When intrafaith couples' religion strictly prohibits premarital sexual intercourse, negotiating sexual intimacy can become a multilayered process of identity negotiation that compounds the difficulty of sexual communication. Through the lens of relational turbulence theory, this study explored how devout Christian couples negotiate sexual intimacy by reanalyzing qualitative interview data the first author collected in 2017 from 16 self-identified Christians (8 heterosexual couples). Seven themes revealed how relational uncertainty, partner interference, and partner facilitation manifested in the context of sexual intimacy negotiation. Themes of relational uncertainty experience and prevention included assumption of shared values, relationship talk, and sexual behaviors as an uncertainty catalyst. Partner facilitation and interference emerged as themes of sexual escalation and de-escalation including snowball effect, pinpointing underlying motivations for boundary violations, gatekeeping sexual temptation, and drawing from shared values of sacrifice and prayer. These interpretive findings advance the literature on relational turbulence theory and provide Christian dating couples with practical advice for how to negotiate sexual intimacy in committed premarital relationships.

中文翻译：

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“有些日子比其他日子神圣得多”：基督教约会夫妇性亲密谈判中的关系不确定性和伴侣影响

当同宗夫妇的宗教严格禁止婚前性行为时，性亲密关系的协商可能会成为身份协商的多层过程，从而增加了性沟通的难度。本研究通过关系动荡理论的视角，通过重新分析第一作者在 2017 年从 16 名自我认同的基督徒（8 对异性恋夫妇）收集的定性访谈数据，探讨了虔诚的基督徒夫妇如何协商性亲密关系。七个主题揭示了关系不确定性、伴侣干扰和伴侣便利在性亲密谈判的背景下如何表现。关系不确定性体验和预防的主题包括共同价值观的假设、关系谈话和性行为作为不确定性催化剂。伴侣的便利和干扰成为性升级和降级的主题，包括滚雪球效应、查明侵犯边界的潜在动机、把关性诱惑，以及借鉴牺牲和祈祷的共同价值观。这些解释性发现推进了关系动荡理论的文献，并为基督徒约会夫妇提供了如何在承诺的婚前关系中协商性亲密的实用建议。