Statement of Problem
Is it normal before marriage for males and females to have sex? At a certain point in our lives, this is a question that we all asked ourselves. When it comes to people being in relationships, many of them are curious to know how many other people their partner has had sex with before them. For many people it’s a tricky subject to bring up to their significant other, but generally everybody is curious to know the number of sexual partners the other person has had before they even start dating. People are embarrassed in some situations to disclose their ‘count’ for fear that their new person may think it's too low or too high. At the end of the day, people date because they want to get to know someone, start a relationship, and one day maybe even think about marriage. I honestly believe that knowing the amount of sexual partners your significant other has had is nice because it is also a matter of precaution. Sexually transmitted diseases are an all-time high, particularly now at this point in time. Yet sexual behavior is now much different in the 21st century than it is was in the past, some today believe that premarital sex is natural. I will use respondents from the General Social Survey (GSS14-A) to support my hypothesis that men are most likely to have more sexual partners than women before marriage.
Review of Literature and Development of Hypothesis
Having sex before marriage these days is common, but society has long considered it to be unacceptable. Kids were taught to wait for sexual intercourse at a young age until they get married because if they had it sooner they would be judged in the future. It is said that males are influenced by their inherited traits, such as impulsivity, which can make a person more or less willing to have sex at an earlier age. Men have a sense of dominance and for this reason I believe they end up having more sexual partners. Now, “the new study shows that by age 20, 75 percent of Americans have had premarital sex” (Warner). According to Christian Granten, “Men are more self-conscious when it comes to competition. They want to be seen as the biggest and best; whether that stems from genuinely wanting to satisfy their partner or to massage their own ego is another matter entirely.” Therefore, my research hypothesis is that before marriage, males have more sexual partners than females. My null hypothesis is that before marriage, males do not have more sexual partners than females.
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Methods
The method I used was to analyze the results of the General Social Survey (GSS) of 2014. The National Opinion Research Center has been collecting and monitoring social change over the years and evaluating American society's progress. My first GSS variable is “Respondents Sex”, in which the respondents had two choices: Female and Male (GSS, 2014). This is my independent variable. My second GSS variable is “Sex before Marriage”, and the respondents had four choices: Always Wrong, Almost Always Wrong, Sometimes Wrong, and Not Wrong at All (GSS, 2014). This is my dependent variable.
Findings
In my independent variable “Respondents Sex”, there were 982 respondents out of 1500 who answered this question. 44.8% of respondents reported being a Male and 55.2% of respondents reported being a Female. My Range is Female and Male. My mode is Female, which in this case, is the most frequent response (GSS, 2014).
RESPONDENTS SEX
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
MALE
672
44.8
44.8
44.8
FEMALE
828
55.2
55.2
100.0
Total
1500
100.0
100.0
In my dependent variable, “Sex Before Marriage”, there were 982 respondents out of 1500 who answered the question. 18.7% of respondents reported being Always Wrong, 6.1% of respondents reported being Almost Always Wrong, 17.1% of respondents of being Sometimes Wrong, and 58.0% of respondents reported being Not Wrong at All. 42.0% of respondents have been Sometimes Wrong or Right compared to 58.0% of respondents that are Not Wrong at All. The Range is Always Wrong to Not Wrong at All. The mode is Not Wrong at All, which is the most frequent response (GSS,2014).
SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Valid
ALWAYS WRONG
184
12.3
18.7
18.7
ALMOST ALWAYS WRG
60
4.0
6.1
24.8
SOMETIMES WRONG
168
11.2
17.1
42.0
NOT WRONG AT ALL
570
38.0
58.0
100.0
Total
982
65.5
100.0
Missing
IAP
495
33.0
DK
19
1.3
NA
4
.3
Total
518
34.5
Total
1500
100.0
The two GSS variables are “Respondents Sex” and “Sex Before Marriage”. 982 of the respondents answered both questions. 15.7% of Male respondents reported being Always Wrong, 4.6% of respondents reported Almost Always Wrong, 19.9% of respondents reported Sometimes Wrong, and 59.7% of respondents reported Not Wrong at All. 21.1% of Female respondents reported being Always Wrong, 7.3% of respondents reported Almost Always Wrong, 14.9% of respondents reported Sometimes Wrong, and 56.7% of respondents reported Not Wrong at All.
After analyzing the information from the survey, I am informed that 40.3% of
Male respondents were Almost Wrong compared to 59.7% of Male respondents are Not Wrong at All. 43.3% of Female respondents were Always Wrong compared to 56.7% of Female respondents who are Not Wrong at All. The Lambda of zero shows that there is no relationship between the two variables (GSS, 2014). Overall, there were only 982 respondents used in this sample, not the whole entire population. If the entire population was surveyed, there could have been different results or even correlations.
Descriptive Statistics
N
Range
Mean
Std. Deviation
Variance
SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE
982
3
3.14
1.171
1.372
RESPONDENTS SEX
1500
1
1.55
.497
.247
Valid N (listwise)
982
SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE * RESPONDENTS SEX Crosstabulation
RESPONDENTS SEX
Total
MALE
FEMALE
SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE
ALWAYS WRONG
Count
68
116
184
% within RESPONDENTS SEX
15.7%
21.1%
18.7%
ALMST ALWAYS WRG
Count
20
40
60
% within RESPONDENTS SEX
4.6%
7.3%
6.1%
SOMETIMES WRONG
Count
86
82
168
% within RESPONDENTS SEX
19.9%
14.9%
17.1%
NOT WRONG AT ALL
Count
258
312
570
% within RESPONDENTS SEX
59.7%
56.7%
58.0%
Total
Count
432
550
982
% within RESPONDENTS SEX
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
Discussion
Overall, I was not surprised at first that Females responded more to this survey than Males. I feel like it is unacceptable for Males to confront or even answer to this question. But, however I was surprised that females think it is Not Wrong at All, that males do have more sexual partners than females before marriage. From experience, I have found that females are typically more jealous than males and I wouldn’t have thought females would be okay with the male having sex before marriage. I also believe the people surveyed who choose that it is Always Wrong can possibly be affected by their religious beliefs or political views. In relation to my hypothesis that males do have more sexual partners than females before marriage, there is actually a small difference between Females and Males who think it is Sometimes Wrong. The result for Lambda is zero because there was no measure of association between these two variables.
Conclusion
When I reviewing the following information and charts, I concluded that Males think it is not wrong at all to have more sexual partners than females before marriage.
Out of the 1500 respondents, there were only 982 who reported to the survey, 738 of both sexes reported it is Sometimes Wrong and Not Wrong at All to have premarital sex. In the end, the lambda is zero because there is no relationship between the independent variable “Respondents Sex” and the dependent variable “Sex Before Marriage”.
References
- Hosie, Rachel, and Christian Grant. “The Ideal Number of Sexual Partners to Have before Settling down, Study Reveals.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 4 May 2017, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/ideal-number-sexual-partners-before-settling-down-sex-man-woman-marriage-study-a7717571.html.
- National Opinion Research Center. (2014). General Social Survey (GSS). Data Set GSS14-A, The National Data Program for the sciences (NORC). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
- Warner, Jennifer. “Premarital Sex the Norm in America.” WebMD, WebMD, 20 Dec. 2006, www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20061220/premarital-sex-the-norm-in-america.
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