“It’s All About Sex [Education] Baby, Let’s Talk About SDT!” :The Impact of Identity and Priming on Retention of Sex Ed Information

<p>Sex Education (Sex Ed) is crucial in the United States due to its impact on health, finance, politics, and education. Despite existing programs, the U.S. has one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies worldwide according to the 2021 dataset collected by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The Department of Health and Services advocates for increased education to reduce these rates. This dissertation investigated the effectiveness of Sex Ed by examining the role of identity, priming, Self-Determination Theory, and the Theory of Planned Behavior. It focused on information retention, attitude change, and intentions to practice safe sex in LGBTQ inclusive, autonomy primed, or abstinence inclusive programs. Three experimental studies were conducted: the first on the impact of inclusionary priming on LGBTQ individuals, the second on the impact of autonomy and competency priming, and the third on the acceptance of abstinence as a valid option. While the priming effects were non-significant, significant main effects linked with identity (both LGBTQ and abstinent only) were found across all the studies. The research aimed to explore how these approaches can reduce unplanned pregnancies and slow the spread of STIs.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Psychology, PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation

Year dc:date.available

2024

Author dc:creator

• McGinley, Kathleen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jason Siegel
• Wesley Schultz
• Penny Harvey

• LGBTQ
• SDT
• Sex Ed
• Sexuality
• Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/916

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-1940