structural:scholar_edition
Social psychology

Some cultural anthropologists argue that romantic love and sexual jealousy are universal features of human relationships. Social values related to virginity reflect both sexual jealousy and ideals of romantic love, and appear to be deeply embedded in human nature.

Psychology explores the connection between thought and behavior. Seeking understanding of social (or anti-social) behaviors includes sexual behavior. Joan Kahn and Kathryn London studied U.S. women married between 1965 and 1985 to see if virginity at marriage influenced risk of divorce. In this study, women who were virgins at the time of marriage were shown to have less marital upset. It was shown that when observable characteristics were controlled, women who were non-virgins at the time of marriage had a higher risk for divorce. However, it was also shown that the link between premarital sex and the risk of divorce were attributed to prior unobserved differences, such as deviating from norms.

A study conducted by Smith and Schaffer found that someone's first sexual experience has been linked to their sexual performance for years to come. Participants whose first intercourse was pleasant showed more satisfaction in their current sex lives. A different study showed that when compared with virgins, nonvirgins have been shown to have higher levels of independence, less desire for achievement, more criticism from society and a greater level of deviance.