Aleksandar Štulhofer
Biographic Data
| ID | 110644 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Aleksandar Štulhofer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Aleksandar |
| FAMILY NAME | Štulhofer |
| SIGNATURE | ŠTULHOFER A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zagreb |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5138-3644 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 96 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 450 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 96 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Sexual Assertiveness and Sexual Victimization Across Different Life Stages
Objectives A growing body of research indicate that experiencing sexual victimization may be linked to lower levels of sexual assertiveness, yet significant gaps remain in understanding how this association varies across the life stages in which one is victimized, gender identities, and cultural contexts. Prior studies have primarily focused on cisgender women from Western countries, mainly examined adolescent/adult sexual assault (AASA), and emp…
Are There Gender Differences in Successful Sexual Aging? An Exploration Using Three Statistical Approaches
Objectives: A novel process-based conceptual model of positive sexual aging, the Successful Sexual Aging Model, was recently proposed. Given the developmental, epidemiological, and sexological literature on gendered aspects of human sexuality, the current study explored gender differences in successful sexual aging (SSA) among partnered older adults who participated in a cross-cultural research project on aging and sexuality. The assessment was a…
Motives for pornography use and women's sexual wellbeing
Identification and comprehensive characterization of moral disapproval and behavioral dysregulation-based pornography-use profiles across 42 countries
Orgasm and Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents
Longitudinal relationship between pornography use and adolescent sexual behaviours, well-being, and attitudes
Positive Sexual Aging
The Role of Religiosity and Personal Faith in Young People’s Sexual Debut and Sexual Risk Taking
Using a Bayesian statistical approach, this study aimed to provide a robust assessment of associations between religiosity and personal faith, timing of sexual initiation and sexual risk taking in young people. To produce posterior probability distribution of the estimation of associations, this study combined two population-based surveys of emerging Croatian adults and meta-analytical estimates pertaining to international studies published betwe…
The Myth of Gender Equality? Older Women’s Narratives on Sexuality Under State Socialism
This article explores female sexuality during state-socialist rule in Croatia and Poland. Using life-course framework and qualitative data from individual interviews with 35 women aged 65–93, we investigate a complex interplay of socialist puritanism, officially proclaimed gender equality, and a patriarchal cultural tradition based on a restrictive religious morality, and the role it played in women’s perception of sexuality, sexual expression, a…
Cross-Cultural Validation of the Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI-2) in 42 Countries and 26 Languages
Sexual desire is a complex construct with important implications for sexual functioning and well-being. In this research, we translated the Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI-2), a widely used scale for assessing sexual (desire), into 25 languages from English and used data from the International Sex Survey (ISS) to (a) investigate its psychometric properties (i.e. factorial structure, reliability, validity, and measurement invariance) and (b) explore …
Multidimensional Latent Religiosity Profiles and Sexual Behaviors in Late Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
Studies assessing the relationship between religiosity and sexual behaviors in youth are limited by their use of single-aspect measures of religiosity, assumption of linearity, and focus on coital behaviors. This study assessed how multidimensional latent profiles of religiosity were associated both with sexual risk behaviors and noncoital sex. Data were gathered using a national sample of emerging adults in Croatia (N = 1,210; Mage = 21.74, 48.0…
Self-reported HPV vaccination status and HPV vaccine hesitancy in a nationally representative sample of emerging adults in Croatia
Introduction The aim of this study was to determine self-reported human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination status among emerging adults in Croatia, intention to get the HPV vaccine among unvaccinated individuals and correlates of HPV vaccine hesitancy. Methods Data were collected via a cross-sectional survey based on a probabilistic national sample. The sample included 1,197 individuals aged 18–25 years (50.6% were women) who were recruited from No…
Compulsive sexual behavior disorder in 42 countries
Obstacles in Identifying Sexual Harassment in Academia
Introduction Experiences of sexual harassment are common among university students. At the same time, research shows that victims and bystanders find it difficult to determine when an incident meets the criteria for sexual harassment. The aim of this study therefore was to obtain a richer and deeper understanding of the obstacles that university students encounter in identifying sexual harassment in the academic environment. Methods Individual in…
How does it work? An exploration into psychosocial mechanisms that underlie associations between religiosity/faith and sexual risks in emerging Croatian adults
Although a number of studies reported negative associations between young people’s religiosity and risky sexual behavior, psychosocial mechanisms that might underlie these links have not been directly assessed. Utilizing structural equation modeling approach, the current study explored three such mechanisms: (a) internal motivation (internalization), (b) external motivation (peer influence), and (c) mixed motivation (collective identity), using d…
The Role of Mental Health and Delinquent Behaviors in the Cycle of Sexual Violence Among Croatian Adolescents
A meta-analytic exploration of associations between religious service attendance and sexual risk taking in adolescence and emerging adulthood
Findings since 2000 about the association between the frequency of religious service attendance (formal religiosity) and sexual risk taking in adolescents and emerging adults were explored. A systematic literature search (April 2020) focused on articles with data on religiosity and age at sexual debut, number of sexual partners, condom use at most recent sexual intercourse, and consistent condom use. A total of 27 studies with 37,430 participants…
Who feels affected by “out of control” sexual behavior? Prevalence and correlates of indicators for ICD-11 Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder in the German Health and Sexuality Survey (GeSiD)
Changes in Intimacy and Sexuality During the Covid-19 Pandemic
This qualitative study explores experiences of intimacy and sexuality during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic of 3357 participants from Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, and Turkey. Data were collected through open-ended questions within a survey on sexuality during the pandemic. Based on a reflexive thematic analysis three themes occurred. The first theme No change was described by 41% when …
Perceived Changes in Sexual Interest and Distress About Discrepant Sexual Interest During the First Phase of Covid-19 Pandemic
With or Without You
Testing the Confluence Model of the Association Between Pornography Use and Male Sexual Aggression
Self-Assessed Effects of Pornography Use on Personal Sex Life
Does One Size Fit All? Socioeconomic Moderators of Post-divorce Health and the Effects of a Post-divorce Digital Intervention
Public health efforts to reduce divorce-induced health adversities are gaining momentum and positive interventional outcomes of the online Cooperation After Divorce (CAD) digital platform for divorcees have been documented by previous research. However, it is unknown whether socioeconomic characteristics previously associated with prolonged divorce recovery are also associated with post-divorce intervention efficacy, and if so, in what way. Multi…
Religious faith and sexual risk taking among adolescents and emerging adults
Although there is some evidence that religious faith may offer protection against sexual risk taking in adolescence and emerging adulthood, no attempts have been made to systematically quantify the association. Using data from studies conducted in the 2000–2020 period, this meta-analysis aimed to estimate the link between religious faith and four sexual risk-taking behaviors in samples of adolescents and emerging adults. Five different search sys…
Determinants of Homonegativity in Europe
This paper analyzes macro-determinants of negative attitudes toward homosexuality in 31 European societies. Using the European Values Study (EVS) 1999/2000, carried out on national probability samples, we tested the effects of tradition, modernization, and postmodernization on homonegativity. According to the findings, social distance toward homosexual persons was predicted by Eastern Orthodox religion, a greater degree of urbanization, economic …
Development and Bicultural Validation of the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale
The development and bicultural validation of the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NSSS)--a 20 item, multidimensional, composite measure of sexual satisfaction--is presented. The development of the scale was based on a five-dimension, conceptual model that emphasized the importance of multiple domains of sexual behavior including sexual sensations, sexual awareness and focus, sexual exchange, emotional closeness, and sexual activity. Scale construct…
Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures
This classic and invaluable reference handbook, written for sex researchers and their students, has now been completely revised in a new, fourth edition. It remains the only easy and efficient way for researchers to learn about, evaluate, and compare instruments that have previously been used in sex research.
What Types of Pornography Do People Use and Do They Cluster? Assessing Types and Categories of Pornography Consumption in a Large-Scale Online Sample
Previous research on exposure to different types of pornography has primarily relied on analyses of millions of search terms and histories or on user exposure patterns within a given time period rather than the self-reported frequency of consumption. Further, previous research has almost exclusively relied on theoretical or ad hoc overarching categorizations of different types of pornography, when investigating patterns of pornography exposure, r…
Revisiting the Association between Pornography Use and Risky Sexual Behaviors
Among the suggested problems and harms associated with widespread pornography use among young people, risky sexual behaviors have been frequently mentioned. To further explore this public health concern, this article analyzed sexual sensation seeking (SSS) as a potential confounder of the association between pornography use and sexual risks using data collected in 2010 from a population-based sample of young Croatian adults aged 18 to 25 (n = 1,0…
Pornography, Sexual Socialization, and Satisfaction Among Young Men
Does Sex Really Matter? Examining the Connections Between Spouses’ Nonsexual Behaviors, Sexual Frequency, Sexual Satisfaction, and Marital Satisfaction
Religiosity and Sexual Risk Behavior among Croatian College Students, 1998–2008
A substantial increase in religious identification has been observed in most European post-communist countries. As religiosity has been associated with sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV vulnerability among young people, this article examined the impact of religious upbringing and personal religiosity (religiousness) on sexual risks among University of Zagreb first-year undergraduate students, using data collected in 1998, 2003, and 200…
Theoretical Antecedents of Male Adolescents’ Problematic Pornography Use
Although considerable research has examined the antecedents of adolescents' pornography use (PU), little data exist on the underlying mechanisms of problematic pornography use (PPU) in adolescence. To bridge this gap, the current longitudinal study examined the long-term associations between adolescent boys' PU frequency, PPU, and theory-based predictors of PPU. Testing three conceptual models (the moral incongruence, out of control, and mood man…
Longitudinal Assessment of the Association Between Pornography Use and Sexual Satisfaction in Adolescence
Pornography has been theorized to affect sexual satisfaction for decades, yet only two prospective studies, both conducted in the Netherlands, have explored this link among adolescents. Given the unprecedented availability of (online) sexually explicit content and the potential importance of its relationship to sexual satisfaction for young people, we have revisited the association between these variables in a less sexually permissive society. Us…
Parenting, Communication about Sexuality, and the Development of Adolescent Womens’ Sexual Agency
Adolescent exposure to pornography and relationship intimacy in young adulthood
The hypothesis on the role of exposure to pornography during adolescence in predicting intimacy among young adults was tested using a sample of 544 Croatian college students (aged 18–25 years) who were surveyed online. Respondents provided information about pornography use at ages 14 and 17, perceived realism of pornographic depictions of sexual activities, attitudes towards recreational sex and relationship intimacy. Significant gender differenc…
How (Un)Important Is Penis Size for Women with Heterosexual Experience
Emotional Intimacy Among Coupled Heterosexual and Gay/Bisexual Croatian Men
Understanding the association between condom use at first and most recent sexual intercourse
Longitudinal assessment of the association between the use of sexually explicit material, hyperfemininity, and sexual agency in adolescent women
There is growing public concern that sexually explicit material (SEM) negatively affects women, given that SEM often promotes women’s sexual objectification, passivity and submission to male desire. Using a sample of 552 female high school students (Mage at baseline = 15.8, SD =.48) who participated in a 5-wave longitudinal study in Croatia, we assessed if and to what extent were hyperfemininity and sexual agency, as possible, respectively, negat…
Between Tradition and Modernization
Despite the fact that state socialism promoted the employment of women and, at least formally, gender equality as means of societal modernization, the prevailing picture of the Southeast European region is one of rather traditional, patriarchic societies. The postcommunist transition was characterized by high social costs and political attempts at retraditionalization, particularly through the increasingly public role of religion. At the same tim…
Obstacles in Identifying Sexual Harassment in Academia
Introduction Experiences of sexual harassment are common among university students. At the same time, research shows that victims and bystanders find it difficult to determine when an incident meets the criteria for sexual harassment. The aim of this study therefore was to obtain a richer and deeper understanding of the obstacles that university students encounter in identifying sexual harassment in the academic environment. Methods Individual in…
Religiosity, Perceived Effects of Pornography Use on Personal Sex Life, and Moral Incongruence
Although online pornography use appears to be a mainstream activity, there is little information, particularly outside of the USA, about how consumers perceive its impact on their sexuality. Considering increasing concerns about pornography use, this lack of evidence has sociocultural and clinical ramifications - especially because the recently proposed Moral Incongruence model (MI) suggests that some individuals may see their pornography use as …
Are We Losing the Most Relevant Cases First? Selective Dropout in Two Longitudinal Studies of Adolescent Pornography Use
Is sexting bad for adolescent girls’ psychological well-being? A longitudinal assessment in middle to late adolescence
Sexting, the digital transmission of sexual messages and images, has become a topic of increased interest and concern. Drawing largely on cross-sectional studies, the literature on associations between sexting and psychosocial outcomes remains inconsistent. The current longitudinal study investigated associations between adolescent girls’ sexting and two indicators of psychological well-being: symptoms of depression/anxiety and self-esteem. Respo…
Adolescent sexual aggressiveness and pornography use
The rising prevalence of (online) pornography use among, mostly male, adolescents revived social concerns regarding possible effects of pornography use on sexual aggressiveness. Given the paucity of longitudinal explorations of this link, this study focused on the following two research questions: (Q1) Is pornography use during middle to late adolescence related to male adolescents' self-reported sexual aggressiveness; and (Q2) can personality tr…
Varieties of Religious and Pornographic Experience
The relationship between adolescent religiosity and pornography use has been longitudinally tested only in the United States. Given the social relevance of hypothesized mechanisms underlying the association, this study offers a three-wave longitudinal assessment of parallel latent growth in the two constructs carried out in a Southern European country. Using responses of 1,041 Croatian adolescents from the capital city (Mage = 16.14 years, SD = .…
Parents’ Attitudes About School-Based Sex Education in Croatia
The Relationship between the Use of Social Networking Sites and Sexually Explicit Material, the Internalization of Appearance Ideals and Body Self-Surveillance
The end of intimacy
The central aim of this paper is to describe the sources and unintended consequences of the new intimate risks, those that are not exogenously (socioculturally), but endogenously determined. These new risks arise exclusively from personal wishes, expectations and preferences, as well as from intimate interactions between postmodern individuals. The defining difference between ?old? and ?new? intimacy is a disappearance of the regulating system of…
The dynamics of social capital in Croatia, 1995 - 2003
The concept of social capital has gained wide acceptance and use in social sciences, particularly in sociology, political science and institutional economics. Its popularity should be primarily attributed to various societal benefits, theoretically and empirically well explored, linked to the production and persistence of social capital. This paper reconsiders the dynamics of social capital in Croatia presented in a previous article (Stulhofer, 2…
How (Un)Important Is Penis Size for Women with Heterosexual Experience
HIV-related Sexual Risk Taking Among HIV-negative Men Who Have Sex with Men in Zagreb, Croatia
Between Tradition and Modernization
Despite the fact that state socialism promoted the employment of women and, at least formally, gender equality as means of societal modernization, the prevailing picture of the Southeast European region is one of rather traditional, patriarchic societies. The postcommunist transition was characterized by high social costs and political attempts at retraditionalization, particularly through the increasingly public role of religion. At the same tim…
Is Early Exposure to Pornography a Risk Factor for Sexual Compulsivity? Findings from an Online Survey among Young Heterosexual Adults
The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the relationship between early exposure to pornography and sexual compulsivity among Croatian young adults. Using online survey data on pornography use and sexual behavior among 1,528 heterosexual women and men aged 18–25, we tested a hypothesis that pornography use at the age of 14 is a marker for sexual compulsivity in late adolescence and young adulthood. After satisfactory reliability of a fou…
HIV related risks among Croatian migrant workers 2004–2006
Two waves of a cross-sectional research study focusing on HIV-related risks in a population of migrant workers were carried out in 2004 and 2006. The research focused on changes in HIV knowledge, beliefs about condom use and risk-taking behaviours. The study included 552 migrant workers in 2004 and 671 in 2006. Using a self-administered questionnaire, data was collected in occupational health offices in nine cities during the process of medical e…
Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Zagreb, Croatia
Female sex work and HIV risks in Croatia
The aim of this paper was to analyze and compare the prevalence of HIV-related sexual risk taking among Croatian female sex workers (FSW) in two major urban areas. Two groups of FSWs were interviewed in Zagreb (n=65) and Split (n=89). Participants' mean age was 33.3 (SD=8.32). Interviews were conducted by outreach organizations that provide health services to sex workers in the two cities. The study used a brief questionnaire with standardized be…
Determinants of Homonegativity in Europe
This paper analyzes macro-determinants of negative attitudes toward homosexuality in 31 European societies. Using the European Values Study (EVS) 1999/2000, carried out on national probability samples, we tested the effects of tradition, modernization, and postmodernization on homonegativity. According to the findings, social distance toward homosexual persons was predicted by Eastern Orthodox religion, a greater degree of urbanization, economic …
Development and Bicultural Validation of the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale
The development and bicultural validation of the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NSSS)--a 20 item, multidimensional, composite measure of sexual satisfaction--is presented. The development of the scale was based on a five-dimension, conceptual model that emphasized the importance of multiple domains of sexual behavior including sexual sensations, sexual awareness and focus, sexual exchange, emotional closeness, and sexual activity. Scale construct…
Sex Therapy in a Cultural Context
An Assessment of HIV/STI Vulnerability and Related Sexual Risk-Taking in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Croatian Adults
Zašto zahtjev za potpuno besplatnim (javno financiranim) visokoškolskim obrazovanjem ne smatram dobrom idejom
Religiosity and Sexual Risk Behavior among Croatian College Students, 1998–2008
A substantial increase in religious identification has been observed in most European post-communist countries. As religiosity has been associated with sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV vulnerability among young people, this article examined the impact of religious upbringing and personal religiosity (religiousness) on sexual risks among University of Zagreb first-year undergraduate students, using data collected in 1998, 2003, and 200…
Pornography, Sexual Socialization, and Satisfaction Among Young Men
Understanding the association between condom use at first and most recent sexual intercourse
Masturbation Among Sexually Active Young Women in Croatia
The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of masturbation among sexually active young women in Croatia. Data were collected in 2010 in a cross-sectional national probability study of youth sexuality. The analyses were based on a subsample of 416 female participants aged 18 to 25 years old. Sixty percent of the young women reported that they masturbate. Results from the multivariate logistic regression analysis indicate th…
Young and Sexual in Norway and Croatia
This article describes and analyzes patterns of first sexual intercourse and contraception use from a bicultural perspective. Study results are based on a 2009–2010 large-scale national probability survey of young adults aged 18 to 24 years in Croatia (n = 1,005) and Norway (n = 871). The findings corroborated the persistence of the dual model of sexual initiation in Europe (Scandinavian vs. Mediterranean), in which Norwegian women and Croatian m…
Urine-based testing for Chlamydia trachomatis among young adults in a population-based survey in Croatia
Population-based surveys that use probabilistic sampling are a feasible way to obtain population estimates of C. trachomatis prevalence among young adults in Croatia, but it is challenging to obtain an adequate response rate. The prevalence of C. trachomatis among young adults in Croatia found in this study was higher than that found in other European countries with similar survey response rates
Adolescent exposure to pornography and relationship intimacy in young adulthood
The hypothesis on the role of exposure to pornography during adolescence in predicting intimacy among young adults was tested using a sample of 544 Croatian college students (aged 18–25 years) who were surveyed online. Respondents provided information about pornography use at ages 14 and 17, perceived realism of pornographic depictions of sexual activities, attitudes towards recreational sex and relationship intimacy. Significant gender differenc…
Self-Assessed Risk of HIV and Other STIs Among Young Adults in Norway and Croatia
The politics of youth sexuality
This article analyzes the development of school-based sex education programs in Croatia to identify the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in shaping government policy outcomes. We trace the history and recent activities of faith-based and pro-comprehensive education CSOs to identify the political advantages and cultural challenges in advocating systematic sexuality education. Focusing our analysis on the 2004–2008 negotiation process ove…
The Prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV, and HIV-Related Risk-Taking Behaviors among Palestinian Injecting Drug Users in the East Jerusalem Governorate
Revisiting the Association between Pornography Use and Risky Sexual Behaviors
Among the suggested problems and harms associated with widespread pornography use among young people, risky sexual behaviors have been frequently mentioned. To further explore this public health concern, this article analyzed sexual sensation seeking (SSS) as a potential confounder of the association between pornography use and sexual risks using data collected in 2010 from a population-based sample of young Croatian adults aged 18 to 25 (n = 1,0…
Psychology (76 works) · Developmental psychology (53 works) · Medicine (52 works) · Social Psychology (52 works) · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology (47 works) · Clinical Psychology (44 works) · Sociology (34 works) · Human sexuality (29 works) · Demography (28 works) · Sex work and related issues (28 works)