Sex and Health

Udry, J. Richard. "Add Health Study." The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 25 July 2003. 30 Oct. 2003

The study questioned 12 to 18 year-olds and followed up on them six years later.
Sexually Transmitted Disease rates for white youth who pledged to stay virgins until marriage was 2.8 percent compared with 3.5 percent for those who didn't pledge. (A .7% reduction in STDs for those who pledged)

Black youth rates were 18.1 % for those who pledged to remain celibate and 20.3 % for those who did not make the pledge. (A 2 .1% reduction in STDs for those who pledged)
For Hispanic youth 6.7% of those who pledged and 8.6% for those who did not pledge had STDs. (A 1.9% reduction in STDs for those who pledged)

One dramatic difference occurred in the rates of those who had sex. In all, 99% of the non-pledgers and 88 %of pledgers had sex before marriage. A 12% difference makes a difference in pregnancy, emotional loss, depression and rates of poverty.

Virginity pledges also delayed sexual activity and led to fewer partners both of which are positive results.

This shows the power of the pledges by themselves. It also shows that a one-time pledge alone is not enough. Those connected with the abstinence movement would agree.

Commentary

From a psychological point of view, research is clear about the power of a pledge to shape future behavior. Making a promise to do anything, good or bad, tends to promote the behavior promised. Sales personnel know this power and do everything thy can to get us to make a small, very, insignificant promise in order to get us to make larger ones. For example, telephone sales people always ask a simple question just to get you to say “Yes” to it so you will be more like to say “Yes” to their product later.

Therapists use this approach to get people to agree to positive behavior. When a client is suicidal we ask them to sign a pledge not to hurt themselves and to call if they feel like they want to. This has good results and a counselor would be unprofessional if he/she failed to do it.

Second, one pledge may be somewhat effective but not as effective as ongoing support and re-commitment to sexual discipline. Keeping young people engaged in positive support groups is critically important to their mental, emotional and sexual health.