Promising the Future: Virginity Pledges as They Affect Transition to First Intercourse

Since 1993, in response to an organized social movement sponsored by the Southern Baptist Church, well over two and a half million adolescents have taken public "virginity" pledges, in which they promise to abstain from sex until marriage. This paper explores the effect of virginity pledges on the transition to first intercourse. On one hand, we show that adolescents who pledge, controlling for all of the usual characteristics of adolescents and their social contexts that are associated with the transition to sex, are much less likely than adolescents who do not pledge, to have intercourse. The delay effect is substantial and almost impossible to erase. Taking a pledge delays intercourse for a long time. On the other hand, the pledge effect depends on age. Pledging does not work for adolescents at all ages. Second, pledging delays intercourse only in contexts where there are some, but not too many, pledgers. Too few, and too many, pledgers in the adolescent world can negate the pledge effect. The pledge works because it is embedded in an identity movement. Consequently, like other identity movements, the pledge identity is relatively fragile and meaningful only in contexts where it is at least partially non-normative. Consequences of pledging are explored for those who break their promise. Promise breakers are less likely to use contraception at first intercourse

Opposite-Sex Twins and Adolescent Same-Sex Attraction

The authors consider social, genetic, evolutionary, and hormonal transfer hypotheses for same-sex romantic preferences of adolescent (N=5,552) sibling pairs drawn from a nationally representative sample. They show that male but not female opposite-sex twins disproportionately report same-sex attraction; and that the pattern of concordance of same-sex preference among siblings is inconsistent with a simple genetic influence model. Their results provide substantial support for the role of social influences, reject the hormone transfer model, reject a speculative evolutionary theory, and are consistent with a general model that allows for genetic expression of same-sex attraction under specific, highly circumscribed, social conditions

After the Promise: The STD Consequences of Adolescent Virginity Pledges

Understanding the determinants of sexually transmitted disease (STD) acquisition among adolescents and young adults is critical to assess interventions designed to limit the spread of STDs [1, 2, 3]. One set of interventions—adopted by numerous organizations and directly supported by federal policy—are programs that encourage abstinence by encouraging adolescents to make pledges to remain virgins until marriage. This article considers the relationship between adolescent virginity pledges and the sexual behavior of young adults, focusing on STD acquisition

Promising the Future: Virginity Pledges and First Intercourse

Since 1993, in response to a movement sponsored by the Southern Baptist Church, over 2.5 million adolescents have taken public “virginity” pledges, in which they promise to abstain from sex until marriage. This paper explores the effect of those pledges on the transition to first intercourse. Adolescents who pledge are much less likely to have intercourse than adolescents who do not pledge. The delay effect is substantial. On the other hand, the pledge does not work for adolescents at all ages. Second, pledging delays intercourse only in contexts where there are some, but not too many, pledgers. The pledge works because it is embedded in an identity movement. Consequently, the pledge identity is meaningful only in contexts where it is at least partially nonnormative. Consequences of pledging are explored for those who break their promise. Promise breakers are less likely than others to use contraception at first intercourse

Ambivalence and Pregnancy: The Effect of Adolescents' Attitudes on Contraception and Pregnancy

It has been argued that adolescents who get pregnant often do not sufficiently appreciate its unfavorable consequences, and that prevention programs should target participants' attitudes towards pregnancy. This study tests whether the nature and certainty of sexually active adolescent girls' attitudes towards pregnancy influence their contraceptive consistency and risk of pregnancy. It also tests whether attitudes towards contraception influence contraceptive consistency. Data are drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationwide prospective study of adolescents in grades 7-12. Attitudes towards pregnancy, attitudes towards contraception, knowledge about fertility and other individual characteristics are included in a multivariate model of contraceptive consistency. Those variables, as well as contraceptive consistency itself, are then included in a multivariate model of pregnancy. Net of other factors, girls' attitudes towards getting pregnant did not affect whether they actually became pregnant. However, ambivalence about pregnancy made girls less likely to use contraception. Girls who were most opposed to pregnancy did not differ in contraceptive consistency from those least opposed. Implications for pregnancy prevention efforts are discussed

Ambivalence and Pregnancy: The Effect of Adolescents' Attitudes on Contraception and Pregnancy

It has been argued that adolescents who get pregnant often do not sufficiently appreciate its unfavorable consequences, and that prevention programs should target participants' attitudes towards pregnancy. This study tests whether the nature and certainty of sexually active adolescent girls' attitudes towards pregnancy influence their contraceptive consistency and risk of pregnancy. It also tests whether attitudes towards contraception influence contraceptive consistency. Data are drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationwide prospective study of adolescents in grades 7-12. Attitudes towards pregnancy, attitudes towards contraception, knowledge about fertility and other individual characteristics are included in a multivariate model of contraceptive consistency. Those variables, as well as contraceptive consistency itself, are then included in a multivariate model of pregnancy. Net of other factors, girls' attitudes towards getting pregnant did not affect whether they actually became pregnant. However, ambivalence about pregnancy made girls less likely to use contraception. Girls who were most opposed to pregnancy did not differ in contraceptive consistency from those least opposed. Implications for pregnancy prevention efforts are discussed

Die Integration von Frauen in die Wissenschaft - eine Echternacher Springprozession

"Vor gut zwanzig Jahren entwickelte feministische Gewißheiten über Frauen sind aufgrund vielfältiger Erfahrungen neuen Suchbewegungen gewichen, denn das Bild von der Frau als besserem Menschen und hohe Glückserwartungen an Frauenzusammenhänge haben sich als problematisch erwiesen. Die positive Besetzung des eigenen Geschlechts ist zwar weiterhin die conditio sine qua non für Fraueninitiativen, ein überhöhtes Frauenbild stellt aber nicht selten auch einen Hemmschuh für strukturelle und psychosoziale Entwicklungen dar, wie sie besonders in den Projekten der Neuen Frauenbewegung erforderlich sind. Das Ideal des 'Anderen' ist sowohl Antriebskraft als auch Behinderung, indem es die Frauenbewegung maßgeblich vorangetrieben hat, im Rahmen einer beruflich organisierten Praxis aber zwiespältige Wirkungen zeitigt. Ohne die Privatsphäre zum Politikbereich zu erheben, wäre es nicht möglich gewesen, kollektiv an die Interessen und Problemlagen von Frauen anzuknüpfen, statt sie auszugrenzen. Gleichzeitig enthält diese Ausweitung die Gefahr, private und berufliche Umgangsformen, politische Interessen und psychische Bedürfnisse unreflektiert miteinander zu vermischen. Die Differenzierungen der Neuen Frauenbewegung und zunehmende Institutionalisierungen weisen auf die notwendige Entwicklung neuer Organisations-, Verhaltens- und Kommunikationsprinzipien hin, die weder als Abweichung noch als Entwertung von früheren Formen feministischen Denkens und Handelns angesehen werden und ihrerseits gleichberechtigte Teilhabe und Selbstbestimmung nicht aus dem Auge verlieren." (Autorenreferat

High and Higher: Fertility of Black and White Women with College and Postgraduate Education in the United States

A postponement of first births among college graduates, and increases in childlessness in the US are well documented, as are black-white fertility differentials. However, little is known on how first birth postponement and childlessness differ between women with college and postgraduate education. Likewise, black-white fertility differentials among women with college and post-graduate education, in particular among recent birth cohorts, have not yet been addressed in the literature. We use the CPS Fertility Supplement 1979-2012 to estimate first birth survival functions for black and white women with college and post-graduate education for birth cohorts 1931-1980. Our findings show a significant postponement of the first birth by about 2 years among women with postgraduate education compared to college graduates. Median ages at first birth plateau around age 32-33 for this group. Differentials in childlessness between college graduates and women with postgraduate education are present in the 1940s and 1950s birth cohorts, but disappear for women born after 1960. Furthermore, black highly educated women have significantly more first births early in the life course and higher rates of non-marital fertility than their white counterparts across all birth cohorts. Our findings thus suggest diverging pathways into motherhood between black and white women, even among this most highly educated segment of the population