This study examines the role of perceived social support and ethnic identification in Latinos'adjustment to college. Included were five sources of perceived support (family, general peer, Latino peer, faculty, and institutional) and five types of college adjustment (overall, social, emotional, academic, and attachment). The authors' perceived support model accounted for as much as 51% of the variance in attachment, with different types of support contributing uniquely to different types of adjustment. Perceived support mediated the relationship between ethnic identification and adjustment. Highly identified Latinos were less adjusted to college, in part because they perceived lower support than less identified Latinos. Important differences emerged between Latino peer support and general peer support for Latinos' college adjustment. Both individual differences and situational factors are emphasized. The implications of these findings for understanding Latinos' adjustment to college are discussed.

This study examined stigmatized individuals' reactions to receiving assumptive help from a nonstigmatized other. Assumptive help was defined as unsolicited help provided without any evidence indicating personal need on the part of the recipient. It was hypothesized that Black students who received assumptive help from a White peer would have lower self esteem and more depressed affect than Black students who did not receive assumptive help. Furthermore, it was predicted that receiving assumptive help from a White peer would have more negative effects (i. e., result in lower self esteem and more depressed affect) among Black recipients than White recipients. No differences in self-esteem and affect were expected between Blacks and Whites who did not receive help. Results based on a measure of competence-based self-esteem were consistent with the hypotheses.

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Sexual compliance involves willing consent to unwanted sex. The current study examined experiences and correlates of compliant sex with casual partners. Guided by sexual script theory, feelings about first partnered sex and sexual self-perceptions were identified as possible correlates of compliance. Potential moderating effects of gender also were explored. Sexually active heterosexual undergraduates (N=258) in the northeastern U.S. responded to self-report measures of desire, pleasure, and emotional discomfort associated with first partnered sex, sexual self-awareness, sexual refusal efficacy, and compliance with vaginal and oral sex. About a third of the sample reported complying with casual sex at least once. Overall, very few participants who complied with a casual partner also complied with a committed partner. More women than men complied with giving oral sex to a casual partner; there were no gender differences in compliance with either vaginal sex or receiving oral sex. Emotional discomfort with first partnered sex was positively associated with compliant casual sex only among women. Although women reported less desire and pleasure associated with first partnered sex than men, neither desire nor pleasure from first sex were associated with casual compliance for either gender. Refusal efficacy was negatively associated with compliant casual sex for both women and men. The implications of these findings for future research and educating college students about compliance and its correlates are discussed.

This study examined bidirectional relationships among emerging adults' involvement in casual hook up sex and attitudes about sex and love relationships. At the start and end of their first year in college, undergraduates (N = 163) responded to measures of sexual behavior, sexual attitudes, and attitudes about love relationships. In cross-sectional analyses, attitudes about sex and love both were associated with involvement in casual hook up sex. In prospective analyses, initial attitudes about sexual instrumentality uniquely predicted involvement in later hook up sex, even after controlling for past hook up sex. Furthermore, involvement in hook up sex during the first year of college predicted greater sexual permissiveness and comfort with casual genital contact, even after controlling for initial sexual attitudes and hook up behaviors. None of the associations between attitudes and behavior were qualified by gender. Experiences of causal hook up sex appear to have implications primarily for emerging adults' attitudes about sexual interactions rather than their attitudes about love relationships.