Recent research published in Journal of Sex Research suggest that exposure to strict religious sexual teachings can increase feelings of sexual shame, especially for survivors of sexual violence. This finding indicates that both exposure to pure culture messages in childhood and acceptance of pure culture messages in adulthood uniquely contribute to how individuals view themselves sexually after a nonconsensual experience. This study highlights that the scriptures of a particular religion can have a significant impact on psychological recovery and sexual well-being.
Anna Grace C. Coates and Cindy M. Meston, clinical psychology doctoral scientists at the University of Texas at Austin, conducted this new study to better understand how religious messages influence recovery from sexual trauma. Sexual shame is a well-documented consequence of non-consensual sexual experiences. It is defined as a deep sense of inadequacy regarding one’s sexual identity, desires, and experiences.
Previous research has shown that feelings of sexual inferiority can have a significant impact on a person’s future sexual health and overall psychological well-being. However, the specific role of the religious environment in shaping these emotions remains relatively unexplored. Most previous studies have only measured broad religious affiliation or focused only on physical pain during intercourse.
The authors focused specifically on purity culture, a distinct and widespread movement within evangelical Christianity. “Religion and sex seem to have a strange relationship, and I’ve always been interested in their integration,” Coates said. “Sexual shame can be a product of that combination, and I find that particularly interesting. Purity culture, a set of sexual ethics, norms, and ideals in evangelical Christianity, has sexual shame built into it.”
Coates noted that he has only seen purity culture discussed anecdotally in podcasts, memoirs, and blogs. She wanted to test it from an empirical perspective. Purity culture promotes a strict sexual ethic that frames sex exclusively as a sacred act for heterosexual marriage.
The movement strongly emphasizes abstinence before marriage through vows of chastity and the wearing of symbolic rings. There is also a tendency to place the responsibility for preventing sexual activity entirely on women. Deviation from these teachings often has severe social and psychological consequences.
To investigate these questions, scientists recruited 301 adults using an anonymous online survey platform. Participants were compensated for their time and completed a series of online surveys. The researchers intentionally recruited individuals from the southeastern United States because of its historically high prevalence of evangelical Christianity and its message of purity culture.
Participants ranged in age from 19 to 79 years, with a mean age of approximately 38 years. The sample was primarily cisgender, White, heterosexual, and female. To participate, participants had to be currently in a relationship for at least 3 months, be sexually active, and be fluent in English.
Participants were divided into three roughly equal groups based on their history of sexual violence. One group consisted of 100 survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Another group included 101 adults who had nonconsensual sexual experiences in adulthood. A final group of 100 participants served as a control group with no history of nonconsensual sexual experiences.
The researchers used several detailed questionnaires to collect information. They used inventories to thoroughly document participants’ lifelong histories of unwanted sexual experiences. To measure feelings of inadequacy, participants completed assessments assessing internalized shame, relational shame, and general sexual inferiority.
Finally, the authors used a specialized scale to measure pure culture beliefs. This tool assessed the extent to which participants heard purity culture messages in childhood and the extent to which they currently subscribed to those beliefs as adults.
Data analysis included advanced statistical modeling to account for potential nonlinear relationships between variables. As expected, the authors found that survivors of both childhood sexual abuse and nonconsensual adult experiences reported significantly higher levels of sexual shame than the control group. Interestingly, levels of sexual shame did not differ significantly between the two survivor groups.
“Whether you grew up hearing about purity culture or even if you believe in it now, purity culture can amplify sexual shame,” Coates told SciPost. “This is especially true for survivors of sexual trauma who feel torn between the standards set by their lived experience and their own sexual ethics.”
For men, childhood exposure to purity culture independently predicted higher levels of sexual shame. This effect remained significant even after accounting for the trauma of nonconsensual experiences. For women, the relationship between childhood exposure and sexual shame was present, but the relationship was slightly less significant.
“We were surprised at how much influence purity culture had on the men in this sample compared to the women,” Coates said. “The majority of research and discussion about purity culture focuses primarily on women, because the burden of purity falls disproportionately on women’s shoulders.”
“However, men had stronger relationships when compared to women (e.g., male controls showed more sexual shame when exposed to purity culture in childhood, whereas female controls did not in post hoc analyses),” Coates added.
Researchers point out that purity culture promotes different scripts for men and women. For men who have experienced sexual abuse, the harm directly contradicts male-dominated religious norms. Coates noted that both men and women report that sexual shame has been magnified through purity culture, but this may occur through different channels because purity culture has different messages for men and women.
Focusing on adulthood, the scientists found that current acceptance of purity culture beliefs significantly predicted greater sexual shame for both men and women. If survivors currently believe in the teachings of these strict religions, they may experience deep dissonance between their beliefs and their real-life experiences. The authors suggest that internalizing these beliefs can increase self-blame, which is strongly associated with trauma-related shame.
As with all studies, there are some limitations that should be considered. This study relied on a cross-sectional design, meaning that data were collected at a single time point. This leaves researchers unable to prove a causal relationship between purity culture and sexual shame.
Using self-report questionnaires also leaves room for recall bias. Participants may not fully remember the exact extent of the religious messages they received during their childhood. Additionally, researchers classified childhood abuse as non-consensual experiences that occur between birth and age 17.
Coates also wanted to forestall potential misunderstandings about the role of faith. “Religion and sex are not inherently ‘bad’ when intertwined,” she explained. “The specific message about sex in a religion and how someone interprets it can have very different outcomes.”
“In this sample, we found a negative relationship between the two,” Coates noted. “Other studies have found positive interactions, such as the ‘holy bed phenomenon’ where religious couples report higher sexual satisfaction than non-religious couples. What matters is how we, as individuals, relate to our religious beliefs, or lack thereof, and what that means for our sexual well-being.”
Another limitation involves the demographic composition of the sample. Because most of the participants were white, heterosexual, and highly educated, the findings may not fully apply to other populations. In evangelical Christianity, minorities often face harsher judgment regarding sexual purity.
Looking ahead, Coates plans to investigate how these dynamics impact marginalized communities. “We are interested in how the effects found in this study are amplified for non-cisgender, non-heterosexual individuals, as purity culture positions cisgender heterosexual sex within marriage as the only ‘right way’,” she says.
“The role of religious coping in supporting or hindering recovery from sexual trauma and shame is also of great interest, given the profound influence religion has on many people’s lives,” Coates concluded.
The study, “Purity and Shame: Purity Culture and Sexual Shame Among Survivors of Nonconsensual Sexual Experiences,” was authored by Anna Grace C. Coates and Cindy M. Meston.
