ABSTRACT
Sexual communication is the means by which individuals come to select potential partners for sexual relations, and through which the meanings, functions, and effects of sexual relations are negotiated. Most cultures, relationships, and individuals develop standard expectancies and practices through which sexual relations are initiated and completed. These standard expectancies and practices can be viewed as scripts that identify some degree of the content, sequence, and boundaries of appropriate behavior for pursuing, negotiating, and enacting the sexual act. This chapter reviews the research relevant to sexual scripts as well as their descriptive and explanatory value in depicting communication and sexual relations. Scripts are shown to reveal both competent and incompetent influences in the unfolding of sexual interactions.
