Relationships between homosexual and heterosexual interest and their implications for bisexuality: An empirical test

Conceptualizing heterosexual and homosexual interest as reciprocal constructs can be a source of confusion, and may obstruct understanding of sexual orientation in counseling. We investigated the relationships between homosexual interest, heterosexual interest, and masculinity and femininity. Seventy-eight men attending a homophile organisation completed the Kinsey Scale, and two separate continua measuring degree of homosexual interest and degree of heterosexual interest independently. The correlation between the two continua was -.51, suggesting that homosexual and heterosexual interest are to some extent independent of one another, and that a single continuum which assumes homosexual interest to be the direct converse of heterosexual interest may not be an adequate measure of sexual orientation. No significant relationships between masculinity, femininity and sexual orientation were found. Implications for counseling people with concerns about sexual orientation and sex of partner are discussed.