Hindus And Muslims Less Likely To Have Premarital Sex Than Christians, Jews [Study]

Despite their “True Love Waits” jewelry, T-shirts, and conferences, along with their face in the abstinence movement, Christians are more likely to have premarital sex than Muslims and Hindus, according to a new study in the American Sociological Review.

The study also showed the Hindus and Muslims are more likely to abstain from extramarital sex than Christians and Jews, reports The Washington Post. Amy Adamczyk of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who co-authored the study, stated:

“All major world religions discourage sex outside of marriage, but they are not all equally effective in shaping behavior.”

Adamczyk, along with co-author John Jay doctoral student Brittany E. Hayes, drew their conclusions from Demographic and Health Surveys, which were funded by the US Agency for International Development.

The study included data from 31 developing nations between 2000 and 2008. Adamczyk added that the study came from another she was involved with, which found that countries with large Muslim populations tend to have very low rates of HIV and AIDS.

One possible reason for this was the lower rates of sex outside marriage. At the beginning of their study, the authors hypothesized that the larger the population of Muslims and Hindus in a country, the lower the rates of premarital and extramarital sex would be.

The Huffington Post notes that the two authors discovered 94 percent of Jews in the nations they studied reported having premarital sex, while Christians reported it 79 percent. Sixty-five percent of Buddhists reported premarital sex, 43 percent for Muslims, and 19 percent of Hindus.

Where extramarital sex is concerned, four percent of Jews reported sex outside of marriage and three percent reported it for Christians. Less than one percent of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists reported extramarital sex. Adamczyk stated:

“In many countries around the world — but in Muslim countries specifically, there’s just much less interaction between the sexes. It’s just going to be much less likely that they’re going to meet a potentially romantic partner.”

Suzy Ismail, a marriage and divorce counselor, who is also the author of many books on Muslim marriage, believes that the low rates of premarital and extramarital sex are rooted in their religion.

Are you surprised that Christians and Jews have a higher premarital sex rate than Hindus and Muslims?

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