Religiosity and adolescents' premarital sexual attitudes and behaviour: An empirical study of conceptual issues

Abstract

A review of the literature concerning the relationship between religiosity and premarital sexual attitudes and behaviour revealed inconsistencies in research findings and problems with methodology and operationalizations of variables. A postal questionnaire to 527 16‐ to 18‐year‐olds examined the associations between six models of religiosity (religious upbringing, denominational affiliation, ritual/behavioural, self‐attitude/self‐schema and salience of religious identity) and personal sexual standards, attitudes towards sexually active others, virginal status, anticipation of sexual intercourse and frequency of both coitus and non‐coital sexual experiences over the previous year. A negative relationship between religiosity and a number of sexual attitudes and behaviours was observed, though non‐significant relationships in the case of sexual experiences without intercourse suggested the maintenance of a technical virginity to accord with religious precepts. There was also some evidence that Catholic adolescents were more likely to be sexually active than non‐Catholics when current religiosity was controlled for. The results lent strongest support to models which implicated self‐conception either in terms of self‐attitudes/self‐schemas or the salience of religious identity. Implications of the study and suggestions for future research are outlined.