Consequences of Premarital Intimacy

Dynamics of Marriage and Family 3(3+0)

Consequences of Premarital Intimacy


  1. Society’s attitude: Once the intimacy is developed on whose initiative, it is always the girl/woman who is blamed for it. Being an Indian, she is expected to save and protect her virginity for her husband only. There are double standards in our society for boys and girls, for ex: there is no equivalent word in any language for virginity in male.

  2. Physical consequences:
    1. STD/Venereal diseases: People involved with prostitutes often encounter with these diseases as prostitutes are at high risk of infections as they involve with many partners.
    2. Premarital / Teenage pregnancy: Premarital conception is a common consequence; the risk of conception depends on the frequency of sexual contacts/intercourses. The secondary consequences of teenage pregnancy are – abortion, illegitimacy, premature marriage

    Abortion: Induced abortion in 3/4th cases of all premature pregnancies.
    Illegitimacy
    : Rearing a child out of wedlock is the rarest option for a girl.
    Premature marriage
    : An undesired pregnancy raises extra problems when couple marry sooner than expected – education, training gets disturbed, divorce rate increases.

  3. Psychological consequences:
    In comparison to such tangible effects as pregnancy, abortion and diseases, the emotional consequences of intimacy are difficult to measure, regret more common for women and guilt feeling.

  4. Interpersonal consequences:
    • In order to improve the chances of marriage, some try to become pregnant.
    • Sexual contacts alter the character of relationship from attraction to fulfillment from the appeal of the unknown to boredom with the known.
    • As per male psychology, sexual inaccessibility heightens to partners desirability, increases the desire to marry her.
    • Sexual intimacy weakens the males desire to continue the relationship.
    • In general, intimacy decreases the ‘momentum’ towards marriage for the man or at least the sexual incentive is reduced.
    • Whereas for the girl, it has opposite effect, her desire to marry may increase to guarantee social security in case of pregnancy, value of losing her virginity, feeling of left over and feeling of second hand commodity etc.
    • Research reveals that divorce rate was high in couples who had premarital intercourse than happily married couples.
    • Marital happiness was greatest to couples who have saved sex relations for marriage.
    • Where multiple partners are involved, they have less happy marriages and more frequent divorce.
    • Normally well adjusted young people will suffer no ill effects if they maintain self control and avoid excessive sex interest until they marry.
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Last modified: Friday, 25 May 2012, 6:21 AM