Colloquium Series: Mark Regnerus, University of Texas at Austin

Mark Regnerus, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think about Marrying

Abstract: While most Americans remain ambivalent about teenage sexuality, that same sentiment doesn’t often apply to emerging adulthood. Ages 18 to 23 are popularly thought of as some of the most sexualized in life. But is it true? Premarital Sex in America tells the definitive story of the sexual and relationship values and practices of unmarried emerging adults. Sociologists Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker draw upon their analysis of nationally representative data and scores of in-person interviews to help shed light on numerous questions about the sex lives of young Americans, including how long their relationships last, how quickly they become sexual, why the double standard is so stubborn, who remains a virgin and for how long, how gender imbalances in college change the rules of mating, the “price” of sex and its effects on relationship security, how online social networking and porn alter the market in relationships, how emerging adults think about marriage and relationship permanence, who marries early, why the age at marriage is rising rapidly, and how “red” and “blue” politics are reflected in our sexual choices. Premarital Sex in America reveals disparities between college students and those who never pursued higher education, between conservatives and liberals, and between men and women in their experiences of romantic and sexual relationships. The result is an omnibus study of sex and relationships in the lives of heterosexual emerging adults in America.

Mark Regnerus is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Premarital Sex in America, due out in December 2010 from Oxford University Press. Before that, he wrote Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford, 2007), which tells the story of how religion shapes teen sexual decision-making. Forbidden Fruit was reviewed in Slate, the Dallas Morning News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The New Yorker, among other outlets. His op-ed on the benefits of early marriage appeared in the Washington Post on April 26, 2009. A cover article on early marriage appeared in the August 2009 issue of Christianity Today. A short article on the low price of sex among young adults appeared in Slate on February 25, 2011. Author of over 30 published articles and book chapters, his research is in the areas of sexual behavior, family, and religious behavior. In addition to his appointment in sociology, Mark is also a faculty research associate of the university’s Population Research Center.