Abstract
Existing research suggests significant differences in alcohol and tobacco consumption trends according to one’s sexual orientation. However, asexual people have not yet been included in these comparisons. In this mixed-methods, two-part study, we sought to compare group differences in alcohol and tobacco consumption among sexual orientations, focusing on asexual people, sexual people, and those in the “gray” area between asexual and sexual (i.e., “gray-asexual”). Data for Study 1 came from four British studies: National Surveys of Sexual Attitude and Lifestyles I, II, and III in 1990, 2000, and 2010 (NATSAL I, II, III) and Towards Better Sexual Health (TBSH) in 2000. Sample sizes for each study by gender are: NATSAL I—M: 1923 F: 3511; NATSAL II—M: 4604 F: 6031; NATSAL III—M: 6122 F: 7966; TBSH—M: 347 F: 552. Notably, asexual and gray-asexual respondents were found to consume significantly less alcohol and were more likely to abstain from drinking alcohol altogether, compared to allosexual respondents. Differences in tobacco consumption were only statistically significant for asexual respondents in two of three studies that included tobacco consumption. Each of the four studies also found that asexual and gray-asexual respondents were more likely to be non-drinkers (40.0–77.8%, asexual and 28.1–50.1% gray-asexual, non-drinkers, respectively) than allosexual respondents (10.2–27.2%, non-drinkers). Interviews conducted in Study 2 identified somatic, social, and psychological experiences and motivations that may shed light on the reasons for lower drinking frequencies among asexual individuals. Variability in alcohol consumption levels among asexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual respondents, and the general population raises new questions about the motivations for why people consume alcohol.
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Notes
Alcohol abstinence was operationalized based on respondents indicating they had not consumed alcohol within 12 months of data collection.
While the acronym LGBT has been used in this article, and is generally more commonly used in research, the authors interviewed individuals who specifically identified as “queer”; we wanted to reflect this distinction.
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Acknowledgements
This research is an expansion of research done by Caroline Bauer, as her master’s thesis, under advisory of Greg Eirich at Columbia University in the Department of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences. The previous research is entitled “Asexuality as a Spectrum: A National Probability Sample Comparison to the Sexual Community in the UK” and is under her previous name, Caroline H. McClave. It is available online at the Columbia Academic Commons: https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:162382. The authors would like to extend their thanks to Janelle F. and Kai Y. for their coding assistance in Study 2.
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Appendix
Appendix
Allosexual attraction | NATSAL I | NATSAL II | TBSH | NATSAL III | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | |
Gray-asexual | 100.00 | 196 | 100.00 | 313 | 100.00 | 79 | 100.00 | 693 |
Only same sex | 1.02 | 2 | 0.64 | 2 | 1.27 | 1 | 0.14 | 1 |
Mostly same-sex attraction | 0.00 | 0 | 0.96 | 3 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.72 | 5 |
About equal attraction | 2.55 | 5 | 0.64 | 2 | 1.27 | 1 | 1.44 | 10 |
Mostly opposite-sex attraction | 8.16 | 16 | 7.03 | 22 | 3.80 | 3 | 3.32 | 23 |
Only opposite-sex attraction | 88.27 | 173 | 90.73 | 284 | 93.67 | 74 | 94.37 | 654 |
Allosexual | 100.00 | 4178 | 100.00 | 10,635 | 100.00 | 832 | 100.00 | 14,084 |
Only same sex | 0.50 | 21 | 0.63 | 67 | 1.92 | 16 | 0.73 | 103 |
Mostly same-sex attraction | 0.41 | 17 | 0.84 | 89 | 1.56 | 13 | 1.02 | 143 |
About equal attraction | 0.43 | 18 | 0.83 | 88 | 1.92 | 16 | 1.07 | 151 |
Mostly opposite-sex attraction | 5.24 | 219 | 8.74 | 929 | 7.45 | 62 | 8.09 | 1140 |
Only opposite-sex attraction | 93.42 | 3903 | 88.97 | 9462 | 87.14 | 725 | 89.09 | 12,547 |
Participant | Age | Gender | Ethnicity | Drinking status | Sexual orientation | Romantic orientation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P1 | 28 | Man | Other | Alcohol abstinent | Asexual | Heteroromantic |
P2 | 35 | Woman | White | Social drinker | Asexual | Heteroromantic |
P3 | 18 | Woman | White | Alcohol abstinent | Asexual | Aromantic |
P4 | 19 | Non-binary | White | Alcohol abstinent | Asexual | Panromantic |
P5 | 26 | Woman | East Asian | Social drinker | Asexual | Heteroromantic |
P6 | 48 | Man | South-East Asian | Social drinker | Asexual | Homoromantic |
P7 | 25 | Non-binary | Other | Alcohol abstinent | Asexual | Aromantic |
P8 | 21 | Woman | East Asian | Social drinker | Asexual | Heteroromantic |
P9 | 31 | Woman | Other | Social drinker | Asexual | Biromantic |
P10 | 29 | Non-binary | White | Social drinker | Asexual | Panromantic |
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Bauer, C., Kaye, S.L. & Brotto, L.A. Understanding Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption in Asexual Samples: A Mixed-Methods Approach. Arch Sex Behav 49, 733–755 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01570-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01570-4