Study: Virginity pledges don’t work — unless you’re super religious

[cbayer]

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/16/study_virginity_pledges_dont_work_unless_youre_super_religious/

THURSDAY, JUL 17, 2014 01:01 AM CEST

Surprise! Morality-based abstinence education only works for people with those beliefs (and it harms everyone else)

JENNY KUTNER


(Credit: kiwi_baby via iStock)

Great/horrible news for proponents of comprehensive sex education: virginity pledges don’t work, according to science. That is, they don’t work unless signers are truly and deeply religious, in which case abstinence pledges are likely to delay sexual activity a few years — but usually not until marriage. A recent study published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies has found that the efficacy of virginity pledges is not only associated directly with signers’ religiosity, but also poses serious risks to young adults who go back on their word.

To evaluate what role religious commitment played in young adults’ adherence to virginity pledges, researchers polled 1,380 college students aged 18-24 who attended a “large, public, Southeastern state university,” asking participants whether they had previously signed a virginity pledge, their virginity status and how many past or present intercourse and oral sex partners they had. Researchers also asked students to rate their religious commitment, based on how religion or spirituality influence their daily lives, how often they seek spiritual comfort and how frequently they participate in religious events.

More than a quarter of respondents had previously made a virginity agreement, either in writing or verbally, which is consistent with national averages; according to a 2008 study of pledge signers, 23.8 percent of adolescents aged 12-17 had agreed to remain abstinent. A majority of signers, however, were — wait for it — no longer virgins at the time of the study. 65 percent of respondents who had signed a virginity pledge reported having had sexual intercourse, and a whopping 77 percent of signers had engaged in oral sex.

For the most part, though, those who were having oral sex or full-on coitus were also the people with lower rates of religious commitment, indicating that sincere religious belief does play a role in a person’s dedication to remaining abstinent. The researchers differentiated between “religious commitment” and “religious participation” to control for those who might have been immersed in a spiritual lifestyle without being true believers themselves; sure enough, people who were solely “religious participants” exhibited more sexual behavior than committed believers.

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[delrem]

1. OK, this'll get me banned.

But the hottest chick I ever met hung out with Christian Evangelicals, and told me that she liked how the sexual repression of the males made her hot and made them accomodating. Something about inverse proportionality, I suppose.

[cbayer]

2. Can't really speak about this person, but I would wonder if it had something to do

with her ability to safely control the sexuality of the interactions.

Although I never really hung out with them, I think it could be empowering for a young woman to know that she wasn't going to be pushed into something she might not be ready for.

[delrem]

3. This young woman was fully empowered.

A total consternation, since I fell under those powers along with everyone else.

[cbayer]

4. I'm just trying to understand her attraction to those that may have taken a virginity pledge.

Was it maybe about the challenge?

[delrem]

5. oh, that. You see, they all took "virginity pledges".

It was part of the ritual.
Of course not all followed the ritual to ... the next day.
It was a ritual.

I think, for her, it was probably the lack of challenge.
She explained to me that it was because it was so *easy*.

I don't disrespect her. As I say, I can't understand it.

[intaglio]

7. Firstly, anecdotal evidence is proof of nothing

Secondly, your opinion will not get you banned but the way you state it is horribly revealing about your attitude to women. "Hottest chick"? FFS the 70s called and want their slang back. If you cannot see that the phrase is demeaning to women then I suggest you start to re-examine your attitudes before you say something that might get posts hidden.

[delrem]

8. So. You judge me harshly.

I can live with that.

[intaglio]

6. A minor objection as to how the judgement about "commitment" was made

Surely those who lived up to their pledge would feel more effected by religion in their everyday lives than those who fell by the wayside.