This book combines illuminating personal stories and comprehensive survey data to provide the fullest portrait of heterosexuality among young adults ever produced. Digging underneath stereotypes and unexamined assumptions, the authors, Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker offer compelling answers to many questions. To better understand what motivates young adult's sexual decisions, the authors pay special attention to two important concepts: sexual scripts, the unwritten and often unconscious rules that guide sexual behavior and attitudes; and sexual economics, which suggests that both sexual norms and real behavior are affected by market forces that shape the 'price' of sex both within and outside of traditional relationships. This book serves as a touchstone for anyone wishing to understand how sexual relationships between young adults have changed and are continuing to change. -- Book Jacket.