The analysis of Bearman and Bruckner indicating that virginity pledgers have the same STD rates as non-pledgers has garnered widespread media and political attention. However, the same methods used by Bearman and Bruckner to analyze virginity pledges also show that condom use has no effect in reducing STD’s. This clearly illustrates the serious limitations of Bearman and Bruckner’s methodology.
The paper has shown that taking a virginity pledge in adolescence, in fact, is associated with a substantial decline in STD rates in young adult years. Across a broad array of analysis, virginity pledging was found to be a better predictor of STD reduction than was condom use. Individuals who took a virginity pledge in adolescence are some 25 percent less likely to have an STD as young adults, when compared with non-pledgers who are identical in race, gender, and family background. The reduction in STD’s for virginity pledgers occurs despite the fact that many years may have elapsed between the time the individual took a virginity pledge and the time that the STD rate was measured. Moreover, after initially taking a pledge, relatively few virginity pledgers will have received continuing social support for their commitment to abstinence.
Other research has shown that, when compared to non-pledgers of similar backgrounds, individuals who have taken a virginity pledge are:
* Less likely to have children out-of-wedlock; * Less likely to experience teen pregnancy; * Less likely to give birth as teens or young adults; * Less likely to have sex before age 18; and, * Less likely to engage in non-marital sex as young adults.
Pledgers will have fewer lifetime sexual partners than non-pledgers, and pledgers engaging in sexual activity in young adult years are as likely to use contraceptives as are non-pledgers.
Virginity pledge and similar abstinence education programs are among the few forces in our society pushing back against a tide of sexual permissiveness. These efforts need to be strengthened and expanded.