Ethnic Differences in Sexual Attitudes of U.S. College Students: Gender, Acculturation, and Religiosity Factors

Abstract

Although it has been hypothesized that culture and religion play an important role in sexuality, the relative roles of acculturation and religiosity on ethnic differences in sexual attitudes have not been often empirically explored. The present study assessed differences in sexual attitudes in Euro-American, Asian, and Hispanic American populations using measures of acculturation to analyze the relative effects of heritage and mainstream cultures, as well as religiosity, within each ethnic group. A total of 1,415 college students (67% Euro-American, 16% Hispanic, 17% Asian; 32% men, 68% women) completed questionnaires which assessed attitudes towards homosexuality, gender role traditionality, casual sex, and extramarital sex. In concordance with previous studies, Asians reported more conservative sexual attitudes than did their Hispanic and Euro-American peers. Hispanics reported sexual attitudes similar to that of Euro-Americans. For both Hispanic and Asians, higher acculturation predicted sexual attitudes similar to that of Euro-Americans. For Asian, Hispanic, and Euro-American women, there was a significant interaction between intrinsic religiosity and spirituality such that the relationship between conservativism of sexual attitudes and intrinsic religiosity was stronger at higher levels of spirituality. In Euro-Americans and Asians, intrinsic religiosity and religious fundamentalism strongly predicted conservative sexual attitudes; while still significant, these relationships were not as pronounced in the Hispanic sample, implying an ethnic-by-religious effect. Novel to this study, acculturation did not mediate the relationship between religiosity and sexual attitudes, indicating that ethnic differences in religiosity effects were distinct from acculturation.

Investigation of senses of sexism and religiosity in terms of sports variable

“…The results suggest that fundamentalism is a stronger predictor of role expectations than religious commitment in European American women and that acculturation is a more accurate predictor of role expectations than a generation in the United States among Korean American women. Ahrold & Meston (25) found that in concordance with previous studies, Asians reported more conservative sexual attitudes than did their Hispanic and Euro-American peers. Novel to this study, acculturation did not mediate the relationship between religiosity and sexual attitudes indicate that ethnic differences in religiosity effects were distinct from acculturation.…”

Siblings and the Coming-Out Process: A Comparative Case Study

“…Among U.S. samples, negative attitudes toward LGBT people have been associated with conservative religious beliefs and attitudes (Ahrold & Meston, 2010;Sherkat et al, 2010). For example, Baiocco et al (2015) investigated a range of factors associated with parental reactions to their children coming out and found that while mothers and fathers did not have significant differences in their reactions, right-wing political conservatism and strong religious beliefs significantly predicted whether parents responded to their children's coming out in a positive or negative manner.…”

“…Researchers have set out to explore the specific role of gender (Ben-Ari, 1995;Merighi & Grimes, 2000), religion (Ahrold & Meston, 2010), and other cultural markers (Biaocco et al, 2015), but there remains a gap in the literature concerning the interactive influence of culture and family structure, as in the impact of race and ethnicity of the family, gender makeup of siblings, and how these factors work in unison and/or contrast to influence the family's response to a lesbian daughter or gay son. In the next section we review research on the specific role of siblings in the coming-out process.…”

Hiding the Word: Examining the Relationship Between a New Measure of Religiosity and Sexual Behavior

“…Several recent studies that have examined religiosity and sexual behavior have delimited the research to females (Ahrold and Meston 2010;Burdette et al 2009;Davidson et al 2004;Flannery et al 2003), perhaps because of this very reason. Other researchers that have included both males and females in their research have found these gender differences.…”

“…The researchers indicated their work showed intrinsically oriented religious individuals had less desire for sexual variety, whereas extrinsically religious individuals indicated they were less sexually restricted. More recently, Ahrold and Meston (2010) also found intrinsic religiosity was a significant predictor of conservative sexual attitudes among both Euro-American and Asian female, but not male, college students. In Hispanic-American men, but not Hispanic-American women, intrinsic religiosity predicted a more conservative attitude toward casual sex but a more liberal attitude toward extramarital sex (Ahrold and Meston 2010).…”