ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to transcend this individualistic approach and stress the relational dimension of sexual life from a sociological perspective. First we move from individual sexual behaviours to interpersonal-oriented sexual behaviour. Like all personal relations, sexual relations are embedded in personal networks. The relational perspective on sexual behaviour makes it necessary to understand how personal networks are formed and maintained and which functions they can fulfil. Among these functions we emphasize the production and reinforcement of collective norms of sexual behaviour, conditioned by specific properties of networks.
