Journal of Sex Research最新文献

Asexuality is a sexual orientation centered around low or absent sexual attraction. Despite the growth of empirical scholarship on asexuality, laboratory sex research with asexual individuals remains significantly underutilized. As such, we conducted a qualitative survey aimed at examining asexual individuals' perceptions of laboratory sex research as well as their perspectives/experiences on participation. Reflexive thematic analysis of 412 responses revealed 4 themes and 10 sub-themes focused on mapping the domain of asexuality, participants' trust, distrust and ambivalence toward laboratory sex research, and developing best practices for overcoming challenges with asexual individuals. A large proportion of asexual individuals emphasized concerns related to the potential medicalization and pathologization of asexuality, with 34.6% exhibiting their unwillingness to participate. Nonetheless, 41.7% of asexual individuals expressed a desire to take part in laboratory sexuality studies. These findings indicate a strong interest in laboratory sex research, driven by the lack of knowledge about ace sexual functioning. To further improve ace individuals´ engagement and experience in such studies, a set of participant-driven recommendations was presented. As such, this study highlights the importance of grounding future laboratory sex research with asexual individuals in ethical and reliable procedures.

Adults entering college, especially autistic individuals, may have a higher likelihood of unwanted or distressing sexual experiences. Additionally, autistic adults appear to endorse dissatisfying sexual education experiences and difficulties with consent cues. The current mixed-methods study examined the types of consent cues college students rely on and potential barriers to seeking sexual consent. We combined data from two studies of undergraduate students: 1) an in-person cross-sectional study exploring conceptualizations and interpretations of consent in autistic and non-autistic young adults (n = 30), and 2) an online, short-term longitudinal study examining predictors of mood concerns in neurodiverse students transitioning into their first semester at 4 northeastern United States university systems in Fall 2022 and 2023 (n = 230). In-person participants completed a semi-structured interview asking about consent expression and interpretation. Participants from both studies completed self-report surveys measuring autistic traits, attitudes and perceptions toward sexual consent, and sexual education history. Qualitative analysis suggested students preferred to rely on explicit verbal consent, but felt they were unusual for doing so. In contrast, quantitatively, students across both studies expressed comfort with explicit verbal consent, to a high and similar degree. Further research may benefit from investigating differences between young adults' perceived and actual sexual consent preferences of peers, with attention to neurodivergent individuals.

There has been increased interest in sugar relationships among academics over the last decade. Given the concern that these relationships can be disempowering and exploitative, there has also been a growing discussion regarding the power dynamics in these arrangements. Adding to this expanding body of literature, I drew from 48 in-depth interviews with women in the United States who have been in a sugar relationship. Specifically, I delved into how women defined power, how they negotiated power in these arrangements, and the various experiences that they defined as empowering and/or disempowering. Overall, my participants conceptualized power as power over, power to, and power as domination. In particular, they drew from the "power over" model when discussing having power over their benefactor in the way of acquiring money, controlling the time and attention they devoted to him, and using their appearance as a form of currency. Second, they used the "power to" and "power as domination" paradigms when they discussed feelings of autonomy, particularly as it related to control over sexual interactions and safety from violence, stalking, and sexual harassment.

Departures from monogamy are socially discouraged and met with negative judgments, and being a target of stigmatization has consequences for the way individuals in consensual non-monogamous (CNM) relationships connect to others, including their partner(s). However, social support seems to be an important factor associated with increases in wellbeing and relationship quality. Aligned with this reasoning, results of a cross-sectional study showed that participants in CNM relationships who endorsed more internalized negativity reported less commitment to partner one (P1), less disclosure of their relationship agreement to others, as well as less acceptance and more secrecy toward P1 and partner two (P2). Results further showed that perceiving more social support was associated with more commitment to P1, less disclosure to people from the extended social circle, and more acceptance of the relationship with P1 and P2 among participants with higher internalized negativity. Perceiving more social support was also associated with more disclosure to people from the close social circle, as well as more acceptance and less secrecy toward the relationship with P1 and P2 among participants with lower internalized negativity. These results demonstrate that relationships embedded in social contexts of support can be a protective factor, even for individuals who report higher internalized negativity. Hence, for individuals in CNM relationships, fostering a positive and supportive social network seems to increase positive personal and relationship outcomes.

Methodologists from a variety of social and behavioral sciences have called attention to misunderstandings, misclassifications, and misapplications of third variable "controls" in observational research. We are unaware, however, of a comprehensive discussion of these issues in the sexological literature. In this article, we attempt to detail several of the more important potential pitfalls within the context of a case study commentary on a recent Journal of Sex Research inquiry into Danish persons' pornography use, sexual satisfaction, and sexual behavior. We emphasize that our own (still limited) edification came only through personal error and chart an optimistic path forward wherein the current state of practice can be transformed into theoretical progress and innovation.

Relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction are key predictors of wellbeing and can substantially contribute to quality of life. Assumptions are often made that relationship and sexual satisfaction are heightened for those in monogamous relationship configurations. This meta-analytic review challenges such assumptions by comparing the degree of relationship and sexual satisfaction of monogamous and non-monogamous individuals. A literature search using PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PsycEXTRA, CINAHL, LGBT+ Source, and SOCIndex, and an additional call for unpublished data, identified 35 suitable studies (N = 24,489). Meta-analytic results show null effects overall, suggesting that both relationships (k = 29; g = -0.05, 95% CIs [-0.20, 0.10], p = .496) and sex (k = 17; g = 0.06, 95% CIs [-0.07, 0.18], p = .393) are equally satisfactory for monogamous and non-monogamous individuals. Sub-group analyses revealed that these overall effects did not vary according to sampling characteristics (e.g. LGBTQ+ vs. heterosexual samples), non-monogamy agreement types (e.g. open vs. polyamorous vs. monogamish), or relationship satisfaction dimension (e.g. trust vs. commitment vs. intimacy). There was no evidence of publication bias. Methodological challenges and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-led sexual health education on sexual-related outcomes for Chinese first-year college students. A quasi-randomized controlled trial was conducted among 161 university freshmen who were recruited from two colleges in China. The intervention group received regular education and an 11-week peer sex education program, while the control group received only regular education. Data on sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes, sexual behavior, sexual self-efficacy, sexual refusal self-efficacy, sexual behavioral intentions, social norms, and gender stereotypes were collected at baseline (T0), immediately post-intervention (T1), 1-month post-intervention (T2) and 3-month post-intervention (T3). After controlling for covariates, generalized estimating equation was performed to examine the effects of the intervention on the outcomes. The intervention significantly improved sexual knowledge, affirmativeness of sexual attitudes, pro-homosexuality, sexual refusal self-efficacy, and social norms, and reduced negativity of sexual attitudes, openness of sexual attitudes, sexual behavior intentions, and gender stereotypes at T1, T2, and T3 for participants in the intervention group. However, peer-led sexual health education did not show significant effects on sexual behavior and sexual self-efficacy among the participants. Peer-led sexual health education had a positive impact on most sexual-related outcomes for Chinese first-year college students. Future research needs to examine the longer term impacts of peer education on sexual behaviors and sexual self-efficacy.