The College of Education, Health and
Human Sciences
Announces the Final Examination of
Angela Alice Izmirian
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
April 28, 2015 at 11:00 am
103 Ball Hall, University of Memphis
Memphis, TN
Biographical Sketch
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, Marriage and Family Therapy, University of Southern California
Advisory Committee
Sara Bridges, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research, Committee chair
Yonghong Jade Xu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research
Elin Ovrebo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research
Alison Happel-Parkins, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Research
Major Field of Study
Counseling Psychology
Period of Preparation: 2012 – 2016
Comprehensive Examination Passed: August 2014
Sexual satisfaction in Armenian women living in the United States: Exploring acculturation and gender role ideology and the meditational role of sex guilt
Abstract
Sexual satisfaction is associated with many personal and relational benefits (Sprecher, 2002; Yeh et al., 2006). However, one cannot assume that the factors that influence sexual satisfaction are universal. There are many cultural, contextual and relational factors that vary based on ones background (Drew, 2003; McClelland, 2014; Richgels, 1992). In particular for Armenian American women, who typically come from an immigrant background, the degree to which they associate with the United States culture could influence their sexual beliefs and practices (Dagirmanjian, 2005). Moreover, ascribing to traditional or egalitarian gender roles could impact their sexual satisfaction as well, especially since the purity of the females in an Armenian family is central to the respect of the family as a whole (Bakalian, 2011; Dagirmanjian, 2005). As they transition into the American culture, Armenian American women are likely to experience conflict when they do not follow traditional and conservative expectations, which could lead to guilt related to violating personal standards of proper sexual conduct. The focus of the present study was to more fully understand the influence of acculturation to the United States and gender role ideology on the sexual satisfaction of Armenian American women. As part of this exploration, the potential mediating role of sex guilt was also examined. This study analyzed data on 217 Armenian women who lived across the United States. Many of the results do not support previous research linking acculturation, gender role ideology, or sex guilt to sexual satisfaction. For example, this study did not find significant relationships between acculturation and sexual satisfaction, gender role ideology and sexual satisfaction, and sex guilt and sexual satisfaction. In addition, sex guilt did not mediate the relationship between both acculturation and gender role ideology and sexual satisfaction. The study found that 58% of the variance of sex guilt was accounted for by acculturation and gender role ideology and that 1.2% of the variance of sexual satisfaction was explained by the combination of acculturation, gender role ideology, and sex guilt. The findings’ implications for counseling psychology, future research directions, and study limitations are discussed.