Adamant virgins, potential nonvirgins and nonvirgins

Most researchers studying premarital sexual behavior have focused on virgins and nonvirgins as distinct entities and have generally ignored important subgroups. Using data obtained from 514 single high school and college women, this study analyzed variables differentiating among adamant virgins, potential nonvirgins and nonvirgins. Adamant virgins were defined as those who had not experienced intercourse and were not likely to engage in premarital intercourse (PMI). Women who had not experienced PMI but were likely to engage in PMI were defined as potential nonvirgins. Variables significantly related (p < .05) to virginity status in chi‐square analyses were age, religiosity, career aspirations, parental acceptance of PMI, peer acceptance of PMI, peer experience with PMI, dating commitment and dating frequency. Using discriminant analysis, it was found that peer experience with PMI was the most important predictor of virginity status, followed in importance by dating commitment and religiosity. The results suggest that studying potential nonvirgins can help us to better understand the relationship of sexual attitudes and behavior and factors influencing the transition from virginity to nonvirginity.