Purity Culture Linked to Higher Sexual Shame in Trauma Survivors

An article in *The Journal of Sex Research* links exposure to evangelical purity culture with higher sexual shame among adults who have experienced nonconsensual sexual events. The study, “Being Pure and Being Ashamed: Purity Culture and Sexual Shame Among Survivors of Nonconsensual Sexual Experiences,” was conducted by Anna Grace C. Coates, a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin, and Cindy M. Meston.

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Purity culture promotes abstinence until heterosexual marriage, daily pledges, symbolic rings, and places responsibility for sexual behavior on women. These teachings are common in the southeastern United States, a region with high evangelical affiliation.

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The investigators recruited 301 adults from an anonymous online platform. Participants averaged 38 years, were predominantly cisgender, white, heterosexual, and female. They were divided into three groups: 100 with childhood sexual abuse histories, 101 adults reporting nonconsensual sexual experiences, and 100 controls with no such histories. All were in a romantic relationship of at least three months, sexually active, and fluent in English.

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Statistical modeling showed survivors—both childhood and adult—reported higher sexual shame than controls, with no difference between survivor groups. Childhood exposure to purity culture predicted higher shame for men even after controlling for trauma severity; the effect for women was weaker. Current endorsement of purity-culture beliefs also correlated with elevated shame for both genders, suggesting internalized strict scripts increase self-blame and trauma-related shame.

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The study shows religious sexual scripts can shape survivors’ self-perception and hinder recovery. Clinicians may need to consider religious background when treating sexual shame, and communities might reassess purity messaging’s impact on trauma survivors.

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The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, and self-report questionnaires risk recall bias. Demographic homogeneity limits generalizability to minority or non-heterosexual groups, a gap the authors note. The study does not assess varying levels of religious commitment, which could affect outcomes.

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• “Purity culture can amplify sexual shame, whether you grew up hearing it or even if you believe it now,” — Anna Grace C. Coates, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student

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• “Religion and sex are strange bedfellows, it seems, and I’ve always been interested in their integration,” — Anna Grace C. Coates

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• “I was surprised by how purity culture impacted the men in this sample in comparison to the women,” — Anna Grace C. Coates

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• “Given that religion is a potent force in many people’s lives, the role of religious coping in supporting or hindering recovery from sexual trauma and sexual shame is also of great interest,” — Anna Grace C. Coates

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Coates plans to extend the research to marginalized groups facing harsher purity judgments and to conduct longitudinal studies to clarify causal links between religious messaging and sexual shame.

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