Problematic Integrations of Baptist Mothers’ Nested Identities During Sex Talks with Children

Abstract

This study examines the identity performance of Baptist mothers during sex talks with children using a problematic integration and nested identities integrated framework. The findings of this study suggest that mothers experienced a tension between their Biblical ontologies of sex and secular treatments of sex, which informed the strategies they used to communicate with their children. Sex talks with children, then, emerged as problematic integrations of ambiguity and dissonance. The findings of this study advance the notion that religious identities bleed into other kinds of identity performances, inform and resolve problematic integrations, and intensify stress associated with ambiguity.