Surfing has been a male dominated sport since its inception in the United States in the early 1900’s and has continued that trend even as women’s participation in sports has become more equitable. The gendered differences in sports are expanded in surfing by a lack of representation for women and lack of access to resources. There has not been a study that examines self-perceived ability which is important because a higher self-rated ability shows confidence and a feeling of being accepted. My research question was how does gender and years spent surfing impact a surfer’s self-rated ability? I hypothesized that women will have a lower self-rated ability than men regardless of time spent surfing. The research was conducted using secondary data analysis from data collected using the online Surfing Access Disruption Survey conducted from April 2020 through April 2021. The sample size included a total of 921 men and women that surf with experience ranging from beginners less than a year to 66 years. A means comparison test was conducted between women and men that have surfed from 0-2 years, 3-5 years, 6-10 years, 10-19 years and 20+ years. I found that there were significant differences in women and men’s self-rated ability among people that surfed 0-2 years as well as 11 to 20+ years with females having a significantly lower self-rated assessment of their abilities. There was no significant difference in self-rated ability the between men and women that have been surfing from 3 to 10 years. By identifying the differences in self-rated ability among men and women this research is able to call attention to the disparities between men and women that surf bring the community closer to equality in and out of the water.

Poster Presentation

Session 1

9:15am – 10:30am
Grand Salon

Sociology

In marriage, there are various stressors that can cause strain on couples’ relationships, but better communication can help lessen those negative impacts. Previous research reported sexual frequency increased only among egalitarian couples when comparing data from the 2006 Marital and Relationship Survey (MARS) and Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH2) collected in 1992-1994. Current research has not investigated the ways married individuals’ distribution and equity of household chores affect sexual satisfaction in a marriage. I hypothesized women will feel less sexual satisfaction towards their partner the less household chores they perform and if they feel they do more household chores than their partner. Utilizing secondary data analysis, I used the 2019 American Trends Panel Wave 50 with 6,459 participants to analyze the relationship between satisfaction towards distribution of household chores and division of household chores or responsibilities and satisfaction with the sex lives of American married couples of all ages. I compared the differences between males and females; eventually finding that there was a significant positive correlation between sex life satisfaction and satisfaction towards the division of household chores for men and women. In addition, there was significant correlation between sex life satisfaction and equality over who does more household chores and responsibilities; however, data showed that whether it be men or women, whoever took on more work felt less satisfaction in their sex life. Implications suggest that in the case of satisfaction towards the division of household chores between spouses, and equity of household chores, satisfaction in one’s sex life will decrease when one person does more housework; meaning that for both men and women, the equal distribution of household chores will lead to a more satisfying sex life.

Poster Presentation

Session 1

9:15am – 10:30am
Grand Salon

Sociology

Throughout the United States the LGBTQ+ community has faced discrimination in numerous ways. There is a workplace that the LGBTQ+ community face due to their sexual orientation. There is not much research on the income differences between both gay and straight males due to their educational attainment. My research question is: Does sexual orientation have an effect on wages and does education moderate the relationship between sexual orientation and wages? My three hypotheses are: H1: I hypothesize that gay men with high levels of education will earn significantly less than straight men with high levels of education. H2: I hypothesize that gay men with moderate levels of education (Bachelor’s and jv degree) will earn a little less than straight men with moderate education. H3: I hypothesize that gay men with low levels of education will earn the same as straight men with low levels of education. I conducted a secondary analysis and analyzed the 2008-2018 The General Social Survey which provided a total of 4756 American men: 4641 straight males and 115 gay males. I estimated a Chi-Squared Test for men who have a high school or less education, Bachelor’s or jv degree (a degree lower than a Bachelor’s), and graduate degree.

The findings within these three Chi-Squares showed a significance of <.001 which is significant evidence that straight men earn more than gay men within each educational level. I estimated a Chi-Square between gay/straight males and income in which results signified <.001, showing significant evidence that straight males earn more than gay males in different jobs through educational attainment. The findings conclude that there is workplace discrimination affecting the income of gay males. This proves the decrease in income that they receive compared to straight males. My study increases knowledge towards the discrimination that the LGBTQ+ community faces.

Poster Presentation

Session 1

9:15am – 10:30am
Grand Salon

Sociology