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Science and Technology Premarital sex The waiting game
科技 婚前性行為 等待的游戲
Chastity before marriage may have its uses after all
婚前守貞可能的確有作用
WHEN is it the right time to do the deed?
什么時候做愛做的事情合適呢？
If priests had their way, it would be shortly after the wedding ceremony—but recent studies show such advice is rarely heeded.
如果讓神父們來說，這檔事應當發生在在結婚典禮的不久之后——但是最近的研究顯示，這樣的建議很少得到人們的重視。
Roughly 85% of the American population, for example, approves of premarital sex.
比如說，大約85%的美國人贊同婚前性行為。
Faced with numbers like that, what hope do the Vatican and its ilk really have?
面對這樣子的數據，梵蒂岡和它的同仁們又到底是做何想法呢?
More than they did a week ago. Until now, the argument that couples should wait until they are married before they have sex has rested on mere assertion and anecdote.
相對于已在一周前親熱過的情侶來說，現今依舊認為夫婦應將童貞留于婚后的論調，已僅僅成了一種口頭宣言或是奇聞軼事。
Dean Busby and his colleagues at Brigham Young University, in Utah, however, have gathered some data which support delay.
然而，猶他州楊百翰大學的院長Busby和他的同事卻收集了一些數據來支持延遲（婚前的）性行為的做法。
Fabian tactics
費邊戰術
Little is known about the influence of sexual timing on how relationships develop.
目前，還不清楚性交往的時間節奏安排對兩性關系發展會產生怎樣的影響。
Even so, opinions abound.
但即便如此，各種意見觀點仍然比比皆是。
Some argue that the sexual organs, both physical and mental (for, as the old saw has it, the most powerful erotic organ is the mind) need a test drive to make sure the chemistry between a couple means they will stay together both in sickness and in health.
有人認為，性器官包括生理和心理兩部分（比如，如古諺所言，最能引發人情欲的器官是人心），它們需要一種驅動性的考驗以確保情侶兩人身上的化學吸引能夠維持長久，讓兩人能夠同甘共苦。
Others suggest that couples who delay or abstain from sexual intimacy early on allow communication to become the foundation of their attraction, and that this helps to ensure that companionship and partnership keep them together when the initial flames of lust die down.
還有人認為，推遲過早的親密性行為或者禁欲的情侶，他們之間的溝通理解成為了相互間吸引力的基礎，這樣以來，即使他們最初燃燒著的愛之欲火慢慢熄滅，他們也可以保持長久的友誼和伙伴關系。
To examine these suggestions more closely, Dr Busby and his colleagues recruited 2,035 married people ranging in age from 19 to 71,
為了更進一步的去檢驗這些意見觀點，Busby博士和他的同事征集到了2,035對已婚夫婦的數據，他們的年齡從19歲到70歲不等，
and in length of marriage from less than six months to more than 20 years. Their religious affiliations varied widely; many had none.
婚齡從不滿六個月到超過20年不等，而且他們的宗教信仰差異也非常之大，很多人沒有宗教信仰。
All were asked to complete an online questionnaire normally used to help couples understand their strengths and weaknesses.
所有的夫婦都被要求填寫一份網上問卷調查，以幫助夫婦了解自己的長處和弱點。
Among the nearly 300 questions, participants were asked when they first had sex with their partners, whether their sex lives were currently good, how they resolved conflicts, and how often they thought of ending their relationship.
在將近300個問題中，參與者被問及到他們第一次與自己伴侶發生性行為的時間，他們的性生活目前是否良好，和他們如何處理矛盾沖突以及他們考慮終結伴侶關系這種想法的頻繁程度。
In addition, the questionnaire had 14 items that evaluated how good participants were at expressing empathy and understanding to their partners and how prone they were to be critical or defensive.
此外，這項問卷調查還有14個項目，評估參與者能夠多好的向他們的伴侶表達自己的同情和理解，以及他們在面臨批評或自我防御辯護時將傾向于做什么。
All questions, apart from those about frequency of sex, were answered on a five-point scale, with one indicating strong disagreement and five indicating strong agreement.
所有的問題，除了性愛頻度以外，選擇的回答都是五分制計量的，由初始的1分表達強烈的反對到5分表達強烈的贊同。
Because religiosity delays sexual activity, Dr Busby and his colleagues also asked participants how often they attended church, how often they prayed and whether they felt spirituality was an important part of their lives. They used the answers to control for religiosity.
由于篤信宗教可以延緩性活動，Busby博士和他的同事同樣也詢問調查參與者他們出入教堂參與教會活動的頻率，他們多久禱告一次以及他們是否認為精神生活是他們生活中重要的一部分。
They also controlled for income, education, race and length of relationship.
他們采用的答案限定了信仰虔誠度，同樣他們的答案也劃分限制了不同的收入、受教育程度、種族以及兩性關系維系長度。
Their report, just published in the Journal of Family Psychology, suggests that people who delay having sex do indeed have better relationships, on four different measures (see table).
他們剛剛在《家庭心理學雜志》發表的的報告認為，那些延緩推遲性行為的伴侶在四種不同的測量比較上（見文圖）的確擁有一份更良好的兩性關系。
That result applies to both men and women.
并且這個結果同時適用于男性和女性。
Unfortunately, Dr Busby’s method cannot distinguish the cause of this.
但不幸的是，Busby的方法不能區分到底是什么原因導致的這個結果。
It could be, as many moralists preach, that the delay itself is improving. It could, though, be that the sort of people who are happy to delay having sex are also better at relationships.
正如很多道德說教所言，這結果很有可能是因為延緩推遲（性行為）本身就正在經歷改變。然而，這也有可能是因為樂于推遲性生活的人更善于經營兩性關系。
Correlation, in other words, rather than causation.
換言之，這是一種相互左右的關系，而不是因果關系。
That is material for another study.
談到婚姻則是另一份研究學問了。
If the result persists, though, even when personality is taken into account, it will provide useful ammunition for priests and marriage-guidance counsellors.
如果這個結論還是堅持其所持觀點，那么即使考慮到人不同的性格問題，它也不免成為神父和婚姻指導顧問的強力攻擊火藥。
