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A theory of sexual revolution: explaining the collapse of the norm of premarital abstinence

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Abstract

The sexual revolution that took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s is one of the most profound social changes during the second half of the twentieth century in America. Before the revolution, there existed a norm proscribing premarital sex (PS norm); premarital sex was not accepted. After the sexual revolution, the PS norm no longer existed; premarital sex became accepted. In the literature on how premarital sex became accepted, little attention is given to the institutional change that transpired—the collapse of a sexual norm. This study specifies one micro-mechanism of this social change. Specifically, adopting methodological individualism and the prisoner's dilemma game, I develop a theory that explains how a technological innovation for contraception triggered a change in individuals' perception of premarital sex, which led to their behavioral change. As a result, premarital sex became accepted, and the norm proscribing premarital sex collapsed. I use General Social Survey data to test the hypothesized micro-mechanism of the institutional change. The empirical analysis supports the hypothesis derived from the theory. Based on the above analyses, I discuss two alternative explanations and the issue of teenage pregnancy.

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Notes

  1. An action generates externalities when it “has consequences beyond the direct and intended consequences for the actor himself, which constitute costs for other persons in the vicinity. In other cases an action will result in benefits to those others, and it becomes in their interest to encourage the action” (Coleman 1990: 786).

  2. Not all norms are produced for social benefits (see Kitts 2006; Elster 2015).

  3. Coleman contends that the first condition is a necessary condition as well (Coleman 1990). That is, there will be no demand for a norm in a social system if an individual action does not impose externalities on others.

  4. Relation 3 involves a micro-macro transition. Scholars often use computer simulation to check its logical consistency (Axelrod 1986; Markovsky 1995; Macy and Willer 2002).

  5. This measure is used in the previous research as a measure of the PS norm (see Butler 2002).

  6. Another reason that Catholics are more likely to accept premarital sex is that the Catholic church had lost its moral authority in sexual issues because of its condemnation of birth control (see Greeley 1990 for a detailed explanation).

  7. The empirical analysis supports the theory at the micro level. An interesting question is if the hypothesized micro mechanism is able to cause the social change at the macro level— the collapse of the PS norm (i.e., Relation 3 in Fig. 4). Computer simulations conducted by Liu (2020) demonstrate a norm collapses under the condition specified in the theory.

  8. Some scholars argue that that concerns over rapid population growth, the government role in the Great Society, cultural change, and women’s movement contributed to the availability of the pill (see Bailey 1993, 1997; Gordon 1990; Reed 1983, 1985). This study distinguishes itself from that line of research in that it investigates how an individual’s attitude toward the availability of contraceptives affects his/her acceptance of premarital sex.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Barry Markovsky for his comments on an earlier draft of this paper and for his valuable support. I thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. I thank Edmund Worthy and Miles Groth for their edits.

Funding

This research is supported by a Grant from the National Science Foundation (SES-9911382). Additional support was provided by a faculty research fund from Wagner College.

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  1. Department of Sociology, Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, 10301, USA

    Chien Liu

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Correspondence to Chien Liu.

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Liu, C. A theory of sexual revolution: explaining the collapse of the norm of premarital abstinence. Mind Soc 20, 41–58 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-020-00269-7

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