Virgin at 18? Here's a Big Payoff!

Netscape ^ | 5/20/2005

[cyborg]

"It is very much as we suspected--that adolescent virginity has a significant impact on well-being in middle adulthood," said lead study author Reginald Finger, M.D. "We found, as well, that these better outcomes were not merely the result of avoiding teenage pregnancy or fatherhood. The outcomes are inherent to remaining abstinent. In addition, we found that female virgins were more likely than their non-virgin counterparts to have a positive financial net worth and were almost half as likely as non-virgins to use welfare benefits."

[thoughtomator]

I was a virgin at 18. By two years later I racked up more tail than I could count on all my fingers and toes. Do I still get the benefits?

[U S Army EOD]

No, but do you still have any addresses and phone numbers?

[U S Army EOD]

I would suspect if they took the same people, left out any consideration of sex, and measured their IQ's, the findings would be the same.

[thoughtomator]

Yeah but they're all older than I like 'em now ;)

[freespirited]

I'll offer a different take on the findings. Being a virgin at 18 is not the direct cause of the positive outcomes (or as social scientists say, the independent variable.) It's a marker for it (social science gobbledygook = dependent variable.)

That marker is whatcha call good judgment, common sense, modicum of intelligence--you know, all that stuff that FReepers have all day long, or are are at least embarrassed when we dont.

[cyborg]

Hold on. Let me check! LOL

[thoughtomator]

OK I'll be back in NYC over the weekend...

[cyborg]

So...be a FRiend and let me know when you get here! ;-)

[discostu]

Big assumption there. Not everybody that's a virgin at 18 wants to be, some just lack the social skills necessary to get de-virginized.

[patton]

Du lieber Gott.

[elmer fudd]

This is a somewhat insipid poll. It's pretty darn obvious that troubled youths are more likely to be sexually active so what they're likely seeing is a corelation rather than causation. I'll bet they'd find that those same youngsters that were having sex were also the ones drinking and smoking pot and probably tended to come from troubled homes.

Then there's the question of what's so magic about the age of eighteen. Is it less traumatic or immoral for an 18 year old to lose their virginity than a 17 year old?

[socal_parrot]

My wife and I were both virgins when we met at 20. Twenty-nine years of marraige and two stable and successful careers later, we are retiring next month.


Of course, the California Real Estate market helped a bit. ;)

[Zeppelin]

Good analysis. That's what I thought. Those who abstain demonstrate self-control and are thinking in the long-term.

I'm a dude, just turned 20, and am still a virgin, not ashamed to say. It's been hard (no pun intended) but will probably be worth it in the long run.

But to each their own. =P

[knuthom]

I have to agree. The same character attributes that cause teens to avoid early sexual activity also influence subsequent successful life outcome. It is not that virgins become more responsible adults, but that more responsible teens become more responsible adults.

[freespirited]

Big assumption there. Not everybody that's a virgin at 18 wants to be, some just lack the social skills necessary to get de-virginized.

True, but I don't think this characteristic is all that common. In my experience it is found almost exclusively among males who oh, never mind.

[Jaysun]

Big assumption there. Not everybody that's a virgin at 18 wants to be, some just lack the social skills necessary to get de-virginized.

Very true discostu.
I ran a de-virginization service in high school for that very reason. No, that's bad - don't listen to my lies.

[discostu]

No you should continue the thought because it dove tails nicely with this survey. The primary under 18 demographic that want to get laid but "can't" are males generally defined as nerds, nerds who tend to get more schooling and often get jobs in the technology sector that pay better. Which would tend to skew the survey towards "waiting" being good when it's really not the "waiting" but the type of people that "wait".

[Maigrey]

Good for you! Finding the right woman, and "experiencing" marriage the way it should be is a joy and a treat!

Coming from an old married woman, who waited for her husband, and he waited to.

There is also the issue of: No comparison. This makes life so much less complicated.