Heritage and mainstream acculturation’s association with sexual response in young Chinese men and women in Canada

Abstract

Previous research on Chinese individuals in Canada showed that mainstream acculturation (i.e., adoption of the customs and values of mainstream Canadian culture) was consistently associated with more permissive and less restrictive patterns in sexual attitudes, response, and behaviours. However, the role of heritage acculturation (i.e., retention of the customs and values of heritage Chinese culture) was not strongly linked to sexuality variables and remained poorly understood. The current study sought to examine the role of heritage and mainstream acculturation in a new sample of men and women. Undergraduate samples of men (n = 364) and women (n = 467) completed questionnaires on acculturation, and sexual attitudes, experience, fantasy, excitation, inhibition, desire, arousability, sexual anxiety, and sociosexual orientation. Mainstream acculturation was consistently associated with more permissive and less restrictive patterns in the sexuality variables. Heritage acculturation was positively correlated with mainstream acculturation and had some associations with more permissiveness and less restrictiveness among sexuality variables for heterosexual individuals, but the relationship was more complex in non-heterosexual individuals. There were significant interaction effects between mainstream and heritage acculturation observed in heterosexual men. The results replicated past findings with regards to mainstream acculturation, and suggested a potentially subtle and complex role for heritage acculturation. Limitations, theoretical aspects, and clinical implications were discussed.