Crossing sexual barriers: Predictors of sexual guilt and sexual anxiety among young Canadian and American Muslim adults

Abstract

The current study tested two exploratory path models predicting sexual guilt and sexual anxiety in young Muslims adults living in Canada and the United States. Using path analysis, I examined the joint influence of background (religiosity, perceived parental sexual attitudes, and gender) and attitudinal (sexual attitudes, gender role attitudes, and sexual double standard) factors on sexual guilt and sexual anxiety. Surveys were completed by 403 Canadian and American young heterosexual Muslim adults (ages 17–35). Most participants (79.4%) were women, approximately one-third of the participants were born outside Canada or the United States, and half identified as students. Most participants identified as either South Asian (43.1%) or Arab (25.1%) and the majority had either an undergraduate (32.3%) or graduate (37.2%) degree. In the final two path models, religiosity both directly and indirectly predicted sexual guilt and anxiety while sexual attitudes, belief in the sexual double standard, and gender role attitudes partially mediated this relationship. Gender role attitudes were strongly related to participants’ support for the sexual double standard, while gender was not a predictor of sexual guilt or anxiety. Perceived parental attitudes had no predictive value, possibly being redundant with religiosity. The path models revealed complex and interesting relationships between the variables which have various implications for young Muslim adults as well as the practitioners who work with them.