Gender and Sexuality
Themes of gender and sexuality inform the majority of work in our lab. We study the impact of traditional and evolving conceptions of femininity, masculinity, and the gender binary on personal identity and interpersonal interaction. We examine the meaning of sexuality and sexual expression and the ways in which in these contribute to physical, mental, emotional, and relational health. We focus on the politics of sex and gender and its role in shaping narrative, experience, and meaning.
Research Spotlight
Intimacy and PrEP
Image from the PrEP4Love Campaign.
In a study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, we highlighted the role of intimacy in decision-making around pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a biomedical HIV prevention strategy. We found that a desire for greater intimacy with partners was the most important motivator for choosing PrEP as an alternative to condom use.
This research was credited by Jim Pickett as one of the “scientific bases” of the spectacular PrEP4Love campaign led by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Chicago PrEP Working Group (see photo above).
The paper also sparked a detailed commentary by Kristen Underhill on the importance of these findings for future research, including focusing on the “secondary” benefits of PrEP use for relationships and expanding couples-based approaches to HIV prevention.
We have since continued this line of research with a follow-up paper in Annals of Behavioral Medicine and another in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. This line of research, pioneered and led by HART collaborator (and former doctoral student) Dr. Kristi Gamarel, focuses on the impact of relational closeness, closeness discrepancies, and intimacy motivations on sexual health goals and behavior.
Funded Projects
Gender Identity: Dimensions of Importance (Team Leaders: Fikslin & Goldberg)
This study examines the ways in which individuals conceptualize gender, exploring the diversity of attributes, traits, experiences, and behaviors that people rate as “most important” to their gender identity. We are recruiting participants with a diversity of gender identities in an effort to learn more about the meaning of gender and the role of gender in self-concept.
Identity and Health Care Access among Women who have Sex with Women (Team Leader: Fikslin)
This study is a collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) designed to examine how the diverse and intersecting identities held by women who have sex with women (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual identity, age, ability) influence their health experiences, practices, attitudes, knowledge, and access. Women who have sex with women remain an understudied and often hidden population; this research is intended to develop strategies for increasing health equity and engagement.
Enhancing Gender-Affirming Sexual Health Care for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals (Klein, PI)
This mixed methods project is part of our larger research agenda to identify social, behavioral, and structural factors that influence access to and utilization of sexual heath and primary care services among transgender individuals and improve the quality of care they receive. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection, we are working to develop valid, reliable, and affirming assessment tools for engaging patients in conversations about their sexual health. Data collection for this project was funded, in part, by R01AA022067-04S1 (Golub, PI). Click here for more information on our Transgender Health research.
Perspective and Perceptions of Consent (1st doctoral project: Goldberg, PI)
This study examines the role of perspective-taking in judgements of consent, applying research from attribution theory and moral relevance. In a factorial experimental design, this project examines the role of participant and target gender in both sexual and non-sexual situations.
Pregnancy Ambivalence and Contraceptive Behavior (Master’s Thesis: Blades, PI)
The study investigates whether and how ambivalent attitudes about pregnancy are associated with attitudes about parenthood, and how these attitudes combine to motivate contraceptive choice and behavior.
Feminist Identity and Academic Achievement (1st doctoral project: Fikslin, PI)
This study builds on past research on the association between feminist identity and positive outcomes for college women, and explores the interactions among feminist identity, egalitarian beliefs, and gender centrality in buffering against sexism and stereotype threat and promoting women’s academic achievement.
Collaboration Spotlight
Reimagining the Sexual History
Both patients and providers often report dreading sexual history conversations – they can be awkward and uncomfortable and don’t always provide useful information to guide clinical care. In 2019, HART’s Director, Sarit Golub, worked with the NYC Department on Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to develop a novel approach to sexual history taking designed to streamline sexual history conversations and elicit information most useful for identifying an appropriate clinical course of action. Called the GOALS approach, the new framework she developed has been adopted by the New York State AIDS Institute as part of their Clinical Guidelines Program Resources for Providers. More information about GOALS training for providers is available on our training page. You can also download a two-page information sheet and a foldable provider pocket guide.
