A Study on Attachment Styles and Virginity Beliefs Based on Young Adults in India

Abstract

Attachment styles that develop during one’s unique life experiences also guide many aspects of their lives, especially governing the different kinds of relationships that they have. The young adults of India are going through several transformations due to the slowly changing attitudes and welcoming of opposite-sex relations, meaning that the chances of having pre-marital relations also is being accepted. Though studies and literature have provided evidence of associations between attachment styles and virginity beliefs, this research helps bridge to an extent some cultural gap in terms of studying both the variables in Indian context. The aim of the study is to understand if there is any correlation of attachment styles and virginity beliefs that young adults develop. Data from an urban population of young adults was collected, with 127 males and females between the ages of 18-30. The Measure of Attachment Style (MAOS) and The Virginity Belief Scale (VBS) was used for the purpose data collection. The results were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Software. The results of the study significantly showed no significant correlation between the three attachment styles (Secure, Avoidant, Ambivalent) and the three virginity beliefs (Process, Stigma, Gift). The findings though did find that men have more of “process-based virginity belief” and women “gift-based virginity belief” which could be due to several factors such as “virginity” still being the honor of a girl’s family and community, conforming to sexual double standards for men and women in India, where female sexuality is considered a “gift” to the husband and therefore, is something precious and to be protected until the consummation of marriage, wherein men are not held to the same moral standards and are freer to explore their sexual debut. The findings of this study calls for the implementation of programs and more research into devising ways that educate youth in non-threatening, non- judgmental, protective and confidential ways to know more regarding their own sexual scripts based on workings of their attachment styles and other life experiences, so as to better equip the young adult population to take safety measures and communicate effectively wanted outcomes.