
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1048-1064
- ISSN
- 0022-2445 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3237055
- OpenAlex
- W2022110582
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 77
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 8.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Marriage and the Family (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R21HD053587, R24HD041020, T32HD007338)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Marriage and Sexual Relationships
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Sex work and related issues
- Keywords
- transactional sex, social exchange theory, premarital relationships, young women, sexual behavior, HIV/AIDS risk, condom use, sexual initiation, material transfer, women's income, bargaining power, gender inequality, Kenya
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