318 Chapter 9pledge studies and abstinence only programs.
People are choosing to engage in a virginity
pledge rather than being randomly assigned to
take such as pledge, as is the case with research
on abstinence only programs.Motives for Sex. There are both similari-
ties and differences in the reasons that males
and females choose to have sex and choose to
refrain from sex. Girls’ and boys’ reasons for
having sex are similar: love for their partner,
curiosity, and sexual desire (Albert, Brown, &
Flanigan, 2003). Boys and girls also agreed
that having sex increases a boy’s—but not a
girl’s—popularity.
Research, largely based on college stu-
dents, also suggests that men have a rec-
reational orientation toward sex in which
physical gratification is the goal and a relation-
ship is not required, whereas women have a
relational orientation toward sex in which sex
is integrated into the relationship as a way to
convey intimacy (Regan & Berscheid, 1999).
When college women and men were asked
what caused sexual desire, love was cited as a
cause of women’s sexual desire by 42% of re-
spondents and of men’s sexual desire by 10%
of respondents. Instead, 66% of respondents
identified personal causes of sexual desire in
men, such as physical need, hormones, and
alcohol, whereas 33% identified these factors
as causes of sexual desire in women. Respon-
dents also thought the physical environment,
such as a romantic setting, was more likely to
lead to sexual desire in women than in men.
These sex differences have been repli-
cated among homosexuals. In one study, het-
erosexual and homosexual men were more
interested in having sex for pure pleasure, to
relieve sexual tension, and to please their part-
ner than heterosexual and homosexual women
(Leigh, 1989). Heterosexual and homosexual
women were more interested than men in hav-
ing sex to express emotional closeness. Thusearly onset of sexual intercourse is associ-
ated with alcohol use, delinquency, and for
females, depression (Zimmer-Gembeck &
Helfand, 2008). Religiosity predicts girls wait-
ing until they are 18 or older to have sex, and
anxiety predicts the same in boys. Familial
factors are more strongly associated with the
onset of sexual intercourse among Black and
Hispanic families than White families. A study
of African American girls ages 15–17 showed
that closer relationships to mothers were as-
sociated with a lower likelihood of having had
sex (Usher-Seriki, Bynum, & Callands, 2008).
African Americans talk with their parents
more about sex and receive more education
from parents about sex compared to Whites
and Latinos, whereas Asian Americans talk less
with their parents about sex than Whites and
Latinos (Calzo & Ward, 2009; Epstein & Ward,
2008; Sprecher, Harris, & Meyers, 2008).
Perhaps in response to the abstinence
only campaign, some young people have taken
a pledge of virginity. Does it work? Yes, and no.
Yes, it works in the sense that people who make
a public or written commitment to refrain from
sex until marriage delay sex compared to those
who do not make a pledge. (In this case,sexis
defined as sexual intercourse. It turns out that
pledgers are more likely to have oral and anal
sex than nonpledgers.) No, it does not work
in that the vast majority of people who make
this pledge have sex before marriage. One
study followed seventh through twelfth grade
pledgers and nonpledgers for five to six years
and showed that 88% of pledgers had sex be-
fore marriage compared to 99% of nonpledg-
ers (Bruckner & Bearman, 2005). One cause for
concern is that pledgers were less likely than
nonpledgers to use condoms during the first
sexual intercourse. Although the rate of sexu-
ally transmitted diseases (STD) was the same
for the two groups, pledgers were less likely
than nonpledgers to be tested for STDs. There
are important differences between virginityM09_HELG0185_04_SE_C09.indd 318 6/21/11 12:40 PM