TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond gender
T2 - the basis of sexual attraction in bisexual men and women.
AU - Ross, M. W.
AU - Paul, J. P.
N1 - Copyright:
This record is sourced from MEDLINE/PubMed, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
PY - 1992/12
Y1 - 1992/12
N2 - The construct of sexual orientation has typically considered the gender of the sexual partner as defining whether the individual is homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual, and the Kinsey scale conceptualises bisexuality as a point midway between homosexuality and heterosexuality. We propose an alternative model which places homosexuality and heterosexuality at one end of a continuum as gender-linked choices of sexual partner, and bisexuality at the other as nongender-specific. As a test of this model, we administered repertory grids to nine bisexual men and women to investigate the characteristics of sexual attraction in individuals for whom gender of partner was not a critical variable. Results supported the hypothesis that gender is not a critical variable in sexual attraction in bisexual individuals. Personality or physical dimensions not related to gender and interaction style were the salient characteristics on which preferred sexual partners were chosen, and there was minimal grid distance between preferred male and preferred female partners. These data support the argument that, for some bisexual individuals, sexual attraction is not gender-linked.
AB - The construct of sexual orientation has typically considered the gender of the sexual partner as defining whether the individual is homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual, and the Kinsey scale conceptualises bisexuality as a point midway between homosexuality and heterosexuality. We propose an alternative model which places homosexuality and heterosexuality at one end of a continuum as gender-linked choices of sexual partner, and bisexuality at the other as nongender-specific. As a test of this model, we administered repertory grids to nine bisexual men and women to investigate the characteristics of sexual attraction in individuals for whom gender of partner was not a critical variable. Results supported the hypothesis that gender is not a critical variable in sexual attraction in bisexual individuals. Personality or physical dimensions not related to gender and interaction style were the salient characteristics on which preferred sexual partners were chosen, and there was minimal grid distance between preferred male and preferred female partners. These data support the argument that, for some bisexual individuals, sexual attraction is not gender-linked.
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U2 - 10.2466/pr0.1992.71.3f.1283
DO - 10.2466/pr0.1992.71.3f.1283
M3 - Article
C2 - 1480717
AN - SCOPUS:0027021194
SN - 0033-2941
VL - 71
SP - 1283
EP - 1290
JO - Psychological Reports
JF - Psychological Reports
IS - 3 Pt 2
ER -