Research Interests

My research focuses on the psychological and social aspects of health, relationships, and sexuality. I study how social conditions affect the sexual well-being of individuals, with a focus on norms and biases related to gender, race/ethnicity, age, illness, and sexual minority status. Throughout my research, I investigate whether people's sense of what they deserve in the intimate domain affects their sexual development, intimate interactions, and evaluations of sexual satisfaction.

Current projects examine the expectations people have about the quality of their intimate lives at two distinct time points -- early in life, when sexuality is developing and near the end of life, within aging and illness contexts, when sexuality is assumed to be absent or rapidly decreasing. I use a combination of survey, interview, focus group, and Q methods in two on-going lines of research.

In one line of research, I study adolescent sexual development, including how young people imagine and experience sexual outcomes such as desire and sexual satisfaction. In addition, this work includes analysis of how public policies affect the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young adults, with a focus on the implications of abstinence-only sex education.

In a second line of research, I investigate the sexual health concerns of women living with cancer. Currently, I have an on-going multi-method study which examines the sexual quality of life of women with metastatic breast cancer. This study focuses on describing the varied experiences and concerns of this population, as well as developing methods and measures to better assess sexual well-being across the life span.

For more information concerning on-going research projects, see Research and Publications.

Current Grants 

• Intimacy and Sexual Quality of Life Concerns of Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer

• Institute of Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan
• Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cancer Research Committee, University of Michigan

Selected Publications

• McClelland, S.I. (in press, 2012). Measuring sexual quality of life: Ten recommendations for health psychologists. In A. Baum, T.A. Revenson, & J. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of Health Psychology. PDF here

• McClelland, S.I. (2011). Who is the "self" in self-reports of sexual satisfaction? Research and policy implications. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 8(4), 304-320. PDF here

• McClelland, S.I. & Opotow, S. (2011). Studying injustice in the macro and micro spheres: Four generations of social psychological research. In P. Coleman (Ed.), Conflict, Interdependence and Justice: The Intellectual Legacy of Morton Deutsch, 119-145. New York: Springer. PDF here

• Tolman, D.L. & McClelland, S.I. (2011). Normative sexuality development in adolescence: A decade in review 2000-2009. Journal of Research in Adolescence, 21(1), 242-255. PDF here

• McClelland, S.I. (2010). Intimate justice: A critical analysis of sexual satisfaction. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4(9), 663-680. PDF here

• McClelland, S.I. and Fine, M. (2008). Writing on cellophane: Studying teen women's sexual desires; Inventing methodological release points. K. Gallagher (Ed.), The Methodological Dilemma: Critical and Creative Approaches to Qualitative Research, 232-260. London: Routledge. PDF here / Order book here

• McClelland, S.I. and Fine, M. (2008). Rescuing a theory of adolescent sexual excess: Young women and wanting. A. Harris (Ed.), Next Wave Cultures: Feminism, Subcultures, Activism, 83-102. London: Routledge. PDF here / Order book here

• McClelland, S.I. and Fine, M. (2008). Embedded science: Critical analysis of abstinence-only evaluation research. Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies, 8(1), 50-81. PDF here

• McClelland, S.I. (2008). Book Review: Adolescent Sexuality: A Historical Handbook & Guide, C. Cocca, Ed. Journal of Sex Research, 45(3), 315-317. PDF here

• Fine, M. and McClelland, S.I. (2007). The politics of teen women’s sexuality: Public policy and the adolescent female body. Emory Law Journal, 56(4), 993-1038. PDF here

• Opotow, S. and McClelland, S.I. (2007).The intensification of hating: A theory. Social Justice Research, 20(1), 68-97. PDF here

• McClelland, S.I. and Metzl, J.M. (2007). Impotence and sexual dysfunction. M. Flood, J.K. Gardiner, B. Pease, and K. Pringle (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities. London: Routledge. PDF here /Order book here

• Fine, M. and McClelland, S.I. (2006). Sexuality education and desire: Still missing after all these years. Harvard Educational Review, 76(3), 297-338. abstract / PDF here