Adolescents' Self Perceptions: Connecting Psychosocial Competencies to the Sexual Self-Concept.

Adolescence is a crucial period for the development of the sexual self-concept. While existing research shows that adolescents' sexual self-concept varies, few studies have examined its relation with psychosocial competencies such as the general self-concept, interpersonal skills, and self-control capacities. The objective of this study was to examine the association between dimensions of the sexual self-concept (sexual self- and body esteem, self-efficacy, and anxiety) and psychosocial competencies among Canadian adolescents. Self-reported data from 1584 adolescents aged between 14 and 18 years (49.7% girls) were analyzed using path analysis. Results show that adolescents whose general self-concept was characterized by more internally consistent self-beliefs and greater self-worth, and who perceived their interpersonal skills as more developed, displayed higher sexual self- and body esteem, higher sexual self-efficacy, and lower sexual anxiety. Self-control capacities were positively correlated with sexual body-esteem and negatively correlated with sexual anxiety. These associations were, however, minimal and, when significant, exhibited a counterintuitive relationship with the sexual self-concept in the path model. Age, gender and sexual experience did not moderate these associations. Findings from the study highlight the need to pursue research on the interface between sexuality and psychosocial functioning to increase current understanding of adolescent development.

Adolescents' Perception of Their Sexual Self, Relational Capacities, Attitudes Towards Sexual Pleasure and Sexual Practices: a Descriptive Analysis.

Positive psychosexual development in adolescence is crucial to sexual health. Evidence suggests that adolescent's psychosexual development is influenced by the sexual self-concept, relational skills, attitudes toward sexual pleasure, and sexual practices. To date, however, understanding of normative dispositions and experiences that positively shape adolescents' psychosexual development remains limited. The goal of the study was to provide a descriptive analysis of adolescents' perceptions of their sexual self, relational skills, and attitudes towards sexual pleasure as well as their sexual practices while considering age and gender differences. A Canadian sample of 1584 adolescents (49.7% girls, 49.4% boys and 0.9% gender diverse) aged 14 to 18 years old (M = 15.53, SD = 0.93) completed a self-reported questionnaire evaluating various aspects of sexuality and sexual practices. Results indicated that most youth are sexually active through autoerotic or partnered sexual practices, and that positive perceptions towards the sexual self, relational capacities and pleasure increase with age. Moreover, compared to girls, boys presented a more positive sexual self-concept, less positive perceptions of their relational skills and they were more likely to report autoerotic sexual practices. Cluster analysis supported classifying adolescents into the following profiles: positive, mildly positive, mildly negative and negative perception of the sexual self and sexuality. These profiles varied according to sexual practices, gender and age. This study provides further insight into general patterns and heterogeneity of adolescents' sexuality that are relevant for adapting sexuality education and sexual health intervention.

The Social Lives of Infectious Diseases: Why Culture Matters to COVID-19.

Over the course of the year 2020, the global scientific community dedicated considerable effort to understanding COVID-19. In this review, we discuss some of the findings accumulated between the onset of the pandemic and the end of 2020, and argue that although COVID-19 is clearly a biological disease tied to a specific virus, the culture-mind relation at the heart of cultural psychology is nonetheless essential to understanding the pandemic. Striking differences have been observed in terms of relative mortality, transmission rates, behavioral responses, official policies, compliance with authorities, and even the extent to which beliefs about COVID-19 have been politicized across different societies and groups. Moreover, many minority groups have very different experiences of the pandemic relative to dominant groups, notably through existing health inequities as well as discrimination and marginalization, which we believe calls for a better integration of political and socioeconomic factors into cultural psychology and into the narrative of health and illness in psychological science more broadly. Finally, individual differences in, for example, intolerance of uncertainty, optimism, conspiratorial thinking, or collectivist orientation are influenced by cultural context, with implications for behaviors that are relevant to the spread and impact of COVID-19, such as mask-wearing and social distancing. The interplay between cultural context and the experience and expression of mental disorders continues to be documented by cultural-clinical psychology; the current work extends this thinking to infectious disease, with special attention to diseases spread by social contact and fought at least in part through social interventions. We will discuss cultural influences on the transmission, course, and outcome of COVID-19 at three levels: (1) cross-society differences; (2) within-society communities and intergroup relations; and (3) individual differences shaped by cultural context. We conclude by considering potential theoretical implications of this perspective on infectious disease for cultural psychology and related disciplines, as well as practical implications of this perspective on science communication and public health interventions.

The Potential Cost of Cultural Fit: Frame Switching Undermines Perceptions of Authenticity in Western Contexts.

Behaving consistently across situations is fundamental to a person's authenticity in Western societies. This can pose a problem for biculturals who often frame switch, or adapt their behavior across cultural contexts, as a way of maintaining fit with each of their cultures. In particular, the behavioral inconsistency entailed in frame switching may undermine biculturals' sense of authenticity, as well as Westerners' impressions of biculturals' authenticity. Study 1 had a diverse sample of biculturals (N = 127) living in the United States and Canada describe an episode of frame switching (vs. no switching control vs. neutral control) and report on their state authenticity during the episode. Results showed that biculturals recalled feeling less authentic during an instance of frame switching compared to no switching control and neutral control. Study 2 had mainstream Canadians (White and of American, Canadian, or Western European cultural heritage, N = 97) read a hypothetical vignette, from a third-person perspective, about a bicultural who frame switches (vs. no switching control vs. neutral control) and provide their impressions of the bicultural's authenticity and multiple other desirable traits. Participants rated the bicultural as less authentic when he frame switched compared to no switching control and neutral control, and rated him as less likeable, trustworthy, and warm (but not competent) as downstream consequences of seeing him as less authentic. These results demonstrate that frame switching can come at a cost to authenticity, both in terms of how biculturals see themselves and are seen by others, at least in Western societies. These findings highlight that the way biculturals negotiate their cultures affects them psychologically and socially. In the context of cultural fit, the active process of establishing and maintaining fit with one's cultures can have unforeseen consequences.

The Multicultural Identity Integration Scale (MULTIIS): Developing a comprehensive measure for configuring one's multiple cultural identities within the self.

OBJECTIVES: The research investigating how one's multiple cultural identities are configured within the self has yet to account for existing cultural identity configurations aside from integration, and for identifying with more than 2 cultural groups at once. The current research addresses these issues by constructing the Multicultural Identity Integration Scale (MULTIIS) to examine 3 different multicultural identity configurations, and their relationship to well-being based on Amiot and colleagues' (2007) cognitive-developmental model of social identity integration (CDSMII). METHOD: Diverse samples of multicultural individuals completed the MULTIIS along with identity and well-being measures. (Study 1A: N = 407; 1B: N = 310; 2A = 338 and 2A = 254) RESULTS: Reliability and confirmatory factorial analyses (Studies 1A and 2A) all supported the factorial structure of the MULTIIS. Regression analyses (Studies 1B and 2B) confirmed that the integration subscale of the MULTIIS positively predicted well-being, whereas compartmentalization negatively predicted well-being. Categorization was inconsistently related to well-being. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the CDSMII and the usefulness of the MULTIIS measure, and suggest that each identity configuration is uniquely related to well-being outcomes.

Multicultural identity integration and well-being: a qualitative exploration of variations in narrative coherence and multicultural identification.

Understanding the experiences of multicultural individuals is vital in our diverse populations. Multicultural people often need to navigate the different norms and values associated with their multiple cultural identities. Recent research on multicultural identification has focused on how individuals with multiple cultural groups manage these different identities within the self, and how this process predicts well-being. The current study built on this research by using a qualitative method to examine the process of configuring one's identities within the self. The present study employed three of the four different multiple identity configurations in Amiot et al. (2007) cognitive-developmental model of social identity integration: categorization, where people identify with one of their cultural groups over others; compartmentalization, where individuals maintain multiple, separate identities within themselves; and integration, where people link their multiple cultural identities. Life narratives were used to investigate the relationship between each of these configurations and well-being, as indicated by narrative coherence. It was expected that individuals with integrated cultural identities would report greater narrative coherence than individuals who compartmentalized and categorized their cultural identities. For all twenty-two participants, identity integration was significantly and positively related to narrative coherence, while compartmentalization was significantly and negatively related to narrative coherence. ANOVAs revealed that integrated and categorized participants reported significantly greater narrative coherence than compartmentalized participants. These findings are discussed in light of previous research on multicultural identity integration.