Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stability of Sexual Attractions Across Different Timescales: The Roles of Bisexuality and Gender

  • Special Section: The Puzzle of Sexual Orientation
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We examined the stability of same-sex and other-sex attractions among 294 heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual men and women between the ages of 18 and 40 years. Participants used online daily diaries to report the intensity of each day’s strongest same-sex and other-sex attraction, and they also reported on changes they recalled experiencing in their attractions since adolescence. We used multilevel dynamical systems models to examine individual differences in the stability of daily attractions (stability, in these models, denotes the tendency for attractions to “self-correct” toward a person-specific setpoint over time). Women’s attractions showed less day-to-day stability than men’s, consistent with the notion of female sexual fluidity (i.e., heightened erotic sensitivity to situational and contextual influences). Yet, women did not recollect larger post-adolescent changes in sexual attractions than did men, and larger recollected post-adolescent changes did not predict lower day-to-day stability in the sample as a whole. Bisexually attracted individuals recollected larger post-adolescent changes in their attractions, and they showed lower day-to-day stability in attractions to their “less-preferred” gender, compared to individuals with exclusive same-sex or exclusive other-sex attractions. Our results suggest that both gender and bisexuality have independent influences on sexual fluidity, but these influences vary across short versus long timescales, and they also differ for attractions to one’s “more-preferred” versus “less-preferred” gender.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bailey, J. M., Dunne, M. P., & Martin, N. G. (2000). Genetic and environmental influences on sexual orientation and its correlates in an Australian twin sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 524–536. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.3.524.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F. (2000). Gender differences in erotic plasticity: The female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive. Psychological Bulletin, 126(3), 347–374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bouchard, K. N., Timmers, A. D., & Chivers, M. L. (2015). Gender-specificity of genital response and self-reported sexual arousal in women endorsing facets of bisexuality. Journal of Bisexuality, 15(2), 180–203. doi:10.1080/15299716.2015.1022924.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. L., & Alderson, K. (2010). Sexual identity and heterosexual male students’ usage of homosexual insults. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 19, 27–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, W. W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butner, J. E., Gagnon, K. T., Geuss, M. N., Lessard, D. A., & Story, T. N. (2015). Utilizing topology to generate and test theories of change. Psychological Methods, 20(1), 1–25. doi:10.1037/a0037802.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chandra, A., Mosher, W. D., Copen, C., & Sionean, C. (2011). Sexual behavior, sexual attraction, and sexual identity in the United States: Data from the 2006–2008 National Survey of Family Growth. National Health Statistics Reports, 3(36), 1–36. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5512-3_4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, M. L., & Bailey, J. M. (2005). A sex difference in features that elicit genital response. Biological Psychology, 70(2), 115–120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, M. L., Bouchard, K., & Timmers, A. D. (2015). Straight but not narrow: Within-gender variation in the gender-specificity of women’s sexual response. PLoS ONE, 10(12), e0142575. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142575.

  • Chivers, M. L., Rieger, G., Latty, E., & Bailey, J. M. (2004). A sex difference in the specificity of sexual arousal. Psychological Science, 15, 736–744.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., & Blanchard, R. (2007). Gender and sexual orientation differences in sexual response to sexual activities versus gender of actors in sexual films. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(6), 1108–1121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers, M. L., & Timmers, A. D. (2012). Effects of gender and relationship context in audio narratives on genital and subjective sexual response in heterosexual women and men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(1), 185–197. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-9937-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Copen, C. E., Chandra, A., & Febo-Vazquez, I. (2016). Sexual behavior, sexual attraction, and sexual orientation among adults aged 18–44 in the United States: Data from the 2011–2013 National Survey of Family Growth. National Health Statistics Reports, 7(88), 1–13. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5512-3_4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. M. (2007). A dynamical systems approach to female same-sex sexuality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(2), 142–161.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. M. (2008a). Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: Results from a 10 year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 44, 5–14. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. M. (2008b). Sexual fluidity: Understanding women’s love and desire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. M. (2012). The desire disorder in research on sexual orientation in women: Contributions of dynamical systems theory. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 73–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. M. (2014). Gender and same-sex sexuality. In D. L. Tolman & L. M. Diamond (Eds.), The APA handbook of sexuality and psychology (pp. 629–652). Washington, DC: APA Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. M., & Rosky, C. J. (2016). Scrutinizing immutability: Research on sexual orientation and U.S. legal advocacy for sexual minorities. Journal of Sex Research, 53(4/5), 363–391. doi:10.1080/00224499.2016.1139665.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, L. M., & Wallen, K. (2011). Sexual-minority women’s sexual motivation around the time of ovulation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 237–246.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson, N., Paul, C., & Herbison, P. (2003). Same-sex attraction in a birth cohort: Prevalence and persistence in early adulthood. Social Science and Medicine, 56(8), 1607–1615. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00161-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson, N., Roode, T., Cameron, C., & Paul, C. (2013). Stability and change in same-sex attraction, experience, and identity by sex and age in a New Zealand birth cohort. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(5), 753–763. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-0063-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Farr, R. H., Diamond, L. M., & Boker, S. M. (2014). Female same-sex sexuality from a dynamical systems perspective: Sexual desire, motivation, and behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 1477–1490.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gates, G. J. (2011). How many people are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender? Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute.

  • Graham, J. W., Olchowski, A. E., & Gilreath, T. D. (2007). How many imputations are really needed? Some practical clarifications of multiple imputation theory. Prevention Science, 8(3), 206–213.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guastello, S. J., & Gregson, R. A. (2012). Nonlinear dynamical systems analysis for the behavioral sciences using real data. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz-Wise, S. L. (2015). Sexual fluidity in young adult women and men: Associations with sexual orientation and sexual identity development. Psychology & Sexuality, 6(2), 189–208. doi:10.1080/19419899.2013.876445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnish, K. K., Strassberg, D. S., & Turner, C. W. (2005). Sex differences in the flexibility of sexual orientation: A multidimensional retrospective assessment. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34(2), 173–183. doi:10.1007/s10508-005-1795-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mock, S. E., & Eibach, R. P. (2012). Stability and change in sexual orientation identity over a 10-year period in adulthood. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(3), 641–648. doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9761-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mosher, W. D., Chandra, A., & Jones, J. (2005). Sexual behavior and selected health measures: Men and women 15-44 years of age, United States, 2002 (pp. 1–56). Advance data from vital and health statistics, no. 362. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

  • Ott, M. Q., Corliss, H. L., Wypij, D., Rosario, M., & Austin, S. B. (2011). Stability and change in self-reported sexual orientation identity in young people: Application of mobility metrics. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(3), 519–532. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9691-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Queen, T. L., Butner, J., Wiebe, D. J., & Berg, C. A. (2016). A micro-developmental view of parental well-being in families coping with chronic illness. Journal of Family Psychology. doi:10.1037/fam0000201.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rieger, G., Bailey, J. M., & Chivers, M. L. (2005). Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men. Psychological Science, 16, 579–584.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, A. M., Sylva, D., Safron, A., & Bailey, J. M. (2011). Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men revisited. Biological Psychology, 88(1), 112–115.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, A. M., Sylva, D., Safron, A., & Bailey, J. M. (2012). The male bisexuality debate revisited: Some bisexual men have bisexual arousal patterns. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 135–147.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, M. W., Daneback, K., & Månsson, S.-A. (2012). Fluid versus fixed: A new perspective on bisexuality as a fluid sexual orientation beyond gender. Journal of Bisexuality, 12(4), 449–460. doi:10.1080/15299716.2012.702609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savin-Williams, R. C., Joyner, K., & Rieger, G. (2012). Prevalence and stability of self-reported sexual orientation identity during young adulthood. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(1), 103–110. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-9913-y.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Savin-Williams, R. C., & Ream, G. L. (2007). Prevalence and stability of sexual orientation components during adolescence and young adulthood. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(3), 385–394. doi:10.1007/s10508-006-9088-5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Savin-Williams, R. C., & Vrangalova, Z. (2013). Mostly heterosexual as a distinct sexual orientation group: A systematic review of the empirical evidence. Developmental Review, 33(1), 58–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, J. L. (1999). Multiple imputation: A primer. Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 8(1), 3–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spape, J., Timmers, A. D., Yoon, S., Ponseti, J., & Chivers, M. L. (2014). Gender-specific genital and subjective sexual arousal to prepotent sexual features in heterosexual women and men. Biological Psychology, 102, 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.07.008.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Wells, B. E. (2016). Changes in American adults’ reported same-sex sexual experiences and attitudes, 1973–2014. Archives of Sexual Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10508-016-0769-4.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Buuren, S. (2007). Multiple imputation of discrete and continuous data by fully conditional specification. Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 16, 219–242.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg, M. S., Williams, C. J., & Pryor, D. W. (1994). Dual attraction: Understanding bisexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the American Institute of Bisexuality, awarded to the first author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 South 1530 East, Room 502, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112-0251, USA

    Lisa M. Diamond, Janna A. Dickenson & Karen L. Blair

Authors
  1. Lisa M. Diamond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Janna A. Dickenson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karen L. Blair
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa M. Diamond.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The first author, second author, and third author declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Diamond, L.M., Dickenson, J.A. & Blair, K.L. Stability of Sexual Attractions Across Different Timescales: The Roles of Bisexuality and Gender. Arch Sex Behav 46, 193–204 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0860-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0860-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation