Citation
Silva, Tony & Evans, Clare Rosenfeld (2019). Sexual Identification at the Intersections of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Immigration, and Education: Analyzing Intersectionality Using Multilevel Models.Abstract
Using an innovative multilevel intersectional methodology and a large nationally representative sample from Add Health, we examine how the likelihood to adopt an exclusively straight sexual identity varies along the intersecting axes of gender, race/ethnicity, immigration status, and education in the United States. This paper builds on previous studies by detailing new substantive findings regarding sexual identification and illustrates an innovative method with broad applicability in quantitative sociological research. By doing so, we contribute to a sociological understanding of how intersecting social locations shape how individuals understand and label themselves. One key finding is that gender modifies the relationship between race/ethnicity/immigration status and sexual identification. While there were substantial differences in straight identification by race/ethnicity/immigrant status among women, racial/ethnic/immigrant status differences among men were smaller and mostly not statistically significant. Not considering education, the lowest predicted probability among women was for Native American women (70.36%) and the highest was for immigrant Asian/PI women (88.02%). Among men, similar figures were 91.67% for non-immigrant Latino men and 95.94% for immigrant Asian/PI men. Our analyses add to the literature on sexual identification by showing that key axes of social differentiation, including race/ethnicity, immigration status, gender, and education, may shape sexual identification in line with what intersectionality theory suggests, due to both additive main effects and their interactions.Reference Type
Conference paperBook Title
Annual Meeting of the American Sociological AssociationAuthor(s)
Silva, TonyEvans, Clare Rosenfeld