Virgins never divorce (almost)

Research consistently shows that people—particularly women—who enter marriage as virgins have significantly lower divorce rates, especially in the early years of marriage.

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📊 Findings from key studies
• Wolfinger et al. (2000s):
• Among women marrying as virgins, only 11 % divorced within five years in the 1980s.
• That dropped to 8 % in the 1990s, and just 6 % in the 2000s .
• For comparison: women with two premarital partners had a ~28 % five-year divorce rate in the 1980s, and ~33 % if they’d had 10+ partners in the 2000s .
• Add Health (recent panel data):
• Those entering marriage with zero premarital partners were used as the baseline.
• Even after controlling for religion, attitudes, personality, etc., having any premarital partners made divorce about 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely .
• Other research echoes that marrying as a virgin is associated with greater marital stability. A classic study by Kahn & London in 1991 also found this link .

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💡 Why virgin marriages are more stable
1. Selection factors – Virgins are more likely to be religious, hold traditional values, and delay marriage intentionally. These traits independently support marital longevity .
2. Causal effects – Studies controlling for observable differences still find premarital sex strongly associated with higher divorce risk. This suggests the act itself—and its effects on expectations, relationship norms, or social circles—may impact marital outcomes .

🧭 Bottom Line
• Marrying as a virgin is strongly correlated with lower risk of early divorce—around 6–11 %, depending on the era—compared to 20–30 % for those with multiple premarital partners.
• This association seems driven both by who virgins are (e.g. religious, cautious) and by what premarital sexual experience does to relationship dynamics.
• Yet, premarital sex—even in small amounts—is linked to a 50–150 % increase in divorce risk after accounting for background factors.

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