Mark Regnerus’s research while affiliated with University of Texas at Austin and other places

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Publications (59)


Understanding How the Social Scientific Study of Same-Sex Parenting Works
  • Article
  • Full-text available

November 2020

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57 Reads

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1 Citation

Roczniki Nauk Społecznych

Mark Regnerus

The social scientific study of same-sex households with children has come a long way in 10 years. Better quality data collection is now available. However, this is no guarantee that consistently sensible analyses and reasonable conclusions are imminent, because the “consensus” that children from same-sex households fare no differently than children from opposite-sex households—in particular, married families—is a carefully guarded social construction. The consensus is the result of sampling decisions, analytic comparisons, and interpretations of results that often indicate baseline differences prior to statistical controls for household instability, after which they commonly disappear. It is this variable—relationship dissolution—that remains demonstrably different between same-sex and opposite-sex relationships, even in the most tolerant of societies. The point of this article is neither to trumpet nor dispute any particular study’s conclusion in the domain of parental influence on children’s outcomes. Rather, I seek to explain how the consensus around “no differences” came to be, and how it is reinforced, despite evidence that it was, and remains, premature.

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The Future of Christian Marriage

October 2020

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40 Reads

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8 Citations

Marriage has come a long way since biblical times: Women are no longer thought of as property, and practices like polygamy have long been rejected. The world is wealthier and healthier, and people are more able to find and form relationships than ever. So why are Christian congregations doing more burying than marrying today? Explanations for the wide recession in marriage range from the mathematical—more women in church than men—to the economic, and from cheap sex to progressive politics. But perhaps marriage hasn’t really changed at all; instead, there is simply less interest in marriage in an era marked by technology, gender equality, and secularization. This is a book about how today’s Christians find a mate within a faith that esteems marriage but a world that increasingly yawns at it, and it draws on in-depth interviews with nearly two hundred young adult Christians from the United States, Mexico, Spain, Poland, Russia, Lebanon, and Nigeria, in order to understand the state of matrimony in global Christian circles today. Marriage for nearly everyone has become less of a foundation for a couple to build upon and more of a capstone. Christians are exhibiting flexibility over sex roles but are hardly gender revolutionaries. Meeting increasingly high expectations of marriage is difficult, though, in a free market whose logic reaches deep into the home today, and the results are endemic uncertainty, slowing relationship maturation, and stalling marriage. But plenty of Christians innovate, resist, and wed, suggesting the future of marriage will be a religious one.



Sexual Media as Competition in the Heterosexual Relationship Market

November 2019

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56 Reads

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6 Citations


“Measurement and analytic vulnerabilities in the study of structural stigma”

September 2019

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13 Reads

Social Science & Medicine

Two general concerns remain following this updated and corrected study of structural stigma's effect on the premature mortality of sexual minorities. First, there seem to be better and worse ways to measure structural stigma. Scholars should be invested in best-possible measures. Second, remaining questions about measures and expectations suggest more attention be paid to an optimal modeling approach to predicting health outcomes among sexual minorities, one that neither underspecifies nor overspecifies models, but aims instead at better understanding stigma processes in population-based samples, not just searching for its effects.



Predicted probabilities of masturbating in the last 2 weeks (Men)
Predicted probabilities of masturbating in the last 2 weeks (Women)
Masturbation and Partnered Sex: Substitutes or Complements?

October 2017

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3,524 Reads

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80 Citations

Drawing upon a large, recent probability sample of American adults ages 18–60 (7648 men and 8090 women), we explored the association between sexual frequency and masturbation, evaluating the evidence for whether masturbation compensates for unavailable sex, complements (or augments) existing paired sexual activity, or bears little association with it. We found evidence supporting a compensatory relationship between masturbation and sexual frequency for men, and a complementary one among women, but each association was both modest and contingent on how content participants were with their self-reported frequency of sex. Among men and women, both partnered status and their sexual contentment were more obvious predictors of masturbation than was recent frequency of sex. We conclude that both hypotheses as commonly evaluated suffer from failing to account for the pivotal role of subjective sexual contentment in predicting masturbation.


Figure 1 Visualization of Missingness in the Four Structural Stigma Variables (N=21,045)
Table 1 Replication efforts at sample demographics of the sexual minority respondents in the GSS/NDI Study (N=914).
Figure 2b: Trace Plots for Assessing Convergence of Imputation Model: 40 imputations  
Figure 2a: Trace Plots for Assessing Convergence of Imputation Model: 10 imputations  
Is structural stigma's effect on the mortality of sexual minorities robust? A failure to replicate the results of a published study

November 2016

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244 Reads

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16 Citations

Social Science & Medicine

Background: The study of stigma's influence on health has surged in recent years. Hatzenbuehler et al.'s (2014) study of structural stigma's effect on mortality revealed an average of 12 years' shorter life expectancy for sexual minorities who resided in communities thought to exhibit high levels of anti-gay prejudice, using data from the 1988-2002 administrations of the US General Social Survey linked to mortality outcome data in the 2008 National Death Index. Methods: In the original study, the key predictor variable (structural stigma) led to results suggesting the profound negative influence of structural stigma on the mortality of sexual minorities. Attempts to replicate the study, in order to explore alternative hypotheses, repeatedly failed to generate the original study's key finding on structural stigma. Efforts to discern the source of the disparity in results revealed complications in the multiple imputation process for missing values of the components of structural stigma. This prompted efforts at replication using 10 different imputation approaches. Results: Efforts to replicate Hatzenbuehler et al.'s (2014) key finding on structural stigma's notable influence on the premature mortality of sexual minorities, including a more refined imputation strategy than described in the original study, failed. No data imputation approach yielded parameters that supported the original study's conclusions. Alternative hypotheses, which originally motivated the present study, revealed little new information. Conclusion: Ten different approaches to multiple imputation of missing data yielded none in which the effect of structural stigma on the mortality of sexual minorities was statistically significant. Minimally, the original study's structural stigma variable (and hence its key result) is so sensitive to subjective measurement decisions as to be rendered unreliable.


Documenting Pornography Use in America: A Comparative Analysis of Methodological Approaches

December 2015

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2,697 Reads

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192 Citations

Estimates of pornography use in the United States range widely. We explore the reasons for the variation in such estimates among U.S. adults using data from four different recent nationally representative samples-each of which asked a different type of question about pornography use. We attribute the notable variation in estimates to differences in question wording and answer options, and assert that a survey question asking respondents about their most recent use of pornography minimizes recall bias and is better poised to assess the overall prevalence of pornography in a population than is the more common approach of asking respondents about their historical general-use pattern. When we privileged the most-recent-use approach, survey data from 2014 reveal that 46% of men and 16% of women between the ages of 18 and 39 intentionally viewed pornography in a given week. These numbers are notably higher than most previous population estimates employing different types of questions. The results have ramifications for methods of surveying sensitive self-reported behaviors and for contextualizing scholars' claims as well as popular conversations about the reach and implications of pornography use in the United States.


How Much More XXX is Generation X Consuming? Evidence of Changing Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Pornography Since 1973

July 2015

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4,904 Reads

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218 Citations

We use data from the General Social Survey (GSS) over a 40-year period (1973-2012) to evaluate changes in attitudes about pornography and pornography consumption among American young adults. One of the major challenges in making comparisons across birth generations is separating the effect of birth cohort from age and period effects. We use an intrinsic estimator to separately identify the effects of age, birth cohort, and time period using 40 years of repeated cross-section data. We find that, relative to the general population, young people's beliefs about whether pornography should be illegal have stayed relatively constant over this 40-year period and, if anything, have slightly increased. We also find that pornography consumption has been increasing across birth generations, though this increase has been smaller than would be inferred based on differences across generations at a single point in time, due to a strong age component in consumption patterns.


Citations (46)


... Contrary, sexuality education under religious context only focuses on the negative aspects of sexuality and only encourages young women to abstain from sex. A growing body of research indicates that the attitudes and behaviours of the members of various religious groups strictly prohibit non-marital sexual interaction (Regnerus, 2019). Previous studies suggest that preaching about abstinence is not enough to sexually empower women (Ajayi & Okeke, 2019;Cameron et al., 2020;Gunning et al., 2020;Najmabadi & Sharifi, 2019;Opara et al., 2020;Vanwesenbeeck, 2020;Zulu et al., 2019). ...

Reference:

Exploring Perceptions on Sexual Empowerment Among Heterosexual Black Women in Braamfontein, Johannesburg
Sexual Media as Competition in the Heterosexual Relationship Market

... Sexual activity and thus sexual function can take place in a couple context (i.e., sexual relationships) or individually (i.e., solitary masturbation), each of which provides unique experiences [10][11][12]. Masturbation is related to genital pleasure, orgasm, or individual physical sensations and involves feelings of selfknowledge, autonomy, power, and control [10,13,14], whereas sexual relationships focus on mutual pleasure, partner enjoyment, emotional closeness, and trust in another person [10,13]. ...

Masturbation and Partnered Sex: Substitutes or Complements?

... A review of research on religiosity demonstrates how a wide range of variables has been studied with regard to religiosity. Variables from family relationships to people's aspirations and attitudes (Hungerman, 2011;Brown, & Tierney, 2008;Gruber, 2005;Dehejia, DeLeire, & Luttmer, 2005;Meier, 2003;Regnerus, 2003a). Nonetheless, most SWB studies have focused on non-Islamic religions, while interest in Islam's well-being concept has lagged behind and is treated as almost irrelevant (Arli, Gil, & Esch, 2019;Chandrasekaran, 2016;Francis, & Katz, 2003;French, & Joseph, 1999). ...

MORAL COMMUNITIES AND ADOLESCENT DELINQUENCY
  • Citing Article
  • November 2003

Sociological Quarterly

... From 1990 to 2021, the prevalence and DALYs of DD among the global population aged 10-29 years showed a significant upward trend, reflecting the increasing burden of DD among adolescents and young adults [14]. This increase may be related to rising social and environmental stress [15,16], greater awareness of mental health issues [17], and increased access to mental health services [18]. Further analysis utilizing AAPC revealed that key turning points in 2005 and 2010 significantly influenced the trends in prevalence and DALYs. ...

Is structural stigma's effect on the mortality of sexual minorities robust? A failure to replicate the results of a published study

Social Science & Medicine

... This may also include the role of religion. Emerging adults who come from religious families (e.g., Protestant, Roman Catholic) are more likely to delay sexual behaviour (Vasilenko & Lefkowitz, 2014), and may have less opportunities to discuss sexuality due to conservative parental beliefs (Regnerus, 2005). Conversely, parents unaffiliated with any religion find it easier to discuss matters of sexuality (Regnerus, 2005), and emerging adults who are sexually active place less importance on their religious commitments (Vasilenko & Lefkowitz, 2014). ...

Talking about sex: Religion and patterns of parent-child communication about sex and contraception
  • Citing Conference Paper
  • December 2005

Sociological Quarterly

... The lack of male participants in this study significantly hinder generalizability of study results. The gender imbalance may also have implications for study results, as women may have different perceptions regarding the use of MDAs compared to men, as women may be more relationship drive and men may be more driven for sexual gratification (Glenn and Marquardt 2001;Regnerus and Uecker 2011). Future studies are encouraged to recruit larger, more diverse samples (i.e., more male and more non-white participants). ...

Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think about Marrying
  • Citing Article
  • December 2010

... Pornography remains one of the most popular genres in the media landscape (Wright et al., 2023b) and pornography research is prevalent in high-impact (Zucker, 2021) sexological journals (Bothe et al., 2020;Dover & Willoughby, 2024;Hutul & Karner-Huțuleac, 2024;Lebedíková, 2023;Leonhardt et al., 2019;Maas et al., 2023;Perry, 2017). Data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded General Social Survey (GSS) have been an important contributor to the literature on pornography use, perceptions, predictors, and potential effects among adults in the United States (U.S.) (Doran & Price, 2014;Droubay et al., 2021;Frutos & Merrill, 2017;Holbert et al., 2023;Kohut et al., 2016;Lykke & Cohen, 2015;Marsden et al., 2020;Patterson & Price, 2012;Perry, 2020;Perry & Schleifer, 2018Price et al., 2016;Rasmussen & Kohut, 2019;Regnerus et al., 2016;Speed et al., 2021;Stack et al., 2004;Tokunaga et al., 2015;Wright, 2018;Yang, 2016). Wright et al.'s (2013) study of U.S. women was one of the first studies to systematically utilize GSS pornography data. ...

Documenting Pornography Use in America: A Comparative Analysis of Methodological Approaches
  • Citing Article
  • December 2015

... Pornography remains one of the most popular genres in the media landscape (Wright et al., 2023b) and pornography research is prevalent in high-impact (Zucker, 2021) sexological journals (Bothe et al., 2020;Dover & Willoughby, 2024;Hutul & Karner-Huțuleac, 2024;Lebedíková, 2023;Leonhardt et al., 2019;Maas et al., 2023;Perry, 2017). Data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded General Social Survey (GSS) have been an important contributor to the literature on pornography use, perceptions, predictors, and potential effects among adults in the United States (U.S.) (Doran & Price, 2014;Droubay et al., 2021;Frutos & Merrill, 2017;Holbert et al., 2023;Kohut et al., 2016;Lykke & Cohen, 2015;Marsden et al., 2020;Patterson & Price, 2012;Perry, 2020;Perry & Schleifer, 2018Price et al., 2016;Rasmussen & Kohut, 2019;Regnerus et al., 2016;Speed et al., 2021;Stack et al., 2004;Tokunaga et al., 2015;Wright, 2018;Yang, 2016). Wright et al.'s (2013) study of U.S. women was one of the first studies to systematically utilize GSS pornography data. ...

How Much More XXX is Generation X Consuming? Evidence of Changing Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Pornography Since 1973
  • Citing Article
  • July 2015

... There is also evidence that religiosity is negatively correlated with acknowledging pornography use (Grubbs et al., 2015). However, studies conducted to explore the role of social desirability in self-reporting of pornography consumption and virginity found no difference in so cially desirable responding between religious and non-religious participants (Rasmussen et al., 2018;Regnerus & Uecker, 2007). Therefore, it is not clear how religion impacts the self-disclosure of sexual behaviours/interests generally or how it would impact self-dis closure related to paraphilic arousal or behaviours. ...

Religious Influences on Sensitive Self-Reported Behaviors: The Product of Social Desirability, Deceit, or Embarrassment?*
  • Citing Article
  • June 2007

Sociology of Religion

... There is an extensive literature on factors affecting the beginning of sex life and the decision whether to use condoms (such determinants are used as controls in robustness analysis, columns P(1) Cov and P(2) Cov), such as socioeconomic statusgirls from wealthier families begin the sex life later (Lammers et al., 2000;Verona and Regnerus, 2014). Being employed is a factor that helps to anticipate the first sexual intercourse (Cruzeiro et al., 2008), as well as studying full-time (França and Frio, 2018). ...

Pentecostalism and premarital sexual initiation in Brazil

Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População