SEX, SIN & SOCIETY:A common consensus now is that cohabiting is likely to result in a more stable marriage
TODAY'S COVERAGE of The Irish Times/Behaviour Attitudes social poll is the first in a three-part series dealing with the issues of sex and relationships, religion and morality.
Fieldwork for the study was undertaken last month, amongst a representative sample of the 3.2 million Irish adults aged 18 years and over in the Republic. More importantly, the poll records the views and opinions of Irish people 10 years into the new millennium, following a period of unprecedented social turmoil, and a shift in the national psyche away from an unquestioning acceptance of Catholic Church dogma, and the influence the church once had over people’s behaviour and attitudes.
In today’s piece we explore Irish people’s values regarding sex and relationships. The most recent (2006) census data revealed a total of 122,000 cohabiting couples in Ireland, by far the fastest growing type of family unit.
While all of the evidence would suggest the great majority of individuals in Ireland eventually enter into a formal marriage, there is a debate as to whether cohabitation poses an inherent threat – either to the institution of marriage itself, or to the stability of those marriages that are eventually formed.
Our poll findings indicate that the common consensus is that living together before marriage is likely to result in a more stable marriage than would have been the case if the couple had not cohabited.
Almost six in 10 adults believe the trend towards living together is eventually likely to result in more stable marriages, a view remarkably consistent between men and women, people from all socio-economic backgrounds, and from all parts of the State.
Analysis by age suggests that three-quarters of those aged 18-24 are in favour of couples taking time to test the strength of their relationship before committing to a formal marriage, suggesting that such arrangements may well become the norm rather than the exception for future generations.
Given this broad acceptance of fully committed relationships outside marriage, it is no surprise that eight in 10 reject the notion that sex outside marriage is immoral.
In fact, just 15 per cent are prepared to condemn extramarital sex on moral grounds, a proportion that does, however, rise to a fairly sizeable 31 per cent of everyone aged over 55. We also see that those living in rural locations are twice as likely as their urban counterparts to frown upon such behaviour, albeit at significantly lower levels than would presumably have been the case even a generation ago.
Notwithstanding the generally relaxed attitude of Irish people towards sex, it is interesting to note that half of us express a sneaking admiration for those who choose long-term celibacy for religious or moral reasons.
At a time when there is an ongoing debate on the potentially negative effects of compulsory celibacy for Catholic priests, this finding would suggest it is the enforced nature of such celibacy that people are opposed to, rather than the concept itself.
The poll also touched upon people’s views as to the most appropriate age for young people to begin having sex. Taking the responses of all survey participants into account, the average age people feel teenagers should begin to have sex is 18. The legal age of consent for sex is of course 17, and the great majority of Irish people clearly feel this is, if anything, too young an age at which to make such a decision.
There are, however, some significant differences of opinion on this between different groupings. One in five of all males, and a similar proportion of people aged under 35, and of those living in Dublin, are all of the view that people should be allowed have sex at 16 years of age, or even younger.
The data does suggest, though, that, with just 10 per cent of those aged over 35 condoning sex by teenagers under 17, people’s views on the matter become considerably more conservative once they have teenage children of their own to worry about.
On the issue of policing the legal age of consent, the vast majority (nearly nine in 10) feel it is unjust that boys can be prosecuted for having sex with girls aged under 17 while girls cannot be prosecuted for having sex with underage boys.
It is now 17 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland, and significant advances have been made in the area of gay rights since then. Ninety-six per cent of the people who participated in this poll described themselves as heterosexual, although it is possible that a certain proportion of these may be gay but found it uncomfortable to discuss this aspect of their lives with the survey interviewers.
Regardless of their personal sexuality, however, 90 per cent of people reject outright the notion that they might think less of a person if he/she revealed to them that they were gay or lesbian.
Indeed, more than two-thirds of the population believe gay couples should be allowed to marry, although resistance to gay marriage stands at four in 10 of those aged over 50 years, as well as those from a rural farming background.
Opinion is more evenly divided as to whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt children, with a majority of females, those aged 18-44 years, and urban dwellers supportive of the idea.
All in all, therefore, the results of today’s poll suggest that the Irish have adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards the nature of people’s personal relationships and sexual behaviour.
The fact that attitudes towards such issues are significantly more liberal amongst those aged in their mid-40s and younger suggests that previous generations’ moral conservatism with regard to such matters is indeed becoming a thing of the past.
This seismic shift in values has of course coincided with the Catholic Church’s diminishing grip on Irish society, a theme which tomorrow’s social poll deals with in some detail.