The Experience of Sex Guilt: The Roles of Parenting, Adult Attachment, and Sociosexuality

Authors

Jana Michelle Hackathorn, Murray State UniversityFollow
Esther Malm, Murray State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

7-9-2021

Publication Title

Sexuality & Culture

Department

Psychology

College/School

College of Humanities and Fine Arts

Abstract

Sociosexuality, comfort with sex outside the confines of a committed relationship, and parent–child dynamics have been associated with experiences of sex guilt. However, the mechanisms through which family dynamics are related to sociosexuality and sex guilt are still unclear. Using a developmental framework, in a cross-sectional study, we examined whether attachment styles and parent–child relationships would be associated with the development and maintenance of sociosexuality. We hypothesized that insecure attachment styles and sociosexuality would independently and positively mediate the relationship between parent–child relationship quality (accepting/rejecting) and sex guilt. Findings support past research and suggests that parental rejection predicts insecure attachments, which positively predicts unrestricted sociosexuality, and in turn, is negatively associated with sex guilt. This could suggest that sociosexuality may act as a buffer for sex guilt among this sample.

Comments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of a peer-reviewed article published by Springer in Sexuality & Culture, available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09887-w

Recommended Citation

Hackathorn, J.M., Malm, E. The Experience of Sex Guilt: The Roles of Parenting, Adult Attachment, and Sociosexuality. Sexuality & Culture (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09887-w