PhD/PsyD Research interest has drastically changed

[SosoLovesChi]

I'm an undergard junior in the MARC U program and right now I'm getting my application together so that I can apply for summer research at another university. My problem is that my research interest has changed and I understand that's not really a huge problem given how early in my education I am right now. I just have some concerns about how I should play this out.

You see, I already wrote my personal statements for summer research and they all express my former research interest. My new research interest is human sexuality and I've been looking around for research programs that have labs on human sexuality and there are not many. It's not like doing research they may not connect with your current interest is going to drastically lower my chances of getting into a good grad school. So I'm wondering, should I just pretend like my research interest is the same? Or should I rewrite my statements because it's unlikely that I'm going to be able to do summer research on human sexuality anyway?

My next question is this: how do I break it do my advisors and the MARC program directors? I'm kind of an awkward person and I feel kind of weird talking about this new passion. It would be easier if I was interested in sexual violence/assault and I am, but I'm mostly interested in BDSM, gender, kink and all those forbidden topics. I'm not even sure how I could write a new personal statement about this; with my former research interest I had moments in my life that led me to have those interest, but this sexuality thing, while it isn't new, does not come from a specific event in my life.

Last question I promise. Does anyone know of any university that's doing research on this sort of thing, because besides the Kinsey Institute I'm not finding much. I've been looking up subjects on the psych database and most of the research seems to be done in other countries.

So sorry for the long post, but as you can see I need a little advice.

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[deleted343839]

I'm an undergard junior in the MARC U program

I don't know what the MARC U program is.

Also, your question is unclear. Are you saying that you've already committed yourself to certain research topics and are not sure how to walk that back, or is it that you just feel uncomfortable sharing your interests in sexuality and gender in your application?

Last question I promise. Does anyone know of any university that's doing research on this sort of thing, because besides the Kinsey Institute I'm not finding much. I've been looking up subjects on the psych database and most of the research seems to be done in other countries.

There are a lot of US university faculty with research interests in human sexuality, though because of funding concerns their work is often tied to public health issues (eg, STIs, contraception, intimate partner violence, medical conditions, etc.). You might have a little more leeway in Canadian institutions. I'd suggest looking into the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS).

 

[SosoLovesChi]

I don't know what the MARC U program is.

Also, your question is unclear. Are you saying that you've already committed yourself to certain research topics and are not sure how to walk that back, or is it that you just feel uncomfortable sharing your interests in sexuality and gender in your application?

A little bit of both.

Also, I've looked some more and have found a few labs that research sexuality. Thank you for letting me know about SSSS,