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Because this seems to be coming up a lot lately, I thought I'd post the facts in a new thread.
For starters, I fully realize that the majority of people who will read this probably didn't wait until marriage to have sex. It's only natural to be offended or respond negatively to anyone telling you that choices that you already made (and cannot unmake) were bad for you. This is not about telling people who did not wait for marriage that they are bad people. Because I believe in Christ and in everyone's God-given free will, I believe that everyone makes their own path through their life choices. All bad outcomes that scientific studies found for those engaging in premarital sex can be overcome via grit and determination. Add God to the equation, and you can do absolutely anything.
Having said that, here's the facts and links. I will do my best to disregard sources with clear bias:
It may be common for couples to have sex before marriage, but a new study shows that couples who wait until marriage are happier with the quality of sex than couples who have intercourse before their vows.
What’s more, couples who delay sex until their wedding night have more stable and happier marriages than couples who have premarital sex, according to the study, which appears in the Journal of Family Psychology.
The study involved 2,035 married participants in an online assessment of marriage called “RELATE.”
According to the study, people who waited until marriage:
rated sexual quality 15% higher than people who had premarital sex
rated relationship stability as 22% higher
rated satisfaction with their relationships 20% higher
In our sample, only 23 percent of the individuals who got married over the course of the study had had sex solely with the person they married. That minority of men and women reported higher marital quality than those who had had sex with other partners prior to marriage. We further found that the more sexual partners a woman had had before marriage, the less happy she reported her marriage to be. This association (the more sexual partners the less happy) was not statistically significant for men ...
The study above found that all of the following negatively impact marriages:
People who cohabitated with with somebody other than their eventual marriage partner previously. So taking that into consideration, "test driving" makes absolutely no sense. You gain nothing and only stand to lose.
If you had a child with somebody else prior to marriage, the average quality of your marriage drops by almost 1/2 if you're a woman and drops by 1/4 if your a man. Avoiding premarital sex helps you there as well.
Couples who had sex before they were married are 8% less likely to have a high quality marriage.
Those that lived together prior to marriage saw an 11% drop in their chances at a high quality marriage.
Having a child together before marriage caused a 41% drop in chances for a high quality marriage, but only for those with a college degree.
Quote:
People should realize the importance of the past. What happens in Vegas—everything you do before settling down in marriage—may not stay there. The ghosts of prior romances can haunt new ones. Those who have had more romantic experiences—for example, more sexual or cohabiting partners—are more likely to have lower-quality marriages than those with a less complicated romantic history. It is common among social scientists to dismiss these associations as being attributable to preexisting risks
based in family, socio-economic context, or underlying personality traits (i.e., selection). Indeed, such background factors and prior risks matter quite a bit. At the same time, many associations between life experiences and marital quality do not disappear even after researchers control for background factors. Moreover, prior experiences of the sort we have emphasized here also reflect behaviors that people have some control over, and their choices can either constrain or protect their romantic and life options in the future. Avoiding one particularly high-risk relationship or avoiding having a child before marriage may alter the course of a person’s life significantly, whatever his or her family and economic background.
The results showed that participants who reported serious thoughts of suicide or more depressive symptoms as teens were significantly more likely to report having casual sexual relationships when they were young adults. Casual sex, in turn, was linked to further declines in mental health. Specifically, those who had casual sex in their late teens and early 20s were significantly more likely to have serious thoughts of suicide as young adults, results showed. In fact, each additional casual sex relationship increased the odds of suicidal thoughts by 18 percent.
Respect goes two ways. The first is the idea that I respect my future wife (even though we've probably never met) enough that I want her to take solace in the knowledge that I am all hers. I think most girls would agree that a guy who has waited for them is pretty cool. That goes both ways. Guys will think it’s pretty awesome too! The second reason I abstain out of respect is because most girls are going to be someone’s future wife! I respect those will-be unions enough to not interfere. Plus I don’t want guys pushing themselves on my wife to be.
Which is the cause and which is the product, tendency to suicide caused by having casual sex or some one who might be more likely to commit suicide would also be more likely to have causual sex. Dramatic difference in detterming if pre marriage sex is harmful or not.
Because this seems to be coming up a lot lately, I thought I'd post the facts in a new thread.
For starters, I fully realize that the majority of people who will read this probably didn't wait until marriage to have sex. It's only natural to be offended or respond negatively to anyone telling you that choices that you already made (and cannot unmake) were bad for you. This is not about telling people who did not wait for marriage that they are bad people. Because I believe in Christ and in everyone's God-given free will, I believe that everyone makes their own path through their life choices. All bad outcomes that scientific studies found for those engaging in premarital sex can be overcome via grit and determination. Add God to the equation, and you can do absolutely anything.
Having said that, here's the facts and links. I will do my best to disregard sources with clear bias:
People who cohabitated with with somebody other than their eventual marriage partner previously. So taking that into consideration, "test driving" makes absolutely no sense. You gain nothing and only stand to lose.
If you had a child with somebody else prior to marriage, the average quality of your marriage drops by almost 1/2 if you're a woman and drops by 1/4 if your a man. Avoiding premarital sex helps you there as well.
Couples who had sex before they were married are 8% less likely to have a high quality marriage.
Those that lived together prior to marriage saw an 11% drop in their chances at a high quality marriage.
Having a child together before marriage caused a 41% drop in chances for a high quality marriage, but only for those with a college degree.
Too true, but because the Bible advocates it, many will try to find fault with it. After all God can't be right in anything for most. Free will also means the ability to choose really stupid things to do.
In the small print. Outcomes were based on 223 participants. It seems the study may have called lots of people but only a few participated fully. How is this statistically significant? Using the term "hooking up", yet no definition.
The funding provided by William E, Simon. A group with a definite agenda.
There have been many studies over the years that have confirmed this basic fact. Studies have also shown that couples living together before marriage are actually more likely to divorce than couples that don't. Its not hard to figure out. Women who have premarital sex are more likely to become pregnant out of wedlock or end up, being single mothers. This means a great burden of raising the child without their father, and these women are more likely to live in poverty. Their children also suffer higher rates of juvenile delinquency, lower HS graduation rates etc. Its not hard to figure out.
All of this is part of God's system. God does punish sin in this life. For example, being a thief, if you keep it up usually ends up putting the thief in prison or receiving other punishments.
There have been many studies over the years that have confirmed this basic fact. Studies have also shown that couples living together before marriage are actually more likely to divorce than couples that don't. Its not hard to figure out. Women who have premarital sex are more likely to become pregnant out of wedlock or end up, being single mothers. This means a great burden of raising the child without their father, and these women are more likely to live in poverty. Their children also suffer higher rates of juvenile delinquency, lower HS graduation rates etc. Its not hard to figure out.
All of this is part of God's system. God does punish sin in this life. For example, being a thief, if you keep it up usually ends up putting the thief in prison or receiving other punishments.
Wait. God punishes unwed mothers? Is that what you believe?
There have been many studies over the years that have confirmed this basic fact. Studies have also shown that couples living together before marriage are actually more likely to divorce than couples that don't. Its not hard to figure out. Women who have premarital sex are more likely to become pregnant out of wedlock or end up, being single mothers. This means a great burden of raising the child without their father, and these women are more likely to live in poverty. Their children also suffer higher rates of juvenile delinquency, lower HS graduation rates etc. Its not hard to figure out.
All of this is part of God's system. God does punish sin in this life. For example, being a thief, if you keep it up usually ends up putting the thief in prison or receiving other punishments.
No dear, that's statistically what will likely happen over time. If you perform an action enough times it's likely that eventually you will get caught.
Last edited by mensaguy; 03-04-2015 at 06:57 AM..
Reason: fixed quote tag
In the small print. Outcomes were based on 223 participants. It seems the study may have called lots of people but only a few participated fully. How is this statistically significant? Using the term "hooking up", yet no definition.
The funding provided by William E, Simon. A group with a definite agenda.
So do you refute the findings? Do you think women who have children out of wedlock are more likely to stay married? What is the issues that you have with the information here?
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