Involuntary Celibacy - Possible Contributing Factors

Possible Contributing Factors

Despite many plausible sources of involuntary celibacy, none have been clearly demonstrated. Most possible reasons listed here are controversial among vocal involuntary celibates themselves.

• Lack of suitable social circumstances conducive to sex
• Cognitive biases and/or negative explanatory styles such as learned helplessness or fundamental attribution error
• Self-sabotaging passive-aggressive patterns
• Self esteem issues affecting one's feeling of 'normal' entitlement
• Autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger's syndrome, which are associated with impairment of social skills
• Psychological disabilities such as social phobias, social anxiety, avoidant personality disorder or post traumatic stress disorder
• The long-term effects of rape, incest and child sexual abuse may play a role in shrinking the pool of suitable, sexually available partners; some victims become sexually unavailable due to psychological trauma.
• Living in rural and suburban areas with constrained sexual, romantic, and marriage patterns
• Hypergamy causing limited sexual opportunities for men with low socio-economic status
• Heterosexual men who disqualify appealing women as "relationship material" based on the stereotype that beautiful women are less likely to be faithful as girlfriends or wives, or to become good mothers, and would be the most likely to seek divorce. Men may not pursue an attractive woman due to insecurity, his fear of rejection, and an assumption that she is already in a relationship. When such patterns become fixed and perpetual in a person's consciousness, involuntary celibacy is the usual result.
• Attractive people may be ignored by members of the opposite sex in monogamous relationships. A Florida State University study concludes that an unconscious attentional bias serves to help men and women remain faithful to their spouses and significant others.