Karen Lyndsay Blair

Trent University · Department of Psychology

Which sexual activities result in the most frequent and most satisfying orgasms for men and women in same- and mixed-sex relationships? The current study utilized a convenience sample of 806 participants who completed an online survey concerning the types of sexual activities through which they experience orgasms. Participants indicated how frequen...

This study compared public versus private affection-sharing experiences of individuals in mixed-sex ( N = 1018), same-sex ( N = 561), and gender-diverse ( N = 96) relationships. Private affection-sharing was similar across groups, except those in mixed-sex relationships reported somewhat less comfort doing so. Despite having a stronger desire to en...

The field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) relationship science has grown significantly over the past two decades, coinciding with rapid changes in the social acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. However, it is unclear to what extent the top two journals in relationship science, the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and...

Individuals who perceive greater support or approval for their relationships from friends and family also report greater relationship stability and commitment and better mental and physical health (known as the “social network effect”). These associations have been explained, in part, through three cognitive-affective processes: uncertainty reducti...

What comes to mind when you think about femininity? Can men be feminine? Can lesbians be feminine? Why or why not? In what ways have you been “put down” because of your feminine traits, interests, or mannerisms? Is masculinity treated the same way as femininity in society? Is there a word for the way society treats femininity? Yes, there is! It’s...

The field of femininities has arguably existed for over six decades, but it was not until 2024 that a journal emerged as a home for scholarship in the field. In contrast, the field of masculinities has had a journal since 1998. Likely owing to the greater number of academic structures supporting the field, scholars produce masculinity research at a...

Scanning the indices of popular culture textbooks reveals an asymmetry: numerous entries on masculinities but not a single femininities entry. What does this asymmetry say about gender theory and, more specifically, femininity? While feminist theorists have produced important scholarship illuminating femininity as a patriarchal tool wielded through...

Cultural, political, and legal changes in the 21st century have changed the landscapes in which our close interpersonal relationships take place. Many choose to remain single or get married later. Online dating and cohabitation are more readily accepted and common. Our friendships, especially on social media, have gained importance. Issues surround...

The current study explored a form of femmephobia (specifically, negative attitudes toward femininity in men) as a predictor of anti-gay behaviors among a sample of heterosexual men (N = 417). Additional predictor variables included hierarchical worldviews (i.e., social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, narcissism) and prejudicial...

Traditional measures of sexual orientation (e.g., the Kinsey Scale, the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, single-item sexual identity questions) focus on a person’s behaviour, identity, and attraction yet are described by plurisexual, asexual, and gender-diverse individuals as inadequate in capturing the complexity of how they experience and understan...

Call for Papers Abstract Submission Deadline: January 31, 2023 Conference Dates: June 21 & 22, 2023 Conference Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Preaching to the Choir, affectionately referred to as "Preach," began in 2018 by hosting a 2-day event in Montreal, Canada. The 2018 event was an unofficial “10-year” reunion of the first LGBTQ+ Psych...

Is the perception that a social network member (SNM, i.e., friend or family member) disapproves of your romantic relationship associated with perceived changes in emotional closeness to that person? This question was investigated using an online survey (N = 703). Participants reported their current closeness to a disapproving SNM, and retrospective...

Bisexuality remains a stereotyped sexual identity in which bisexuals face prejudice from both gay/lesbian and heterosexual populations. Some bisexual individuals internalize society’s negative attitudes, resulting in an experience of self-stigma. Consequently, many bisexual individuals report a reduced sense of belonging. The current study explored...

We used a one-month daily diary assessment to measure menstrual cycle-related changes in same-gender and other-gender sexual motivation and behavior in 148 cisgender women (32% lesbian-identified, 35% bisexually identified, and 33% heterosexual-identified). Women with exclusive same-gender orientations reported increased motivation for same-gender...

Le malaise que suscitent certaines personnes est un phénomène couramment rapporté, mais il est peu compris et a fait l’objet de peu d’études empiriques. La présente recherche visait à poursuivre le travail précurseur mené par McAndrew et Koehnke (New Ideas in Psychology, 2016, 43, 10) et par Watt et al. (Revue canadienne des sciences du comportemen...

Nous avons utilisé une conception longitudinale pour examiner les facteurs associés à (1) l'adoption précoce du port de masque par les Canadiens et (2) les attitudes envers les mandats de port de masque avant que les mandats de port de masque obligatoires ne soient lancés. En mai 2020, 1 712 Canadiens ont entrepris une étude de journal quotidien de...

The current study explored sexual minority women's gender aesthetic and style by using van Anders' (2015) sexual configurations theory (SCT), which allows for nuance in the measurement of gender/sex research. Previous research on sexual minority women has suggested a markedly masculine “Lesbian Aesthetic” (Huxley et al., 2014) and has connected aes...

The extent to which sexual minority individuals present publicly as masculine, feminine, or both has been associated with their perceptions of threat and safety in public spaces. The current study investigates the role of gender expression in men and women’s experiences of public displays of affection (PDAs) in same-sex relationships. Participants...

Critical femininities examines femininity through a nuanced, multidimensional framework, moving beyond femininity as a patriarchal tool, to instead consider the historical, ideological, and intersectional underpinnings of femininity, particularly those that contribute to femmephobia. While Critical Femininities is often deemed an emergent area of s...

Previous research has examined the phenomenon of “sexual fluidity,” but there is no current consensus on the specific meaning and operationalization of this construct. The present study used a sample of 76 women with diverse sexual orientations to compare four different types of sexual fluidity: (1) fluidity as overall erotic responsiveness to one’...

The current report summarizes the preliminary findings of the COVID-19 Interpersonal Coping study. The study surveyed 2426 Canadians, including 958 Nova Scotians. Participants were asked about their mental and physical well-being, economic stability, COVID19 related behaviours and concerns, help seeking behaviours, impact of COVID-19 on social conn...

The current report provides summary information about mask wearing from the COVID-19 Interpersonal Coping Study intake survey. This report summarizes data collected between May 14 and July 5, 2020 from 2426 Canadian respondents in response to the following two questions: - Frequency of Mask Wearing: “Over the past 7 days, how often have you worn a...

The current report summarizes the intake findings of the COVID-19 Interpersonal Coping study. The study surveyed 2266 Canadians about their mental and physical well-being, economic stability, COVID-19 related behaviours and concerns, help seeking behaviours, perceived social support and intimate partner violence experiences. The study examined LGBT...

The current report summarizes the intake findings from the COVID-19 Interpersonal Coping study. 2266 Canadians and 832 Nova Scotians were asked questions about their demographic information, romantic relationships, experiences with psychological, physical and sexual intimate partner violence, experiences with COVID-19, and psychological, social, an...

When individuals experience disapproval of their romantic relationship from friends or family members, how do they determine whether they should trust or believe that negative opinion? In this study, we examined a hypothesised model in which level of perceived relationship expertise, level of perceived bias, quality of evidence provided, and level...

Social support for relationships is an important predictor of relationship well-being, duration, and mental and physical health. But does the source of the support matter? This article examines whether there is potential moderation by the ingroup versus outgroup status of the person offering the support. Specifically, in a sample of 407 individuals...

The following are the presentation notes for my workshop on Crowdfunding academic research at the 2018 annual meeting for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. These notes are best viewed in Evernote: https://www.evernote.com/l/ApS1_ZqYVz1J8q8aq52PNrfr5ddOGHG_9VQ For better or worse, the Internet has...

Research has established that social support for relationships is an important predictor of well‐being. However, the underlying assumption that social support specifically for relationships is a separate construct from general social support has not been properly tested empirically, nor has the question of whether support processes vary by source (...

This is a two-stage Call for Proposals. The first stage asks authors to submit an abstract for their proposed manuscript. Abstracts will be reviewed for fit with the theme of the special issue and those relevant will be invited to submit a full manuscript, which will then go through the regular peer-review process. Abstracts are due February 1, 201...

The current study sought to describe the demographic characteristics of individuals who are willing to consider a transgender individual as a potential dating partner. Participants (N ¼ 958) from a larger study on relationship decision-making processes were asked to select all potential genders that they would consider dating if ever seeking a futu...

We demonstrate that pedagogic interventions utilising mediated contact and the parasocial contact hypothesis provide an effective means of instantiating both an immediate and long-term reduction in prejudice towards transgender people. Through application of the parasocial contact hypothesis, our quasi-experiment demonstrates that exposure to the c...

The current study compared attitudes towards LGBTQ individuals, racism, Islamophobia, ambivalent sexism and conservative ideology across Hillary Clinton voters, Donald Trump voters and third party/undecided voters in the 2016 United States presidential election. Participants (n = 249) intending to vote for Clinton had significantly lower scores on...

This presentation was the closing plenary at the 39th Annual Guelph Sexuality Conference. The theme of the conference was ’pain,’ so the talk discusses the ways in which my research on LGBTQ issues (relationships, health, and prejudice) intersect with the topic of pain. Recording can be accessed here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/guelph-sexuality-...

In the early morning hours on June 12, 2016, 49 individuals were killed while at a Latin dance night inside Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since Wounded Knee. The media focused initially on potential links to terrorism before moving into discussions of gun control and mental health. Some...

The current study sought to examine how Utah men’s physiological reactions to viewing same-sex public displays of affection (PDA), measured through salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), differ as a function of sexual prejudice, as assessed using the Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG) and the Modern Homonegativity Scale. In examining physio...

For nearly 50 years, social researchers have chronicled the continued stigmatization of feminism. Past research has evidenced the reluctance of individuals to adopt a feminist identity, despite their agreement with feminist ideals—otherwise known as the Feminist Paradox. The current study drew from a diverse sample (N = 355) and asked participants...

We examined the stability of same-sex and other-sex attractions among 294 heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual men and women between the ages of 18 and 40 years. Participants used online daily diaries to report the intensity of each day’s strongest same-sex and other-sex attraction, and they also reported on changes they recalled experiencing i...

Background: In the early morning of June 12, 2016, 49 individuals were killed while at a Latin dance night inside Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since Wounded Knee. The media focused initially on potential links to terrorism before moving into discussions of gun control and mental health...

Although we may like to think that we are fully autonomous beings when it comes to making decisions about our love lives, a great deal of research demonstrates that many aspects of our romantic relationships are strongly influenced by people outside of our relationship. In this talk, I will discuss the ways in which our relationship satisfaction, a...

Timely sexual health exams are important healthcare behaviours that contribute to the early detection of cancer and health promotion. Sexual and gender minorities have been shown in past research to be significantly less likely to access healthcare services. Consequently, the current study included participants of diverse sexual and gender identiti...

Poster presentation for the 2016 International Association for Relationships Research Conference in Toronto, Ontario. Abstract Social support and inclusion has been an important factor in predicting trans* people’s mental, physical and social well-being. One particular area that has stood out as a source of difficult for many individuals who identi...

This entry will discuss the history of research ethics as they apply to LGBTQ research, the debate concerning whether or not LGBTQ individuals should be considered a ‘vulnerable population’, methods of best practice for conducting ethically sound, inclusive LGBTQ research, and the ethics of selecting research topics concerning LGBTQ populations and...

Individuals in mixed-sex (n=248) and same-sex (n=159) romantic relationships completed several on-line questions for each member of their social network, including the member’s perceived support for their romantic relationship. Those in same-sex relationships perceived less support for their relationship, but only from family members, not from frie...

Although social support for relationships is a commonly studied topic, the literature is divided upon whether social support from parents versus friends plays a more important role in predicting relational and health outcomes. Using a sample (N ¼ 698) of heterosexual and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) participants, the curren...

Although the term ÔfemmeÕ is most often used to describe feminine lesbians or bisexual cisgender women, recent femme theorists have argued that this definition is insufficient and fails to account for the sexual and gender diversity of those who self-identify as femme. The current study sought to examine the multiplicities of femme identity by expl...

A commonly measured indicator of a romantic couple’s sexual well-being and satisfaction has been the frequency with which they engage in sexual activity, or more specifically, sexual intercourse. Although some have acknowledged that frequency of sexual intercourse is not an appropriate measure for all types of romantic relationships (e.g. same-sex...

Abstract The literature on genital and pelvic pain has largely focused on heterosexual women. An online study examined characteristics of vulvar pain in 839 lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women aged 18-45 and investigates associations between relationship qualities such as love and communication with participants' perceptions of pain's influen...

A qualitative analysis of 146 femme-identified individuals responses to questions about sexual identity, femme identity, gender expression and experiences of discrimination were examined in an attempt to better understand the experiences of femme-identified individuals. Specific emphasis was placed on the process of self-identifying as femme, as op...

The literature on the transgender/transsexual-spectrum persons is limited. Most studies are based on assumptions that trans persons are best understood within rigid and binary definitions of gender and sexuality and tend to focus on diagnostics, medical management and risk factors. Researchers and clinicians may assume that people who challenge cul...

http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780195441352.do Human Sexuality: A Contemporary Introduction helps students to understand the many perspectives from which human sexuality can be studied. It is the first ground-up Canadian text in this discipline and is skilfully interdisciplinary in its approach. The editor and contributors fuse a biological pe...

The first ever LGBTQ Health & Relationships Seminar at Sea took place February 1-8, 2014 on board the MS Westerdam during Olivia's Equality & Leadership Summit. The conference included presentations on same-sex relationships, LGBTQ healthcare, healthcare access, LGBTQ death and dying, culturally competent care for d/Deaf and hard of hearing patient...

Little is known about one common relationship type: long distance dating relationships (LDDRs). The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between LDDRs and geographically close relationships (GCRs) and to explore predictors of relationship quality. In total, 474 females and 243 males in LDDRs, and 314 females and 111 males in GCRs pa...

The aim of the current study is to conduct a simultaneous cross-cultural assessment of modern and old-fashioned prejudice towards gay men and lesbian women. Data collected in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States were compared to assess whether any notable differences in prejudice occurred and whether specific pr...

Intimate relationships function not in isolation, but within a broader social network and social environment, in which the opinions and actions of close network members can play a role in how a relationship develops. The current study investigated how perceiving support for one’s relationship (including same-sex and mixed-sex relationships) from fr...

The literature on genital and pelvic pain has largely focused on heterosexual women. An online study examined characteristics of vulvar pain in 839 lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women 18–45 years of age and investigated associations between relationship qualities such as love and communication with participants' perceptions of pain's influenc...

This article reports on a conversation between 12 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) psychologists at the first international LGBT Psychology Summer Institute at the University of Michigan in August 2009. Participants discuss how their work in LGBT psychology is affected by national policy, funding and academic contexts and the transnati...

Structural equation modelling was used to assess the strengths of the links between sexual satisfaction and self-reported (a) relationship well-being, (b) mental health, and (c) physical health for women in same-sex (i.e., homosexual, n = 114) versus mixed-sex (i.e., heterosexual, n = 208) relationships. Participants came from a large-scale Interne...

In an online study, measures of subjective sexual experiences in one's current relationship were compared across four groups: Men and women in mixed-sex (i.e., heterosexual) and same-sex (i.e., homosexual) relationships. Results indicated far more similarities than differences across the four groups, with groups reporting almost identical sexual re...

A theoretical model was tested, in which better perceived social network support specifically for a romantic relationship was hypothesized to predict higher relationship well-being which, in turn, would predict more positive mental and phys- ical health outcomes for relationship partners. Furthermore, the model was tested on participants in both sa...