Previous research has demonstrated that women experience higher levels of guilt compared with men at first sexual intercourse. Research also indicates that guilt is related to religiosity and to level of relational commitment. However, there has been no research on the correlates of sexual debut in a Christian population. This study compares the experiences of married Christian women who had first intercourse before or after marriage on guilt, sanctification of sex, and marital satisfaction. A total of 210 married Christian women were administered a survey containing measures of guilt at first intercourse, sanctification of sexuality, and marital satisfaction. The results indicate that the premarital group reported significantly higher levels of guilt at first intercourse and significantly lower levels of theistic sanctification and marital satisfaction than the marital group. In addition, there was no significant correlation between relational commitment and guilt for the premarital debut group, suggesting that those who were in a committed relationship at sexual debut experienced similar levels of guilt to those who were not in a committed relationship at debut. This study has meaningful implications for the way sexuality is discussed in Christian culture.
AllynD. (2016). Make love, not war: The sexual revolution: An unfettered history. Routledge.
2.
CarpenterL. M. (2002). Gender and the meaning and experience of virginity loss in the contemporary United States. Gender and Society, 16(3), 345–365. http://doi.org/10.1177/0891243202016003005
3.
DasA.NairnS. (2014). Conservative Christianity, partnership, hormones, and sex in late life. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43(7), 1403–1415. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0273-7
4.
DarlingC.A.DavidsonJ.K.PassarelloL.C. (1992). The mystique of first intercourse among college youth: The role of partners, contraceptive practices, and psychological reactions. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21(1), 97–117. http://doi.org/10.1007/BF01536984
5.
DavidsonJ. K.MooreN. B.UllstrupK. M. (2004). Religiosity and sexual responsibility: Relationships of choice. American Journal of Health Behaviors, 28(4), 335–346.
6.
DewJ.UeckerJ. (2020). Joint religiosity and married couples’ sexual satisfaction. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(2), 201–212. http://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000243
FahsB. (2010). Daddy’s little girls: On the perils of chastity clubs, purity balls, and ritualized abstinence. Frontiers, 31(3), 116–142. http://doi.org/10.5250/fronjwomestud.31.3.0116
9.
FowersB. J.OlsonD. H. (1993). ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale: A brief research and clinical tool. Journal of Family Psychology, 7(2), 176–185.
10.
GarceauC.RonisS. (2017). The interface between young adults’ religious values and their sexual experiences before age 16. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 26(2), 142–150. http://doi.org/ezproxy.biola.edu/10.3138/cjhs.262-a6
11.
GugginoJ. M.PonzettiJ. J. (1997). Gender differences in affective reactions to first coitus. Journal of Adolescence, 20(2), 189–200. http://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1996.0076
12.
HackathornJ.AshdownB.RifeS. (2016). The sacred bed: Sex guilt mediates religiosity and satisfaction for unmarried people. Psychology of Sexuality & Culture, 20(1), 153–172. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9315-0
13.
HernandezK. M.MahoneyA.PargamentK. I. (2011). Sanctification of sexuality: Implications for newlyweds’ marital and sexual quality. Journal of Family Psychology, 25(5), 775–780. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0025103
14.
Hernandez-KaneK.MahoneyA. (2018). Sex through a sacred lens: Longitudinal effects of sanctification of marital sexuality. Journal of Family Psychology, 32(4), 425–434. http://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000392
15.
HigginsJ. A.TrussellJ.MooreN. B.DavidsonJ. K. (2010). Virginity lost, satisfaction gained? Physiological and psychological satisfaction at heterosexual debut. Journal of Sex Research, 47(4), 384–394. http://doi.org/10.1080/00224491003774792
16.
HoutsL. A. (2005). But was it wanted? Young women’s first voluntary sexual intercourse. Journal of Family Issues, 26(8), 1082–1102. http://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X04273582
17.
HsuJ. C. (1996.). Multiple comparisons: Theory and methods. Chapman & Hall.
18.
LeonhardtN. D.BusbyD. M.WilloughbyB. J. (2020). Sex guilt or sanctification? The indirect role of religiosity on sexual satisfaction. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(2), 213–222. http://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000245
19.
MardiaK. V. (1970). Measures of multivariate skewness and kurtosis with applications. Biometrika, 57(3), 519–530. https://doi.org/10.2307/2334770
20.
McNultyJ. K.WennerC. A.FisherT. D. (2016). Longitudinal associations among relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and frequency of sex in early marriage. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(1), 85–97. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0444-6
21.
MooreN. B.DavidsonJ. K. (1997). Guilt about first intercourse: Antecedent of sexual dissatisfaction among college women. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 23(1), 29–46. http://doi.org/10.1080/00926239708404415
22.
Murray-SwankN. A.PargamentK. I.MahoneyA. (2005). At the crossroads of sexuality and spirituality: The sanctification of sex by college students. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15(3), 199–219. http://doi.org/10.1207/s15327582ijpr1503_2
23.
OrthU.BerkingM.BurkhardtS. (2006). Self-conscious emotions and depression: Rumination explains why shame but not guilt is maladaptive. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(12), 1608–1619.
24.
OwensB. C.HallM. E. L.AndersonT. L. (2020). The relationship between purity culture and rape myth acceptance. Journal of Psychology and Theology. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1177/0091647120974992
25.
ParrinderG. (2018). Sexual morality in the world’s religions. Oneworld Publications.
26.
SprecherS. (2014). Evidence of change in men’s versus women’s emotional reactions to first sexual intercourse: A 23-year study in a human sexuality course at a Midwestern university. Journal of Sex Research, 51(4), 466–472. http://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2013.867923
27.
SprecherS.BarbeeA.SchwartzP. (1995). “Was is good for you, too?”: Gender differences in first sexual intercourse experiences. Journal of Sex Research, 32(1), 3–15. http://doi.org/10.1080/00224499509551769
28.
VasilenkoA.LefkowitzE. (2014). Changes in religiosity after first intercourse in the transition to adulthood. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6(4), 310–315. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0037472
29.
WeisD. L. (1983). Affective reactions of women to their initial experience of coitus. Journal of Sex Research, 19(3), 209–237.
