The Filipino Adolescent Sexual Self-Concept: A Phenomenological Study

This phenomenological study was conducted primarily to describe the sexual selfconcept, sexual emotions, and sexual behavior of twenty-three (23) students of a prestigious university in Metro Manila. Since distress in their sexual self-concept is a critical area of development which adolescents commonly tend to experience, this study proposed a framework of adolescent sexuality based on reports of lived experiences of the participants of this research. Anchored on the theories of Impett and Tolman (2006) and O'Sullivan, Meyer-Bahlburg, and McKeague (2006) the study considered sexual selfconcept as a multidimensional construct that can describe the self-concept of Filipino adolescents in terms of their sexual being, sexual emotion and sexual behavior. A framework of an adolescent sexuality will be culled from the gathered data. Findings show the diversity of the participants’ procreative sexual self-concepts using the psycho-emotional, psycho-social and moral-ethical orientations. For them, sex is an expression of love and should be experienced within a relationship. However, sex is also an expression of freedom which can be experienced with any partner. For others, sex is a responsibility that should conform with moral and ethical rules. Various expressions of sexual feelings were described by the participants. Sometimes influenced by media, participants cited different preferences in displaying their affection publicly and privately. Moreover, they considered personal, and societal standards in doing so. The dynamism and complexity of the sexual emotion and sexual behavior of adolescents involves how they look, how others think about them, and how they feel about others and the society they live in. To the participants, (1) It is normal for humans to be sexual beings; (2) Sex is associated with responsibility; (3) Sex is an expression of love; (4) There is a development of rules for having sex among partners; and (5) There are modern day definitions of sex. This study showed that the development of one’s sexual self-concept, sexual emotion, and sexual behavior are important process and components in drawing the adolescent sexuality framework. This framework is an important resource for developing programs in guidance, assistance, and other counseling services, as well as for policy making in the universities or institutions for adolescents.