Sexual Identity and Sexual Well-Being in Female Heterosexual University Students

Abstract

Sexual identity has generally been studied with a focus on sexual orientation and has not incorporated a general identity framework. Low levels of identity exploration and commitment have been shown to predict poor well-being in adolescents, but the relationship between sexual identity and sexual well-being has not been examined. The current cross-sectional survey was administered to 293 heterosexual female undergraduate students from a mid-sized university in Ontario, Canada. Participants completed the Measure of Sexual Identity Exploration and Commitment (Worthington, Navarro, Savoy, & Hampton, 2008), as well as several measures to assess sexual well-being. These included the Sexuality Scale (Snell & Papini, 1989), the Sexual Awareness Questionnaire (Snell, Fisher, & Miller, 1991), the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (Mendelson, Mendelson, & White, 2001; Mendelson, White, & Mendelson, 1997), and four individual items assessing sexual satisfaction (Laumann et al., 2006). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the measurement models of sexual identity and sexual well-being, and structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between sexual identity and sexual well-being. Results indicated that higher levels of sexual identity exploration and commitment predicted sexual well-being. However, other aspects of sexual identity, such as synthesis and sexual orientation identity, were not predictive of sexual well-being. The implications of using an identity framework for measuring sexual identity are discussed.