 "Photo: May-Ying Lam/The Daily Texan")
A recent study conducted by UT associate sociology professor Mark Regnerus, found that analyzing high school students’ levels of religious devotion in combination with personality traits can predict the sexual behavior and relationship patterns that adolescents will exhibit as they enter college.
Regnerus, who compiled his research in the book “Forbidden Fruit,” worked with the National Study of Youth and Religion, a project that conducted interviews regarding the religious views of adolescents nationwide. He found that being a part of a religious community affects sexual decision making.
“We found that religion was not as effective of a predictor of sexual behavior as one might expect,” Regnerus said. “It didn’t so much matter whether you were Catholic, Jewish, or
Evangelical. It mattered whether or not you were immersed in a religious community, a network of like-minded friends. Religious orientation doesn’t affect it all that much as compared with religious practice.”
Regnerus used data from the government-funded National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health to compile his research and said he used supplemental data sets with one-on-one interviews to provide an in-depth view into the lives of young adults.
While religious identification has a stronger influence on sexual behavior during childhood, religious high school students begin to exhibit differing behavior from less devout students during their adolescent years, he said.
“Some people come in with very strategic orientations and attitudes and they’re focused on getting their degrees and achieving specific goals,” Regnerus said. “The kids that are more strategic tend to be more cautious about sex than the kids who are less strategic and are sort of looking for the quintessential college experience. It’s just an orientation that people either have or don’t have, but I think an approach of being cautious is always good.”
Regnerus’ research showed that many high school students choose to engage in intimate activities other than sexual intercourse for fear of getting pregnant, but many of them are more open to having sex once they enter college. He said he plans to publish another book addressing factors that influence sexual behaviors of college students.
In recent years, young adults have assumed a more casual attitude toward romantic relationships and have become less focused on commitment, he said.
“Now, it’s sort of like people get together and maybe they eventually date,” Regnerus said. “Sex or something sexual seems to precipitate dating, which is completely bizarre for those of us from older generations. I think people are struggling with how to meet people and what to expect of a relationship, so they expect less serious relationships of shorter durations.”
Regnerus asks his sociology students to question why they engage in dating if they do not intend to make a long-term commitment with their partners. He said recent dating patterns are influenced by rising divorce rates and Americans assuming the attitude that permanency does not exist in relationships.
“Students are getting used to not having one boyfriend or girlfriend throughout college,” Regnerus said. “They’re becoming less serious and more sexual, and I think a lot of them find that unfulfulling at a deeper level. I think they think it’s normal, and it may very well be, but you wind up with a lot of people who emerge from UT not having found a spouse, not really having thought about that during their four years. So, they missed out on the biggest social network around them for that purpose.”
Elizabeth Caldwell, kinesiology and classics junior and a member of Athiest Longhorns, said she feels students who do not have a strong religious network can still successfully abstain from sexual activities or commit to a romantic relationship if they want.
“I think it’s just a matter of the person and how committed they are to decisions,” Caldwell said. “I think it’s the same way with everyone, whether they’re a Christian who doesn’t believe in sex before marriage or not.”
Biology junior Zehra Zaid said that as a practicing Muslim, she is not influenced by college activities which she finds immoral such as drinking. But she said she feels many students who are religiously devout in their high school years abandon their convictions in the college environment because their parents are no longer present to impose religious virtues on them.
“A lot of people I know are just Muslim by name,” Zaid said. “In college, you realize that they’re not really believing for themselves. They’re kind of believing just because their parents are telling them to.”
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