IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v14y2006i19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Interdependence between sexual debut and church attendance in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Marcantonio Caltabiano

    (Università degli Studi di Messina (UNIME))

  • Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna

    (Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD))

  • Alessandro Rosina

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

Abstract

The influence of religion on an individual’s life-course in general – and on sexual behaviour in particular – has long been recognised by social scientists, although few studies have explored the reciprocal causal interdependence between religiosity and sexual debut, mainly in an overwhelmingly Catholic European context. In this paper, we study the dynamic bi-directional effect between first coital experience and discontinuance of church attendance among a representative sample of Italian students. Both effects work, contrasting the results of other authors regarding the USA, where only the effect of religion on sex has been detected. The present results do not change when the two processes are considered simultaneously and unobserved heterogeneity is taken into account. Some possible explanations are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcantonio Caltabiano & Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna & Alessandro Rosina, 2006. "Interdependence between sexual debut and church attendance in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 14(19), pages 453-484.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:14:y:2006:i:19
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2006.14.19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol14/19/14-19.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2006.14.19?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevin McQuillan, 2004. "When Does Religion Influence Fertility?," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(1), pages 25-56, March.
    2. Alessandro Rosina & Romina Fraboni, 2004. "Is marriage losing its centrality in Italy?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 11(6), pages 149-172.
    3. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    4. Barbara S. Okun, 2000. "Religiosity and Contraceptive Method Choice: The Jewish Population of Israel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 16(2), pages 109-132, June.
    5. Lee Lillard & Linda Waite, 1993. "A joint model of marital childbearing and marital disruption," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(4), pages 653-681, November.
    6. Lillard, Lee A., 1993. "Simultaneous equations for hazards : Marriage duration and fertility timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1-2), pages 189-217, March.
    7. Lucia Coppola, 2004. "Education and Union Formation as Simultaneous in Italy and Spain," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 219-250, September.
    8. Francesco C. Billari & Riccardo Borgoni, 2001. "Spatial profiles in the analysis of event histories: an application to first sexual intercourse in Italy," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2001-025, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    9. Ernst R. Berndt & Bronwyn H. Hall & Robert E. Hall & Jerry A. Hausman, 1974. "Estimation and Inference in Nonlinear Structural Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 3, number 4, pages 653-665, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Lee Lillard & Michael Brien & Linda Waite, 1995. "Premarital cohabitation and subsequent marital," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 32(3), pages 437-457, August.
    11. Catherine Hakim, 2003. "A New Approach to Explaining Fertility Patterns: Preference Theory," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 29(3), pages 349-374, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Raffaele Guetto & Daniele Vignoli & Alessio Lachi, 2020. "Higher Parental Socioeconomic Status Accelerates Sexual Debut in Italy," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2020_04, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    2. Valentina Tocchioni & Marcantonio Caltabiano & Silvia Meggiolaro, 2021. "Diverse pathways in young Italians’ entrance into sexual life: The association with gender and birth cohort," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_11, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    3. Manuela Stranges & Daniele Vignoli, 2019. "“Like A Virgin”. Correlates Of Virginity Among Italian University Students," Working Papers 201908, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    4. Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna & Marcantonio Caltabiano & Alessandra Minello & Daniele Vignoli, 2019. "Catching up! The sexual opinions and behaviour of Italian students (2000-2017)," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2019_02, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    5. Marcantonio Caltabiano & Silvia Meggiolaro & Valentina Tocchioni, 2021. "Young Italians� sexual debut: the role of family," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 75(3), pages 125-136, July-Sept.
    6. Valentina Tocchioni & Marcantonio Caltabiano & Silvia Meggiolaro, 2022. "Diverse pathways in young Italians’ entrance into sexual life: The association with gender and birth cohort," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(13), pages 355-396.
    7. Elena Pirani & Daniele Vignoli, 2021. "Childbearing Across Partnerships in Italy: Prevalence, Demographic Correlates, Social Gradient," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_15, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    8. Arnstein Aassve & Letizia Mencarini & Elena Pirani & Daniele Vignoli, 2023. "The last bastion is falling: Survey evidence of the new demographic reality in Italy," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2023_04, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    9. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Monika Mynarska & Daniele Vignoli, 2014. "A Dirty Look From The Neighbors. Does Living In A Religious Neighborhood Prevent Cohabitation?," Working Papers 71, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    10. Silvana Salvini, 2019. "Italian students in 2000 and in 2017 between sexual risk behaviors and family communication," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2019_10, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    11. Fausta Ongaro & Valentina Tocchioni, 2021. "Adding up risks: Sexual debut and substance use among Italian university students," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_14, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    12. Daniele Vignoli & Silvana Salvini, 2014. "Religion and union formation in Italy: Catholic precepts, social pressure, and tradition," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(35), pages 1079-1106.
    13. Ryohei Mogi & Daniele Vignoli, 2021. "Sexual debut and dating of university students in low fertility societies: Italy and Japan," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_06, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    14. Alessandra Gribaldo & Maya D. Judd & David I. Kertzer, 2009. "An Imperfect Contraceptive Society: Fertility and Contraception in Italy," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 551-584, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michelle Sheran Sylvester, 2007. "The Career and Family Choices of Women: A Dynamic Analysis of Labor Force Participation, Schooling, Marriage and Fertility Decisions," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(3), pages 367-399, July.
    2. Roberto Impicciatore & Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna, 2017. "The impact of education on fertility in Italy. Changes across cohorts and south–north differences," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 2293-2317, September.
    3. Tamás Bartus, 2012. "Can multilevel multiprocess models be estimated using Stata? A case for the cmp command," German Stata Users' Group Meetings 2012 01, Stata Users Group.
    4. Hill Kulu, 2003. "Migration and fertility: competing hypotheses re-examined," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2003-035, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Song, Shige, 2010. "Mortality consequences of the 1959-1961 Great Leap Forward famine in China: Debilitation, selection, and mortality crossovers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 551-558, August.
    6. Roberto Impicciatore & Francesco C. Billari, 2012. "Secularization, Union Formation Practices, and Marital Stability: Evidence from Italy [Sécularisation, Pratiques de Mise en Union et Stabilité des Mariages: Le Cas de l’Italie]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 119-138, May.
    7. Gianpiero DALLA ZUANNA & Roberto IMPICCIATORE, 2008. "Fertility and education in contemporary Northern and Southern Italy," Departmental Working Papers 2008-09, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano, revised 06 Dec 2010.
    8. Svarer, Michael, "undated". "Determinants of Divorce in Denmark," Economics Working Papers 2002-19, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    9. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Education and the Transition to Fatherhood: The Role of Selection Into Union," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 119-144, February.
    10. Kelly Musick, 2007. "Cohabitation, nonmarital childbearing, and the marriage process," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 16(9), pages 249-286.
    11. Maria Winkler-Dworak & Eva Beaujouan & Paola Di Giulio & Martin Spielauer, 2021. "Simulating family life courses: An application for Italy, Great Britain, Norway, and Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(1), pages 1-48.
    12. Peng Yu, 2006. "Higher Education, the Bane of Fertility? An investigation with the HILDA Survey," CEPR Discussion Papers 512, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    13. Daniele Vignoli & Anna Matysiak & Marta Styrc & Valentina Tocchioni, 2018. "The positive impact of women’s employment on divorce: Context, selection, or anticipation?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(37), pages 1059-1110.
    14. Bohyun Jang & John Casterline & Anastasia Snyder, 2014. "Migration and marriage: Modeling the joint process," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(47), pages 1339-1366.
    15. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    16. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Pathways to marital and non-marital first birth: the role of his and her education," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 15(1), pages 143-179.
    17. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Christine Schnor, 2014. "The Effect of Union Status at First Childbirth on Union Stability: Evidence from Eastern and Western Germany," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(2), pages 129-160, May.
    19. Wren, Colin & Jones, Jonathan, 2009. "Re-investment and the survival of foreign-owned plants," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 214-223, March.
    20. Leone, Tiziana & Hinde, Andrew, 2007. "Fertility and union dissolution in Brazil: an example of multi-process modelling using the Demographic and Health Survey calendar data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 14701, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Italy; unobserved heterogeneity; religion; sexual debut; college students;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:14:y:2006:i:19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.