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Premarital Sex, Cohabitation, and Divorce: The Broken Link
National Council on Family Relations ^ | May 2003 | National Council on Family Relations

Posted on 09/17/2010 1:34:15 PM PDT by MichiganConservative

The results presented in this article replicate findings from previous research: Women who cohabit prior to marriage or who have premarital sex have an increased likelihood of marital disruption. Considering the joint effects of premarital cohabitation and premarital sex, as well as histories of premarital relationships, extends previous research. The most salient finding from this analysis is that women whose intimate premarital relationships are limited to their husbands—either premarital sex alone or premarital cohabitation—do not experience an increased risk of divorce. It is only women who have more than one intimate premarital relationship who have an elevated risk of marital disruption. This effect is strongest for women who have multiple premarital coresidental unions. These findings are consistent with the notion that premarital sex and cohabitation have become part of the normal courtship pattern in the United States. They do not indicate selectivity on characteristics linked to the risk of divorce and do not provide couples with experiences that lessen the stability of marriage.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Hobbies; Miscellaneous; Society
KEYWORDS: cohabitation; divorce; moralabsolutes; sex; sluts
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To: Mr. Blonde

The past is a different place. The article under discussion is about the present.


21 posted on 09/17/2010 2:15:48 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("A little plain food, and a philosophic temperament, are the only necessities of life."~W. Churchill)
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To: Tax-chick

So then what is the point of the study then if not that total monogamy is the best policy and not just monogamy with whoever you happen to be with.


22 posted on 09/17/2010 2:20:40 PM PDT by Mr. Blonde (You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
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To: Tax-chick

What do you expect from the vast majority of people who are lost and living in a corrupt culture in a fallen world?

That is how non-Christians act. I am not endorsing it. I’m observing and reporting it.

Men and women are different. There’s no reason to think that a life of sluttery will have the same effect on men as women, or if it does, it will manifest itself in the same way later in life.

The one thing men and women need to save them from a life lost to their sin, whichever sin that is and however it manifests itself, is Jesus Christ. He is the sex-disregarding Savior.


23 posted on 09/17/2010 2:21:54 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (A government big enough to do unto the people you don't like will get to doing unto you soon enough.)
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To: MichiganConservative
That is how non-Christians act. I am not endorsing it. I’m observing and reporting it.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say "modern day Western pagans". Other religions have customs or norms relating to human sexuality as well. For instance, Islam is very regulated but they still serve Satan.

24 posted on 09/17/2010 2:24:39 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (A government big enough to do unto the people you don't like will get to doing unto you soon enough.)
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To: MichiganConservative

“Women are attracted to men with a history.”

If what you’re saying is true, life sure isn’t fair. Men are essentially being rewarded for having sex before marriage, while women are punished. From what I’ve seen, it isn’t even primarily men who punish women for having premarital sex, it’s mostly women who call other unchaste women whores and sluts.


25 posted on 09/17/2010 2:26:58 PM PDT by Texan Tory
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To: MichiganConservative
Sorry, it isn't science it is statistics.

Moreover correlation is not causation.

People from traditional societies and/or religions tend to not cohabitate OR divorce. This fact will reveal a correlation between cohabitation and divorce, but is not in any way indicative that cohabitation makes divorce more likely.

26 posted on 09/17/2010 2:26:58 PM PDT by allmendream (Income is EARNED not distributed. So how could it be re-distributed?)
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To: allmendream
Sorry, it isn't science it is statistics.

It was a joke. I guess you didn't get it.

27 posted on 09/17/2010 2:28:55 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (A government big enough to do unto the people you don't like will get to doing unto you soon enough.)
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To: MichiganConservative

I would go so far as to say that the majority of the problem, in a manner of speaking only, is a *lack* of cohabitation before marriage. Now, I did not say “sex”. Here is the predicament.

1) Boys and girls, and later young men and young women, are kept apart until they are of marriageable age. Then they are put together, told to marry and have children, and live in a balanced, stable relationship, knowing absolutely nothing about the opposite sex.

2) As bad or worse, boys and girls, and young men and young women, have unrestricted sex with each other for a great length of time before they would normally want to get married.

In *either* case, this sets them up for a failed marriage.

What they *need* is non-sexual socialization, hopefully under the watchful gaze of a chaperon. They have to learn how to work together, play together, exercise together, communicate with each other, learn how the other gender functions as human beings, and talk about their dreams and ambitions.

Today, children in public schools get nothing like this. They are “alone in a crowd” of the other gender. Girls segregate with girls, and boys with boys. At the same time, both genders get extreme and intense propaganda, starting at a very young age, that tells them they *should* be hyper-sexual, and in warm, loving relationships with multiple partners. Impossible goals, met by no one. But if they fail to achieve these things, they are “undesirable.”

Then along comes the charming brain tumor known as pornography, utterly twisting their expectations beyond any hope of normality.

So how hard is it, for society to set up some relaxed situation, where young people can just socialize, without *doing* anything, or being pushed and in a hurry, where politeness is the norm, and gender segregation is not encouraged?


28 posted on 09/17/2010 2:29:44 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: MichiganConservative
A recent study found that if you give single women a questionnaire, then show them a picture of a very handsome man and tell them that they are well suited based upon the answers to the questions: only 60% of the single women wanted to date him when told he was single - 90% of the single women wanted to date him when told he was in a relationship.

Men don't seem to care one way or the other.

29 posted on 09/17/2010 2:31:45 PM PDT by allmendream (Income is EARNED not distributed. So how could it be re-distributed?)
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To: Mr. Blonde

Cohabiting doesn’t constitute being “essentially married without the paperwork”, which is one of the little lessons those who cohabit learn in the real world.


30 posted on 09/17/2010 2:38:49 PM PDT by achilles2000 ("I'll agree to save the whales as long as we can deport the liberals")
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To: allmendream

The main point is not necessarily cohabitation per se. It is the amount of cohabitation and sexual partners.

According to the study women who have serial cohabitations or more sexual partners are more likely to divorce than the women who have only cohabitated with their husband or slept with their future husband before marriage.


31 posted on 09/17/2010 2:39:25 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (A government big enough to do unto the people you don't like will get to doing unto you soon enough.)
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To: MichiganConservative

“Recently, I’ve just been using the term “whore” for people like Sean Hannity.”

Off topic, but why?


32 posted on 09/17/2010 2:40:44 PM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: Texan Tory
From what I’ve seen, it isn’t even primarily men who punish women for having premarital sex, it’s mostly women who call other unchaste women whores and sluts.

No, men just know for what to value a slut. It is not for a long-term-relationship. However, women love to delude themselves into thinking that she's "the one" for whom he gave up all the other women because it feeds their egos.

In other settings, have you ever observed women who work together in an office? They are evil to each other in that setting as well. And it is much different than how men would be to each other.

33 posted on 09/17/2010 2:44:38 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (A government big enough to do unto the people you don't like will get to doing unto you soon enough.)
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To: MichiganConservative
What I said is applicable in either case.

Correlation is not causation. And among those who do not cohabitate or have any other sexual partners than their husband, is a large proportion of those who will also never get divorced.

If you are of a culture where that is so, very good!

If you are not of a culture where that is so, the correlation isn't really applicable to your situation as it doesn't differentiate.

And you would perhaps be amazed at how many people think statistical analysis is science, especially statisticians!

You would also perhaps be amazed at how many people think that correlation indicates causation, especially statisticians! I mean, really, they don't have much else. When all you have is a hammer, problems look like nails.

34 posted on 09/17/2010 2:45:37 PM PDT by allmendream (Income is EARNED not distributed. So how could it be re-distributed?)
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To: Persevero

I think Sean Hannity and others like him (O’Reilly) are just out for book sales and self-aggrandizement and are not rooted in principle.

Hannity, particularly, seems to be deleterious to conservatism.


35 posted on 09/17/2010 2:47:14 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (A government big enough to do unto the people you don't like will get to doing unto you soon enough.)
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To: MichiganConservative

I’ll agree with you there, the book hawking has become unbelievably over the top.

Fine, write a book, put it on your web site, or mention it at the end of your show. Not every ten minutes.


36 posted on 09/17/2010 2:49:24 PM PDT by Persevero (Homeschooling for Excellence since 1992)
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To: allmendream

Right, correlation is not causation. There could be a causal factor that causes both the sluttiness and the tendency for divorce.

However, there’s the correlation. So if you’re looking for marriage material, it might be wise to stay away from sluts, since increasing sluttiness seems to correlate to increasing risk of divorce.


37 posted on 09/17/2010 2:51:21 PM PDT by MichiganConservative (A government big enough to do unto the people you don't like will get to doing unto you soon enough.)
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To: MichiganConservative
Being of a culture and/or religion where promiscuity and cohabitation are unacceptable is correlated with lower rates of divorce.

Not being of such a culture or religion, your options are limited, as they usually do not “allow” (yes parental permission is often a factor among such cultures) their daughters to marry outsiders.

Come back when you find a study that compares people of the same level of religious devotion and culture, and their rates of promiscuity and cohabitation and how they correlate to divorce and you MAY have a leg to stand on.

As it is correlation is not causation. Amusing that you agree to that principle, and then immediately ignore it.

If you are from a culture where promiscuity and cohabitation are acceptable, you will be more likely to get divorced if you marry that people from a culture where promiscuity and cohabitation are not acceptable.

Among those who are from a more sexualized culture and do NOT engage in promiscuity or cohabitation - are their rates of divorce actually lower - The study as designed has no way of showing that.

38 posted on 09/17/2010 3:06:26 PM PDT by allmendream (Income is EARNED not distributed. So how could it be re-distributed?)
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To: Mr. Blonde
So basically people who are essentially married without the paperwork continue to do well once the paperwork is done?

Does action speak louder than words?

Snip:

Unfortunately, a lack of commitment can lean to a failed job, broken heart, shattered dreams, and disappointed friends. One person's commitment may not match another's.

commitment

Snip:

Commitment is what Transforms the promise into reality. It is the words that speak Boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak Louder than the words. It is making the time When there is none. Coming through time After time after time, Year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff Character is made of; The power to change The face of things. It is the daily triumph Of integrity over skepticism. When I say I love you, I mean that I'm committed to working to love you even when it's hard.

39 posted on 09/17/2010 3:11:13 PM PDT by MamaDearest
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To: allmendream
Among those who are from a more sexualized culture and do NOT engage in promiscuity or cohabitation ...

Can you give an example of such a culture?

40 posted on 09/17/2010 3:12:17 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("A little plain food, and a philosophic temperament, are the only necessities of life."~W. Churchill)
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