The problem of sexual culture and values of young people is one of the major problems of our time. Modern youth live outside the rules and regulations governing sexuality, formed under the influence of the sexual revolution. Thanks to medical advances, young people have increased sexual activity and the age of sexual intercourse has become younger. In such circumstances, the development and shaping of young people's sexual culture is of particular importance. The article deals with sexual culture and behaviour of modern youth, factors influencing its formation.
The aim of the study is to examine the peculiarities of sexual culture and values of young people. The empirical base of sociological research consists of young people aged 18 to 29 years from 6 regions of Kazakhstan. The total number of respondents were 1200 (200 respondents from each region). The study was conducted by questionnaire method. The survey data were processed in the SPSS 22 statistical programme.
The study identified reasons why young people delay or do not have sex: not being ready for intercourse, risk of contracting infectious diseases and unwillingness to upset their parents. The ways of obtaining information about physiological changes in puberty in young people are determined by formal and informal factors. The formal factors include internet resources, television, and non-formal factors are mother, family or personal search for information.
The results obtained are of practical importance for the analysis of the specifics of sexual culture of young people, identification of factors and contradictions influencing its formation, development of programmes of sexual education in schools and higher educational institutions. Accordingly, the results of the study can be used to develop youth policy programs on sex education and training concerning issues of sexual culture and behavior of young people.