When I first began thinking about my senior contribution, I largely reflected on the last three and a half years here at Guilford College. I thought about the immense growth I’ve undergone as a scholar and as an individual. I also reflected on the various individuals and communities that I developed relationships with during my time here, and how each relationship impacted and shaped my growth.

Interpersonal relationships and dynamics have always been a huge interest of mine within psychology. I knew I wanted to explore relationships for my contribution project, so I decided to look at these dynamics through the lens of attachment theory. I first read about attachment theory my second year at Guilford College. I found it to be highly applicable to the dynamics around me and within my own relationships.

During my second year at Guilford, I took the Introduction to Public Health course taught by Aleks Babić. This course incorporated a class session focused entirely on comprehensive sex education. This class was the first time I had ever received comprehensive sex education. I greatly enjoyed the class and became more interested in sex education. I began thinking about the role sex education plays in one’s overall sexual wellbeing, and how a comprehensive sex education can give individuals the tools to become more sexually liberated and sexually satisfied. I also began to explore the concept of sexuality in relation to factors outside education, such as past experiences within romantic or sexual relationships, cultural influences, and religious influences.

I decided for my contribution project to design a research proposal that would incorporate my interests in attachment style and sexual wellbeing. I used skills I developed in Research Methods and additional Psychology and Public Health courses to research and design a study that could explore both attachment style and sexual wellbeing within the context of sexual identity. I found that although there were no established definitions or measures for sexual wellbeing, sexual satisfaction was often measured and well-defined within the literature. My research questions took shape: What is the relationship between attachment style and recent (6 month) sexual satisfaction among young adults? How does sexual satisfaction differ as a function of sexual identity? How do sexual satisfaction and attachment style differ as a function of sexual identity? My research proposal incorporates two established measures, one measuring attachment style and one measuring sexual satisfaction.

Developing this research proposal was highly rewarding for me. I have felt very supported by my faculty advisors Aleks Babić and Rachel Riskind throughout the whole process. This is the largest project I have ever completed within my academic career. It helped me strengthen my skills as a student and researcher. It also gave me greater confidence in my ability to stay curious and engaged through a lengthy project. I hope to continue this sort of work within graduate school in the coming years.