Acculturation and Sexual Attitudes: a Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: The culture plays an important role in sexuality. Although each ethnocultural group has its own sexual attitudes, in multicultural contexts, the acculturation process could modify the sexual attitudes of these groups. The aim of the study was to perform a systematic literature review of the studies that have examined the relationship between acculturation and sexual attitudes. Method: The review was carried out in the ProQuest and Scopus databases. There was no time restriction in literature search. Results: A total of 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. The year of publication of the studies ranged from 1982 to 2020. The studies were conducted in the USA and/or in Canada and included mainly Asians and Latinos/Hispanics. Proxy indicators, unidimensional, and bidimensional measures were used to measure acculturation. In general, results show that mainstream acculturation is positively related to liberal or positive sexual attitudes. Relevant interaction and mediation effects were also found: (1) mainstream dimension moderates the relationship between heritage dimension and sexual attitudes, (2) heritage dimension moderates the relationship between mainstream dimension and sexual attitudes, (3) acculturation moderates the relation between gender and sexual attitudes, (4) gender moderates the relation between acculturation and sexual attitudes, (5) the ethnocultural origin moderates the relationship between acculturation and sexual attitudes, and (6) sex guilt mediated the relationship between mainstream acculturation and sexual desire. Conclusion: The acculturation process is related to sexual attitudes. Policy Implications: Knowing the acculturation process could be important to achieve greater equity in sexual health among different groups.