Links between Virginity Beliefs, Negative Feelings after Virginity Loss and Sexual Performance Anxiety in a Sample of German-Speaking Heterosexual-Identified Women and Men

Abstract

Gender norms can influence women and men adopting different beliefs toward their own virginity. The current online cross-sectional questionnaire study was applied in a sample of German-speaking heterosexual-identified women (n = 536) and men (n = 181; M_age = 23.6, SD = 3.7). In men negative virginity loss experiences and sexual performance anxiety were especially prevalent when virginity loss occurred at an age that was inconsistent with men’s virginity beliefs. In women age at virginity loss was not linked to virginity loss experiences or sexual performance anxiety, but the holding of virginity beliefs that deviated from gender norms was associated with those variables.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2021.1958963 .

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.