Title: Sexual Communication in Heterosexual and Non-Heterosexual Young Adults: Seeking the Importance of Perceived Social Support
Stream: Gender, Sexuality and Culture
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Yoshiyuki Miyasaka, LCC International University, Lithuania
Jurgita Babarskienė, LCC International University, Lithuania
Abstract:
Many people still feel uneasy to talk about sex and sexuality as they are sensitive and still much stigmatized topics. Especially non-heterosexual individuals as compared to heterosexual counterparts tend to have difficulty when disclosing their sexual concerns due to sexual stigma. However, studies show the more social support people have, the more likely they are to have effective/ satisfying sexual communication. Thus, perceived social support could be a key factor that helps people feel more comfortable to talk about sensitive topics. In addition, the topic of sexual communication among both sexual majority and minority groups is understudied. It is important to examine whether the frequency of sexual communication and level of perceived social support differ among those groups. In addition, researchers have investigated only limited sexual communication topics; hence, a wider range of topics need to be studied. In this study, 195 participants (135 heterosexual and 60 non-heterosexual individuals) completed an online survey. The results revealed statistically significant positive correlations between sexual communication and perceived social support both in heterosexual and non-heterosexual participants. However, the study did not find differences in the sexual communication frequency and level of perceived social support between the two groups. The results offer valuable insights for sex educators, psychologists, and other specialists into the significance of social support for people to become sexually autonomous and efficacious. Further research needs to examine how sexual education could help people address and deal with least frequently discussed sexual topics of the current study.
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