Do virgins fall in love with their first partner
Executive summary
Yes — virgins do fall in love with their first partner; empirical reporting and survey research show people who enter sexual intimacy for the first time within a committed relationship can and often do experience love, and marriages entered as virgins tend to show higher reported happiness and lower short-term divorce rates in multiple studies [1] [2] [3]. At the same time, the literature is mixed about causation: patterns of religiousness, limited prior comparisons, social selection, and changing cultural norms complicate any simple claim that virginity causes “true” love [2] [4] [3].
1. Virgins can — and often do — fall in love with their first partner: what the self‑reports say
Large surveys of romantic experience find most people report falling in love multiple times across relationships, and many people’s first serious romantic love occurs in late adolescence or early adulthood, which is often also the moment some lose their virginity — indicating falling in love and sexual initiation commonly coincide for many people [1]. Research that tracks young adults and college samples documents emotional attachment and reports of love following first sexual experiences for many respondents, though those studies focus on subjective feelings rather than an objective marker of “true” or permanent love [4] [1].
2. Marriage studies link virginity with greater reported marital happiness and lower early divorce, but causation is contested
Analyses of marriage cohorts show women who married as virgins reported lower five‑year divorce rates and higher measures of marital happiness relative to women with more premarital partners in several datasets analyzed by Wolfinger and covered in outlets like The Atlantic and the Institute for Family Studies [2] [3] [5]. Those patterns are consistent across decades in some analyses, yet authors and commentators caution that religious commitment, selection into conservative social networks, and measurement quirks (for example how surveys ask about “one partner”) can explain at least part of the association rather than a direct causal protective effect of virginity itself [2] [3].
3. Why virgins might more often report love for first partners: limited comparison, religious norms, and social selection
Scholars propose several mechanisms to explain why couples who were virgins at marriage report greater satisfaction: having fewer prior partners leaves fewer comparative reference points, deeply religious couples who delay sex may also share values that stabilize marriages, and social networks that encourage abstinence may screen for partners more aligned on key beliefs — all offered as plausible explanations by researchers quoted in The Atlantic and studies summarized by Wolfinger [2] [3] [5]. University‑based studies of young adults further suggest virgins' decisions are often shaped by family, religion, fears about STIs, or personal beliefs, which again point to selection rather than a universal effect of virginity on capacity to love [4].
4. Countervailing data and social context: most people have premarital sex; attitudes toward dating virgins vary
Population studies report premarital intercourse is now normative for most cohorts and that only a small minority of contemporary brides entered marriage as virgins — about 5 percent in the 2010s according to analyses cited by multiple outlets — which means most people’s romantic experience and reports of falling in love will involve non‑virginal firsts or later relationships [3] [6] [5]. Meanwhile, cultural attitudes complicate mate selection: some research and reporting note a substantial minority say they would not date a virgin, which speaks to evolving mate preferences that can affect whether virgins meet partners inclined to reciprocate or recognize their emotional commitments [7].
5. Bottom line, limits of the evidence, and where the debate lives
The best reading of available coverage is straightforward: virgins do fall in love with their first partner, and couples who enter sex within a committed context often report strong emotional bonds and, in some datasets, higher marital happiness and lower short‑term divorce — but whether virginity causes deeper love or simply correlates with other stabilizing factors (religion, partner selection, fewer comparisons) cannot be settled by the cited reporting alone [2] [3] [4]. Critical gaps remain because many studies rely on retrospective self‑reports, select samples (college students or married cohorts), and measures of marital stability rather than direct, longitudinal measures of “falling in love,” so interpretations must stay modest and nuanced [4] [1].