Three Essays on the Cultural Context of Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Sexual Behavior DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Brian Soller, M.A. Graduate Program in Sociology The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Christopher R. Browning, Co-Advisor Dana L. Haynie, Co-Advisor Hui Zheng Copyrighted by Brian Soller 2013 Abstract The transition into adolescence brings increased involvement in romantic and sexual relationships for most youth. However, sociologists have only recently begun to examine the developmental consequences of early romantic involvement. And while much research has focused on adolescent sexual intercourse, sex is most often narrowly conceptualized as a form of risk-taking in these studies. While informative, conceptualizing adolescent sexual behavior purely in terms of risk limits the understanding of the wider impact of adolescents’ sexual activity on their development and personal well-being. Integrating theoretical insights from perspectives on culture, gender, social networks, and identity, this dissertation examines adolescent romantic relationships and sexual behavior using data from the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). I focus on both the dynamics of early romances as well as the mental health consequences of romantic involvement and sexual intercourse among adolescents. First, I consider whether school-based sexual double standards—differing standards of sexual permissiveness among boys and girls—alter the association between sexual intercourse, gender, and adolescent mental health. I measure one particular aspect of the sexual double standard by quantifying within-school differences in boys’ and girls’ perceptions of the social benefits of sexual intercourse. I find that girls who had sexual intercourse are more likely to report severe depression as the sexual double standard in a ii school increases. Conversely, boys who engaged in sexual intercourse with one or more non-romantic partners are more likely to report high self-esteem as the sexual double standard increases. Second, I integrate insights from cultural sociology and differential association/social learning theories to explain how cultural and structural features of friendship groups influence adolescent romantic relationship inauthenticity—the extent of incongruence between one’s thoughts/feelings and actions within romantic contexts. I use sequence analysis and linear regression to test whether adolescents experience greater romantic relationship inauthenticity when the ordering of events within their ideal romantic relationship scripts (e.g., holding hands, saying “I love you,” having sexual intercourse) diverges from sequencing of events within their friends’ ideal romantic relationship scripts. I also test whether this association varies according to adolescents’ level of interaction with friends and the overall popularity of their friendship groups. Results indicate romantic relationship inauthenticity increases as one’s ideal script diverges from the scripts of one’s friends. I also find that being attached to popular friends accentuates this association. Finally, integrating insights from cultural sociology and identity theory, I explore the mental health consequences of adolescent romantic relationship inauthenticity by measuring its association with numerous mental health outcomes (e.g., severe depression, suicide ideation, etc.). I find high levels of romantic relationship inauthenticity increase the risk of poor mental health, but only among girls. iii This dissertation provides novel insights regarding: (1) the importance of culture in determining how sexual activity affects subsequent well-being; (2) how cultural reinforcement and social network processes shape the link between culture and action; and (3) the role gender and culture play in determining how early romantic involvement influences psychological well-being. iv Acknowledgments I first wish to thank the Department of Sociology at Ohio State University for supporting over the years. I also acknowledge the staff members and faculty affiliates of the Criminal Justice Research Center and the Institute for Population Research. The scholarly and collegial environments and financial backing of these centers have greatly enhanced my experience at Ohio State. I have had a number of collaborators at OSU, including Trevon Logan, Kate Calder, Leigh Fine, Nate Doogan, and Chris Keenan. I have learned much from you all and I am glad to call you all friends and colleagues. I also wish to thank Hui Zheng for serving on my dissertation committee and Ruth Peterson for serving on my general exam committee. I think of Ruth as the prototypical scholar and I hope to emulate her throughout my career. I have had the great pleasure of working closely with Chris Browning and Dana Haynie. They have made an indelible impact on my own approach to sociological inquiry and I will be forever grateful for their guidance. I look forward to our future collaborations and continuing friendships. I also wish to thank my friends in Columbus and those back in the Bay Area. I have always been able to count on them for support and to make me laugh. My parents, Al and Kathy Soller, my sister and brother-in-law, Kim and Brent Tanimoto, and my v grandparents, Nancy and Tony Potts, have been some of my most vocal supporters throughout my graduate career and I cannot thank them enough. Finally, I wish to thank Aubrey Jackson. Her presence has made working countless hours (on a graduate student stipend) something I can easily bear. She is a great scholar, friend, and partner and I hope one day to repay her kindness. vi Dedicated to Tony Potts vii Vita June 2001 .......................................................Bishop O’Dowd High School August 2005 ...................................................B.A. California State University, East Bay July 2008 ........................................................M.A. Sociology, California State University, East Bay 2005 to 2010 .................................................Research Associate, Prevention Research Center, Berkeley, CA 2008 to 2009 .................................................Graduate Fellow, The Ohio State University 2009 to present ..............................................Graduate Research Associate, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University Publications In Press Browning, Christopher R., Brian Soller, Margo Gardner, and Jeanne Brooks- Gunn. “‘Feeling Disorder’ as a Comparative and Contingent Process: Gender, Neighborhood Conditions, and Adolescent Mental Health” Journal of Health and Social Behavior. In Press Haynie, Dana L., Brian Soller, and Kristi Williams “Anticipating early fatality: The role of individual, peer, and school level fatality on adolescent risky behaviors.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence. viii In Press Haynie, Dana L. and Brian Soller. “Social network analysis and the measurement of peer effects.” In Bruinsma and Weisburd (Eds), The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. In Press Soller, Brian, and Christopher R. Browning. “Neighborhood effects and social networks.” In Bruinsma and Weisburd (Eds), The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. 2012 Cagney, Kathleen A., Christopher R. Browning, Aubrey L. Jackson and Brian Soller. “Social network, neighborhood, and institutional effects in aging research: An integrated ‘activity space’ approach to examining social context.” Pp. 60-80 in Perspectives on the Future of the Sociology of Aging. Linda J. Waite, Editor. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2011 Lee, Juliet P., Robynn Battle, Brian Soller, and Naomi Brandes. “Thizzin’— Ecstasy use contexts and emergent social meanings” Addiction Research and Theory 19:528-541. 2010 Lee, Juliet P., Robynn Battle, Rob Lipton, and Brian Soller. “Smoking: Use of cigarettes, cigars, and blunts among Southeast Asian youth and young adults” Health Education Research 25:83-96. 2010 Soller, Brian and Juliet P. Lee. “Drug intake methods and social identity: The use of marijuana in blunts among Southeast Asian adolescents and emerging adults” Journal of Adolescent Research 25:783-806. Fields of Study Major Field: Sociology ix Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita ................................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ xxiv Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: The Sexual Double Standard, Sexual Intercourse, and Adolescent Mental Health ................................................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 3: “I Did it My Way”: The Peer Context of Adolescent Romantic Relationship Inauthenticity ...................................................................................................................