Sex before marriage

Introduction What makes a lasting relationship in today’s society? Is it based primarily on sexual chemistry, or the act of physical sexual relations? Over the years, studies have been conducted to find what harm or help may come from sexual relations before marriage (http://ampartnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134:divorce-and-premarital-sex&catid=12:recent-news&Itemid=37). Not only is their scientific research to show that premarital relations could increase relations ship issues after marriage, but there is spiritual debate as well. Many religions frown upon the idea of premarital relations as well. While reading this research paper, ponder upon how people may be affected psychologically from premarital sex when things in regards to the relationship go wrong, let alone while they are going right. This paper will touch on arguments to support
A.) Why premarital sex should be engaged in
B.) Different studies conducted to support why premarital sex should not be engaged in and
C.) Premarital sex studies
Why premarital sex should be engaged in Today, as there is a rise in premarital sex, there also is a rise in relationships that do not last long as well as a rise in people wanting to prolong marriage all together. For this reason, many feel no need to wait to engage in sexual activity before getting married. Few reasons people feel that you shouldn’t wait are the fact that it is important to know what you are getting yourself into, helps one to mature sexually understanding their bodies better/what helps them to peak sexually, and sex being a powerful brain stimulant which can help increase daily function (http://www.examiner.com/article/some-christian-groups-encourage-premarital-sex-claiming-the-bible-says-nothing-about-it-at-all). By having intercourse before marriage, you get to experience your partner and decipher if they you’re your sexual desires. For many sex is a key point in relationship survival. When one has sex before marriage, they are provided with more time to strengthen their sexual skills with their partner(s). Being that sex is stimulating in most cases, it not only helps to promote function, but it is also a good means of release for things built up dealing with everyday life. Though people are free to engage in premarital sex, there are not many reasons to support premarital sex being encouragement.
Why premarital sex should not be engaged in Studies have been done to provide reasons as to why premarital sex should not be encouraged (http://www.academia.edu/1803428/A_cross-cultural_psychology_perspective_on_premarital_sex). There have been more proven reasons to show that premarital sex can has have a negative effect in many ways. Some reasons why premarital sex should not be encouraged due to the psychological effect sex has on people, increased rates of diseases, causes unstable relationships, has relation to infidelity in relationships, relation to out of control sexual urges, depreciates the value of relationships, causes unplanned/unwanted pregnancies and premarital sex being against spiritual beliefs. Psychologically, no real sense of commitment is established with premarital sex so one finds it easy to move from one partner to the next. In the same sense, when one gives themselves sexually, they give a part of themselves to that person that creates a connection. When that connection is broken, it has very damaging effects physically, mentally, and emotionally. People tend to handle the hurt/lack of satisfaction they feel in different ways. By having premarital sex, more people are at risk of gaining sexually transmitted diseases. Most people that engage in premarital sex have had more than one partner. That means that more people are exposed to transmission of diseases (http://teen-aid.org/Abstinence_Education/psychological_argument_for_abstinence_and_commitment.htm). During sex, chemical bonding occurs. The chemicals oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and endorphins are released. According to an article about a study done at the University of California (http://people.howstuffworks.com/love7.htm), oxytocin begins to create an emotional bond between sexual partners. Vasopressin also is associated with the bonding process, but when these two chemicals release, they interfere with dopamine and norepinephrine pathways which may explain why love fades as attachment grows. Typically when premarital sex is a factor in a relationship, there is no foundation of love and normally one partner feels a certain level of love for the other if at all. This is why premarital sex can lead to an unstable relationship as well as infidelity within one.
Once our bodies have discovered the stimulant sex, it’s natural for an urge to satisfy that craving of the ultimate sexual feeling and desire in finding again. With stimulants, people highly satisfied and it is difficult to stop doing the things that satisfied us. It is also possible to become dissatisfied with one thing and seek that satisfaction in another. This is how multiple partners come into play. In this case, it was bought on by that first initial phase of premarital sex. By this time, the value of a relationship depletes. More focus is upon satisfying the sexual urge than establishment of a monogamous relationship and sexual enjoyment with one person. There is a popular saying that has some truth to it “why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free”. This basically means what I cannot get from one person, I may get from another. With a thought process as such, it is easy to understand why one would feel no need to being in a relationship. Increase of premarital sex also means an increase in unwanted/unplanned pregnancies. Today, more people are having abortions as result of many reasons one being premarital affairs. Premarital affairs are also looked down upon religiously. Christians believe that according to the Holy Bible and Gods commandments, sex is supposed to be between husband and wife. Also, according to the commandments, premarital sex, also termed fornication is a sin. Those whom have spiritual beliefs as a foundation have an understanding that premarital sex is not to be engaged in mainly in that once two people engage in sex, they become one. This is a bond that is not supposed to be broken by any one other that their partners. Religious people have more of a fear in condemnation from God/higher power than condemnation from man. These are the reasons ones spiritual beliefs are against premarital intercourse.
Some conducted studies to support being against premarital sex
Found on an article about premarital sex and divorce, these studies were conducted:
Kahn and London, 1991-Data from the National Survey of Family Growth indicate that “women who are sexually active prior to marriage faced considerably higher risk of marital disruption than women who were virgin brides.” These scholars explain that even when controlling for various differentials between virginal and non-virginal groups -- such as socio-economics, family background as well as attitudinal and value differences -- “non-virgins still face a much higher risk of divorce than virgins.”
Heaton, 2002-In a study looking at factors impacting increased marital stability, Brigham Young sociologist Tim Heaton examined how premarital sexual experience, premarital child-bearing, cohabitation and marrying someone of a different religious faith were all associated with greater risk of divorce. Heaton explains, “Dissolution rates are substantially higher among those who initiate sexual activity before marriage.” Heaton asserts that divorce is more likely among the sexually active and cohabiters because they have established their life together on “relatively unstable sexual relationships (http://ampartnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134:divorce-and-premarital-sex&catid=12:recent-news&Itemid=37)...
In conclusion, given the supported evidence behind reasons why premarital sex can lead to relevant issues, premarital sex should be discouraged. Part of the main problem is going into relationships for the wrong reason as well as establishment of what the relationship is and who you are engaging in a relationship with needs to be properly established. Though many who engage in premarital relations find it resulting in unsuccessful relationships, there are also many who have had successful marriages after premarital sex as well.

Work Cited http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1802108/ http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001869.htm http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/39405-science-proves-premarital-sex-rewires-the-brain http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20061220/premarital-sex-the-norm-in-america http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpdij_ceLJk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEAtr5qKgKY

Cited: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1802108/ http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001869.htm http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/39405-science-proves-premarital-sex-rewires-the-brain http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20061220/premarital-sex-the-norm-in-america http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpdij_ceLJk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEAtr5qKgKY