Premarital sexual behavior and postmarital adjustment.

Abstract

Data from a large sample survey of sexual attitudes and behavior were examined for correlations between various premarital sexual experiences and postmarital sexual behavior. Hypotheses concerning the effects of intervening and extraneous variables on the relationships between premarital chastity and postmarital adjustment did not receive support. In general, a relationship between pre- and postmarital sexual activity exists in these data despite the fact that extraneous variables such as liberalism and romanticism were held constant. Moreover, value-behavior discrepancy when viewed as an intervening variable did not account for the premarital-postmarital correlations. The implications of these correlations are discussed in terms of developing norms for new types of marital sex ethics.