Why Wait ‘til Marriage? The Determinants of Premarital Sex among Adolescents in a Country in Sub-Saharan Africa: Botswana

The purpose of the study was to describe the premarital sexual behaviors of Botswana adolescents and examine the factors associated with premarital sex intentions. An anonymous self-reported questionnaire was administered to 1,054 pupils ages 10 to 18 years in school and out of school. The findings indicate that the theory of planned behavior provides a model for developing interventions to reduce the risk behavior in regard to HIV/AIDS through premarital sex. The findings in the study indicate factors that influence adolescent intentions to engage in premarital sexual intercourse and the need to address these when designing effective interventions.     

Signs of Divorce Before Marriage: The Role of Premarital Events in Iran

Premarital relationships form the basis for couples’ future relationships. There are certain factors in couples’ premarital relationships that could play a role in divorce. This study was conducted to investigate the role of premarital events (courtship, engagement, and Nikah [marriage]) in marital conflicts leading to divorce. In this qualitative study, which was carried out in Iran using the phenomenological method, 23 divorced applicants were purposefully selected, and their experiences and perceptions were examined. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Analysis of interviews showed that little opportunity to get to know each other, neglecting the guidance of family members, disregarding signs of defect in the spouse, starting and continuing the relationship with lies and secrecy, infidelity, financial problems, and eventually ignoring the spouse’s appearance and its underestimation during the courtship period are special factors that predispose couples to divorce; however, couples, due to the special context of their relationships, ignore these factors. The findings of the study include implications for couple therapists, counselors, and couples’ families, and they can be useful in premarital education and postmarital interventions.     

Gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors: a review of meta-analytic results and large datasets

Gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors are typically believed to be large, yet recent evidence suggests that some gender differences in sexuality are much smaller than common knowledge would suggest. This article reviews gender differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors as reported by major meta-analyses and large datasets. In particular, this article reviews gender differences in heterosexual intercourse, masturbation, pornography use, attitudes toward premarital sex, and gender differences in same-gender sexuality. Evolutionary psychology, social cognitive learning theory, and social structural theory are explored as possible explanations for gender differences in sexuality.     

Financial Attitudes and Responsible Spending Behavior of Emerging Adults: Does Geographic Location Matter?

The current study examined the role of geographic location on financial achievement attitudes, financial power attitudes, and responsible spending behaviors of emerging adults from a family financial socialization model perspective. Using data from the Emerging Adult Financial Capability Study (EAFCS), the sample consisted of emerging adult college students (N?=?2847) from three unique regions in the United States as well as students from Portugal. Hierarchical linear regression and ANOVA models were used to examine the patterns of similarities and differences among regions according to the family financial socialization model. Results suggest that financial achievement attitudes, financial power attitudes, and responsible spending behaviors differ across locations. Results also revealed that greater financial achievement attitudes and power attitudes were associated with fewer responsible spending behaviors. Results did not indicate that geographic location moderated the link between financial achievement attitudes or power attitudes and spending behaviors. The results suggest that financial education be adapted and conducted in a way that targets particular financial attitudes specific to each distinct region.     

Developmental Patterns in Marital Satisfaction: Another Look at Covenant Marriage

This study investigated differences in the trajectory of marital satisfaction in the first 7 years between couples in covenant versus standard marriages. The authors analyzed data on 707 Louisiana marriages from the Marriage Matters Panel Survey of Newlywed Couples, 1998–2004, using multivariate longitudinal growth modeling. When the sample was restricted to couples who remained married over the duration of the study, a marginal benefit of covenant status was found for husbands. This effect was largely accounted for by covenant husbands' more extensive exposure to premarital counseling. The linear decline in marital satisfaction over time that obtained for both husbands and wives was not, however, any different for covenant marriages versus standard marriages. Couples characterized by more traditional attitudes toward gender roles were significantly less satisfied than others. High premarital risk factors, initial uncertainty about marrying the spouse, and the presence of preschool‐age children in the household were all corrosive of marital satisfaction at any given time.     

Reducing HIV/AIDS high-risk behavior among injection drug users: peers vs. education

This study examines the effects of peer groups and education on risk behavior for HIV among injection drug users (IDUs). The sample consisted of 682 participants in the Eastern Connecticut Health Outreach project, which compares traditional and peer-driven outreach interventions for IDUs. Participants are educated about safer injecting, subsequently administered a risk-reduction knowledge test, and given an extensive interview. Logistic regression shows that education alone is not a significant factor in reducing risky behavior in IDUs among the behaviors studied. A significant interaction was found between peer support for safer use and personal saliency of peer attitudes for both syringe and water sharing. Neither peer attitudes nor education affected cooker sharing. These results suggest that while education may be an important component in any intervention, it is not alone sufficient to reduce risky behavior. Our findings suggest that peer-directed interventions may be useful in reducing some forms of risk behavior among IDUs.     

Gender Differences in the Professional Orientations of Protestant Clergy

The literature on gender differences in orientations to work among Protestant clergy has been mixed, but generally points to the hypothesis that female clergy hold fewer career and professional work values than their male counterparts. This expectation flies in the face, however, of other more general population studies that show women and men hold similar work values and orientations to work. Using a national sample of clergy from two Protestant denominations, we test for gender differences in these values and orientations. Consistent with the general population findings, female clergy have professional values and orientations that are just as strong, if not stronger than those of male clergy.     

Permissive attitudes toward sexual behaviors: A clarification of theoretical explanations

Theory and research regarding permissive or nonpermissive attitudes toward sexual behaviors have contained apparent contradictions: Those maintaining that men and women differ in permissiveness rely on differential socialization theory; those maintaining that men and women share a common level of permissiveness suggest new cohort‐wide values as the explanation; and, discounting male/female differences, permissiveness has been held to vary by degree of involvement in familial or courtship processes. Questionnaire responses of 138 college students' attitudes toward seven sexual situations were analyzed by respondents' sex, class standing, attitude toward divorce, courtship status, and perception of parents' marital happiness. Results provided support for each of the theoretical explanations. Permissiveness varied by each of the independent variables and by specific sexual behaviors (e.g., premarital sexual intercourse, cohabitation, communal living, the nexus between pre‐ and extramarital sex and marital happiness, and the connection between each spouse's infidelity and divorce). Thus, simple theoretical explanations of permissiveness or its absence appear to be unwarranted. Behaviors must be specified and background variables must be taken into account.     

Revising Premarital Relationship Interventions for the Next Generation

In this article, we review research on contemporary social trends that influence the next generation's ability to form and sustain a healthy marriage. As a result, we argue for greater attention to premarital interventions for engaged couples to help the next generation address the potential challenges created by these trends. After we briefly review the current state of premarital education and counseling, we examine four general, interrelated social trends: individualism and commitment ambivalence, changing attitudes about marriage, premarital relationship histories, and the omnipresent media environment. In addition, we offer four general proposals corresponding to these trends that we believe will enhance the future effectiveness of premarital interventions. We urge premarital educators and counselors to evaluate their current interventions with these proposals in mind.     

Ambivalent sexism and attitudes toward women who engage in premarital sex in Turkey

This study examined the relationship of ambivalent sexism, political conservatism, demographic variables (age, education, and gender), and prior sexual experience to Turkish men s and women s attitudes toward women who engage in premarital sex. Participants included 124 Turkish undergraduate students and 60 nonstudent Turkish adults. Benevolent but not hostile sexism uniquely predicted more negative views of women who engage in premarital sex once other variables were controlled. Regression analyses demonstrated that for both men and women, older, more politically conservative and less sexually experienced respondents and more educated men (but not women) respondents were more likely to disapprove of women who engage in premarital sex. Similarly, regression analysis revealed that men who were older, politically conservative, and less sexually experienced expressed stronger preferences for marrying a virgin. Both hostile and benevolent sexism predicted men s preference for marrying a virgin after all other variables were controlled.     

Premarital Sex,Premarital Cohabitation,and the Risk of Subsequent Marital Dissolution Among Women

Using nationally representative data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, I estimate the association between intimate premarital relationships (premarital sex and premarital cohabitation) and subsequent marital dissolution. I extend previous research by considering relationship histories pertaining to both premarital sex and premarital cohabitation. I find that premarital sex or premarital cohabitation that is limited to a woman's husband is not associated with an elevated risk of marital disruption. However, women who have more than one intimate premarital relationship have an increased risk of marital dissolution. These results suggest that neither premarital sex nor premarital cohabitation by itself indicate either preexisting characteristics or subsequent relationship environments that weaken marriages. Indeed, the findings are consistent with the notion that premarital sex and cohabitation limited to one's future spouse has become part of the normal courtship process for marriage.     

Ambivalent sexism and attitudes toward women who engage in premarital sex in Turkey

This study examined the relationship of ambivalent sexism, political conservatism, demographic variables (age, education, and gender), and prior sexual experience to Turkish men's and women's attitudes toward women who engage in premarital sex. Participants included 124 Turkish undergraduate students and 60 nonstudent Turkish adults. Benevolent but not hostile sexism uniquely predicted more negative views of women who engage in premarital sex once other variables were controlled. Regression analyses demonstrated that for both men and women, older, more politically conservative and less sexually experienced respondents and more educated men (but not women) respondents were more likely to disapprove of women who engage in premarital sex. Similarly, regression analysis revealed that men who were older, politically conservative, and less sexually experienced expressed stronger preferences for marrying a virgin. Both hostile and benevolent sexism predicted men's preference for marrying a virgin after all other variables were controlled.     

The Influence of Religion on Latino Education,Marriage, and Social Views in the United States

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life National Survey (n = 2,060) data set to examine the relationship between religious affiliation and commitment and education, marital status, and social views in the U.S. Latino community. The findings indicate that religious affiliation and high rates of religious participation and commitment are important factors that are positively and negatively related to Latino education, marriage, and social action. This study found a positive relationship between high rates of religious participation and commitment and high rates of marriage, social action, and conservative views on church–state relations and social issues like abortion and homosexual relations, but not on other social views like the death penalty and the ordination of women. In general, conservative religiosity (in this case Protestant Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism) is positively related to high rates of marriage and social action. However, the data also suggest that high rates of religious participation and commitment do not necessarily result in higher income and educational levels, although this may be due to the fact that many Latinos recently converted from Catholicism to Protestantism and thus have not had a chance to adopt and benefit from Protestant educational attitudes and resources.     

Cognitive Coping Strategies of Newlyweds Adjusting to Marriage

The current study focused on the cognitive strategies newlyweds used to cope with distress due to adjustments during the transition to marriage. Forty-two recently married husbands and wives (21 couples) were interviewed, and a qualitative thematic analysis was used in the investigation. Several themes emerged regarding the types of cognitive coping strategies that have potential to add nuanced understanding of some formerly identified cognitive processes, which may have helped maintain satisfying relationships in the midst of unexpected adjustments. The implications for explaining the paradoxical nature of the transition to marriage and for further research and application toward premarital education are discussed.     

Attitudes Toward Premarital Sex in Contemporary Vietnam: Findings from a National Survey

ABSTRACT

Despite growing concerns over increasingly relaxed sexual culture in Vietnam, population-based research that investigates the openness to premarital sex in contemporary Vietnam remains scarce. Using data from the Vietnam Population and AIDS Indicator Survey 2005, this study examined the acceptance toward premarital sex and documented significant differences in attitudes by gender, age, and marital status. Attitudes of Vietnamese toward premarital sex generally remained conservative. Men were more permissive than women. Among both male and female respondents, higher acceptance levels were reported to men's practice of premarital sex than to women's same practice. Unmarried respondents were more open than those who were married. A growing openness toward premarital sex among the younger age was found only among the married. Results suggest the coexistence of traditional values and a growing permissiveness toward premarital sex in Vietnam.     

Community Effects on Youth Sexual Activity

Using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Children, we examined the impact of community socioeconomic status on four dimensions of adolescent and young adult premarital sexual activity—the timing of first intercourse, the frequency of intercourse, the number of different sex partners, and the likelihood of engaging in unprotected intercourse. We found significant positive effects of a multiitem index of community socioeconomic disadvantage on all but the timing of first premarital intercourse, net of controls for the socioeconomic and demographic status of adolescents and their families. None of the most commonly cited explanations for neighborhood effects on adolescent behavior can fully explain these associations. Only the attitudes and behaviors of peers account for even a small portion of the observed impact of community disadvantage on youth sexual behavior. Adolescents' acceptance of premarital childbearing, educational aspirations and attachment to school, and parental supervision, although frequently associated with youth sexual behavior, do little to mediate the impact of community disadvantage on sexual activity.     

Long-Term Changes in Attitudes Toward Premarital Sex in the United States: Reexamining the Role of Cohort Replacement

Attitudes toward premarital sex in the United States have changed considerably since the 1970s. However, it is unclear whether these changes are due to cohort replacement, broader changes within cohorts, or a combination of the two processes. We examined within- and between-cohort changes in attitudes toward premarital sex in the United States from 1975 to 2008 using hierarchical age-period-cohort models based on data from the General Social Survey. We used a religious plausibility structure framework to examine several possible mechanisms for within- and between-cohort variation in premarital sex attitudes over time, including changes in religious participation, marital patterns, and family structure. The results provided mixed support for our hypotheses. Attitudes toward premarital sex became more permissive over time in the United States in part because of the process of cohort replacement, but the level of permissiveness peaked with the baby boomer cohorts. This cohort effect is due in part to differences in rates of religious service attendance and educational attainment. However, the overall increase in permissive attitudes toward premarital sex is also due to period effects that are not captured by the measures included in our analyses.     

Premarital Sexual Intercourse and Axiomatic Theory Construction*

Axiomatic theory construction was used in this study to analyze the likelihood of participation in premarital sexual intercourse by college women. The sample consisted of 754 never-married female students enrolled in a midwestern, residential university who responded to a sexual attitudes and behavior survey. Forty-eight empirical propositions concerning premarital sexual intercourse were tested, nineteen of which were found to be statistically significant. Three derived propositions were reformulated from these findings, which in turn were utilized to develop two middle-range theories: commitment theory and cultural milieu theory. These theories clearly demonstrate the role of changing personal and societal attitudes toward sexuality and perceived partner commitment in the decision to become sexually active.