It should be recalled at this point that the spousal meaning to be embodied and symbolized by sexual intercourse includes not only the aspect of spouses being related to each other but also the aspect of procreation. Sex outside of marriage is in direct contradiction of any proper procreative meaning.
If contraception is used, the act
deliberately excludes conception. If contraceptives are not used the action is open to conception in an inappropriate context. III.
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
My review of literature suggested that there are very few empirical studies of the effects of fornication generally or of fornication in “a premarital state of mind” on marriage.338 However, a number of researchers have looked into the effects of cohabitation on subsequent marriage, and the results are relevant to the other two issues. The studies show, with remarkable regularity, that the marriages of those who cohabit prior to marriage are on average less stable than are the marriages of those who did not. Nock and Brinig find that couples who cohabited before marriage divorced six times more frequently than did other couples.339 Hall and Zhao cite studies in several western countries that show that couples who cohabit prior to their marriage have significantly higher risk of divorce than do other couples.340 Juby and others, working with Canadian census data, conclude that those who live with each other before marriage are almost
338
It is perhaps useful to note the few studies that I found on the general effects on marriage of the practice of sex before marriage. Kahn, Joan, & Kathryn London, “Premarital sex and the risk of divorce” Journal of Marriage and Family 53(1991) 845-55, indicate that women who engage in sexual intercourse before marriage have a much higher risk of divorce than do women who refrain from premarital sex. They note, quite plausibly, that the premarital sex is not the only factor that might cause the marital instability. Teachman, Jay, “Premarital sex, premarital cohabitation, and the risk of subsequent marital dissolution among women” Journal of Marriage and Family 65(2003) 444-55, confirms that women who engage in sexual intercourse before marriage are more likely to have a less stable marriage, at least if they have had more than one partner. Nock, Steven, “The consequences of premarital fatherhood” American Sociological Review 63(1998) 250-63, associates premarital fatherhood with such negative effects as lower socio-economic status, less education and a lower employment. Too few empirical studies have been located to allow for firm conclusions. 339 Nock, Steven, & Margaret Brinig, “Weak men and disorderly women: divorce and the division of labor”, paper available on the internet at Social Sciences Research Network. 340 Hall, David, & John Zhao, “Cohabitation and divorce in Canada: testing the selectivity hypothesis” Journal of Marriage and Family 57(1995) 421-27.
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