Sexual fluidity in young adult women and men: associations with sexual orientation and sexual identity development

Abstract

This research investigated sexual fluidity in attractions and sexual identity and associations with sexual orientation dimensions and sexual identity development in 199 (124 female, 75 male) US sexual minority young adults, ages 18-26 years. Participants completed an online questionnaire measuring sexual fluidity in attractions and sexual identity, sexual orientation dimensions (sexual identity, attractions, sexual behaviour) and sexual identity development. Sexual fluidity in attractions was reported by 64% of women and 52% of men, with 49% of those women and 36% of those men reporting sexual fluidity in sexual identity based on experiencing changes in attractions, with no significant gender differences. Sexually fluid women used a range of sexual identities, whereas most sexually fluid men identified as completely homosexual/gay. Sexually fluid people were more likely than non-sexually-fluid people to have engaged in past sexual behaviours with both genders. Sexual fluidity in attractions was not related to the timing of sexual identity developmental milestones; however, women reached some milestones at a later age than men. Findings from this research shed light on the complexities of sexual fluidity and sexual identity development in both women and men.

Sexual Fluidity and Related Attitudes and Beliefs Among Young Adults with a Same-Gender Orientation

“…It may represent change in attractions or sexual orientation identity toward or away from same-gender orientation. Previous research has found evidence of sexual fluidity among heterosexually-identified and other-gender attracted individuals (Dickson et al, 2003(Dickson et al, , 2013Katz-Wise, 2014;Kinnish et al, 2005;Mock & Eibach, 2012;Ott et al, 2011;Savin-Williams et al, 2012). This suggests that sexual fluidity is not limited to sexual minorities and may represent a coming out process for individuals who first indicate a heterosexual orientation but later indicate some element of samegender orientation (e.g., same-gender attractions, non-heterosexual sexual orientation identity).…”

“…Recently, a number of studies using both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs have begun to include both females and males and heterosexually-identified individuals in addition to sexual minorities. Whereas many of these studies have found greater frequency of sexual fluidity among females and sexual minorities, compared to males and heterosexual individuals (Dickson et al, 2003(Dickson et al, , 2013Mock & Eibach, 2012;Savin-Williams et al, 2012), some studies have found the opposite pattern, with sexual minority males indicating greater likelihood of sexual fluidity than sexual minority females (Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, & Braun, 2006) or no significant gender difference among some sexual orientation groups (Katz-Wise, 2014;Kinnish et al, 2005;Ott et al, 2011). Now that it has been established that both females and males experience sexual fluidity, more research is needed to understand whether specific attitudes and beliefs are related to sexual fluidity.…”

“…Although the majority of individuals develop a heterosexual sexual orientation, data from the U.S. National Survey of Family Growth indicated that up to 14 % of adult women and 8 % of adult men report some element of a same-gender orientation (Chandra, Mosher, Copen, & Sionean, 2011), which refers to attractions, sexual behavior, or a sexual orientation identity that is oriented toward same-gender others. Classic models of sexual orientation identity development proposed that sexual orientation forms prior to adolescence and remains stable over time (Bell, Weinberg, & Hammersmith, 1981;Money, 1988), but a growing body of research on sexual fluidity challenges these models for both females and males (Dickson, Paul, & Herbison, 2003;Dickson, van Roode, Camerson, & Paul, 2013;Katz-Wise, 2014;Kinnish, Strassberg, & Turner, 2005;Mock & Eibach, 2012;Ott, Corliss, Wypij, Rosario, & Austin, 2011;SavinWilliams, Joyner, & Rieger, 2012). Some researchers have begun to consider specific cognitions related to sexual fluidity, such as person-based attractions (e.g., Diamond, 2008b), but more research is needed to understand these associations in contemporary adolescents and young adults.…”

Unintended Pregnancy, Depression, and Hazardous Drinking in a Community-Based Sample of Sexual Minority Women

“…Unintended pregnancy for a SMW may be especially stressful due to the stigmatization and stress experienced by the population in general 63 and in the context of pregnancy. [64][65][66] Furthermore, for some SMW, especially those who identify as exclusively or mostly lesbian, unintended pregnancies may conflict with in-group normative behavioral expectations and invite stigmatizing attitudes from other lesbian-identified women, 37,67 which may increase the negative psychological impact of an unintended pregnancy. Most likely, both explanations are valid, but more research is needed to untangle the causal pathways and mechanisms linking unintended pregnancy to depression and hazardous drinking.…”

“…Indeed, studies have shown high levels of sexual fluidity and identity behavior incongruence (e.g., identifying as lesbian and engaging in heterosexual sex) among women. [35][36][37][38][39][40] For example, using nationally representative data, Xu et al showed that among adult women in the United States, 10% of currently identified lesbians and 70% of bisexual identified women had had a male sexual partner in the past 12 months. Furthermore, Xu et al showed that lesbians had a median of 2.9 male partners in their lifetime and bisexual women had a median of 17.6 male partners.…”