Religious Heritage and Premarital Sex: Evidence from a National Sample of Young Adults

Beck, Scott H.; Cole, Bettie S.; Hammond, Judith A.

doi:10.2307/1387211

Cited by 88 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Others found religious denomination to be related to participation in premarital sexual intercourse for members of Institutional Sects only: i.e., Pentecostals, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses (Beck et al 1991). By 2000, no significant differences occurred among sexually active college students who were Catholic, Protestant, or nonbeliever, nor for their degree of religiosity or sexual attitudes, although Protestants reported greater numbers of lifetime sex partners than Catholics (Lefkowitz et al 2004).…”

Section: Changes In Sexual Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Premarital Sexual Attitudes and Behavior at a Religiously-Affiliated University: Two Decades of Change

et al. 2007

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Decades of increases in premarital sexual involvement of college students have been related to numerous variables, one of which is religiosity. This investigation sought to determine any change in the premarital sexual attitudes and behaviors of students enrolled at a private religiously-affiliated university over a two-decade period of time. Using anonymous questionnaires administered in social science classes in 1981, 1991, and 2000, a total sample of 1,545 never-married undergraduates, 791 women and 754 men, was obtained. Significant behavioral differences were found between time intervals for women and men in age at first intercourse, number of sex partners, and demographic and personal characteristics. Among women, significant attitude changes concerned acceptance of sexual intercourse with casual and serious dating partners. Religiosity and participation in sexual intercourse were inversely related for women and men.

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Section: Changes In Sexual Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Premarital Sexual Attitudes and Behavior at a Religiously-Affiliated University: Two Decades of Change

et al. 2007

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“…Other religious-involvement factors (e.g. service attendance and importance) have been studied in relation to alcohol, tobacco, and drug use (9,47,50,53,78,86,89,178) and adolescent sexual behavior and contraceptive use (7,26,136,155,164,174). Religious factors are associated with lower levels of behavioral risk such as alcohol use (2,45) and higher levels of health-promoting behaviors (e.g.…”

Section: Health and Lifestyle Behaviors And Health Care Utilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion and Health: Public Health Research and Practice

Chatters

2000

Annu. Rev. Public Health

438

321

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Key Words religious involvement, spiritualitys Abstract Research examining the relationships between religion and the health of individuals and populations has become increasingly visible in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. Systematic programs of research investigate religious phenomena within the context of coherent theoretical and conceptual frameworks that describe the causes and consequences of religious involvement for health outcomes. Recent research has validated the multidimensional aspects of religious involvement and investigated how religious factors operate through various biobehavioral and psychosocial constructs to affect health status through proposed mechanisms that link religion and health. Methodological and analytical advances in the field permit the development of more complex models of religion's effects, in keeping with proposed theoretical explanations. Investigations of religion and health have ethical and practical implications that should be addressed by the lay public, health professionals, the research community, and the clergy. Future research directions point to promising new areas of investigation that could bridge the constructs of religion and health.

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“…With some exceptions (Studer & Thornton, 1987;Thornton & Camburn, 1989), past research has indicated that religious affiliations may be linked with unique patterns of sexual behavior. In adult populations, Catholics have reported fewer sexual partners than Protestants (Lefkowitz, Gillen, Shearer, & Boone, 2004) yet surprisingly have comparable levels of sexual activity compared to conservative Protestants and fundamentalist Protestants (Bearman & Bruckner, 1999;Beck, Cole, & Hammond, 1991). No difference in sexual experience between Jewish and Christian participants has been consistently supported (Lottes & Kuriloff, 1994;Pluhar, Frongillo, Stycos, & Dempser-McClain, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To further verify our classifications, we also consulted a number of publications where similar classifications, or denomination characteristics relevant to such classifications, have been reported (e.g., Beck et al, 1991;Laumann et al, 1994;Pluhar et al, 1998;Robbins & Dick, 1990;Studer & Thornton, 1987;Thornton & Camburn, 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relation Between Sexual Behavior and Religiosity Subtypes: A Test of the Secularization Hypothesis

2008

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Previous literature on religion and sexual behavior has focused on narrow definitions of religiosity, including religious affiliation, religious participation, or forms of religiousness (e.g., intrinsic religiosity). Trends toward more permissive premarital sexual activity in the North American Christian-Judeo religion support the secularization hypothesis of religion, which posits an increasing gap between religious doctrine and behavior. However, the recent rise of fundamentalist and new age religious movements calls for a reexamination of the current link between religion and sexual behavior. The use of dual definitions of religiosity, including religious affiliation and dimensional subtypes, may further characterize this link. The present cross-sectional study evaluated patterns of sexual behavior in a young adult sample (N = 1302, M age = 18.77 years) in the context of the secularization hypothesis using religious affiliation and a liberal-conservative continuum of religious subtypes: paranormal belief, spirituality, intrinsic religiosity, and fundamentalism. Results indicated few affiliation differences in sexual behavior in men or women. Sexual behaviors were statistically predicted by spirituality, fundamentalism, and paranormal belief, and the endorsement of fundamentalism in particular was correlated with lower levels of female sexual behavior. The secularization hypothesis was supported by consistent levels of sexual activity across affiliations and is contradicted by the differential impact of religiosity subtypes on sexual behavior. Findings suggested that the use of religious subtypes to evaluate religious differences, rather than solely affiliation, may yield useful insights into the link between religion and sexual behavior.

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Religious Heritage and Premarital Sex: Evidence from a National Sample of Young Adults

Cited by 88 publications

References 6 publications

Premarital Sexual Attitudes and Behavior at a Religiously-Affiliated University: Two Decades of Change

Premarital Sexual Attitudes and Behavior at a Religiously-Affiliated University: Two Decades of Change

Religion and Health: Public Health Research and Practice

The Relation Between Sexual Behavior and Religiosity Subtypes: A Test of the Secularization Hypothesis

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