Social Competence and Sexual Orientations in Emerging Adults

Abstract

The current research survey aimed to find out the relationship of different sexual orientations (sexual attraction, behavior, and fantasy) on social competence of emerging adults. It was hypothesized that amongst bisexuals, gays/lesbians, heterosexuals, mostly heterosexuals and mostly gay/lesbians differ in terms of their social competence. The sample of this study (N = 246, women = 175, man = 49, transgender= 4, gender non-conforming= 18) were recruited using the snowball sampling technique. The data collection tools employed were Google Forms consisting of self-developed demographic information forms, the Multidimensional Assessment of Sexual Orientation (Vrangalova & Savin-Williams, 2010; 2012) and Social Competence Scale for Adolescence (Shujja et. al, 2015). The links to the online forms were posted on numerous social media platforms. The results indicate a non-significant relationship between sexual orientation and social competence. There were differences on the subscales of social competence. Further analysis revealed that the effect of demographic variables including education levels (which indicate undergraduate and graduate students) have higher self-efficacy and self-confidence compared to higher education and gendershowed significant difference in self-efficacy and leadership. Further, individuals who believe in Islam reported higher levels of self-efficacy and better leadership skills as compared to those who are agnostic or have no religion.This study aims to create awareness about important protective factors such as social competence, that may aid in developing interventions and contribute to future research about sexual minorities.