Premarital Sex: The Influence Of Religiosity On Sexual Behavior

Premarital Sex. From the social psychological perspective, as according to social control theory, individuals may voluntarily internalize certain commitments, values, beliefs, and norms that encourage them not to break the socially determined norms. Similarly, religion can serve as social control for religious people. Thus, the person might have an innate drive toward sexual behavior, but whether he/she acts on this behavior is influenced by socializing forces, two of which are concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Further, individuals may follow religious teachings and abstain from premarital sex for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Intrinsically religious people are less likely to abstain from premarital sex because of external forces, but they are more likely to do so because they may find internal comfort, guidance, or other intrinsic rewards from their religion. On the other hand, extrinsically motivated people might not engage in sexual behavior outside the marriage as it might lead to a social punishment (exclusion, judgment from one’s religious community), and even because of possible divine punishment, which can serve as a secondary reason for extrinsically motivated individuals. In both cases, one way in which religion influences sexual behavior is by decreasing individuals’ motivations to have premarital sex, and subsequently making them less likely to engage in sexual behavior.

The influence of religious orientation on whether to have sex is also a subject of interest. To understand the relationship between religiosity and sexual behavior, it is important to restrict the sample by studying the religious population. Woodroof (1985) reexamined the relationship between religiosity and adolescent premarital sexual behavior, utilizing Allport and Ross's (1967) ROS among adolescents. A total of 477 first-year students attending the universities with strong Christian church affiliation, age 17 to 19, who reported being Caucasian were examined. A survey/cross-sectional method was used to examine whether there was a significant relationship between the religious orientation of adolescents (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) and their reported levels of sexual activity. For the measure of sexual behavior, respondents were asked to report their virginal status, their current dating status, their sexual behavior, and whether they engaged in sex during the year. The hypothesis that the intrinsic orientation of adolescents would be more significantly related to lower levels of sexual activity than extrinsic orientation was supported. The results indicated that two-thirds (63%) of all virgin respondents were intrinsically oriented, whereas over two-thirds (69%) of all non-virgin respondents were extrinsically oriented. Moreover, 86% of intrinsically motivated respondents were virginal, as compared to 62% of extrinsically motivated respondents. As with religious variables, several demographic variables significantly correlated with sexual behavior. Males were significantly more sexually active than females; They began dating earlier, started intercourse earlier, and reported having intercourse more frequently. Also, the age factor emerged, as the older the respondents, the more sexually active they were. 

Therefore, the results support the prediction that religious orientation can discriminate well between sexual behaviors, as the lower levels of premarital sexual activity occurred when an adolescent was intrinsically oriented and higher levels of sexual activities occurred when the adolescent was extrinsically oriented. Besides the differences in the frequency of engagement in sexual behavior, an intrinsically or extrinsically oriented person will likely adhere to religious beliefs that will outweigh sexual needs and desires.