Abstract
Fluidity in attractions and behaviors among same-sex attracted women has been well-documented, suggesting the appropriateness of dynamical systems modeling of these phenomena over time. As dynamical systems modeling offer an approach to explaining the patterns of complex phenomena, it may be apt for explaining variability in female same-sex sexuality. The present research is the first application of this analytical approach to such data. Dynamical systems modeling, and specifically generalized local linear approximation modeling, was used to fit daily diary data on same-sex attractions and behaviors over a 21 day period among a group of 33 sexual minority women characterized as lesbian, bisexual or “fluid” based on their identity histories. Daily measures of women’s reported same-sex attractions were fit using a linear oscillator model and its parameters estimated the cyclicity in these attractions. Results supported the existence of a “core sexual orientation” for women in this sample, regardless of how they identified and despite a high degree of variability in daily same-sex attractions. Thus, modeling individual differences in the variability of attractions and behaviors of sexual minority women may be critical to furthering our understanding of female same-sex sexuality and human sexual orientation more broadly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey, J. M. (2009). What is sexual orientation and do women have one? In D. A. Hope (Ed.), Contemporary perspectives on lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities (pp. 43–63). New York: Springer Science Business Media.
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 band Social Psychology, 78, 524–536. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.3.524.
Baumeister, R. F. (2000). Gender differences in erotic plasticity: The female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 347–374. doi:10.1037/2909.126.3.347.
Bell, A. P., Weinberg, M. S., & Hammersmith, S. K. (1981). Sexual preference: Its development in men and women. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Blumstein, P., & Schwartz, P. (1990). Intimate relationships and the creation of sexuality. In D. P. McWhirter, S. A. Sanders, & J. M. Reinisch (Eds.), Homosexuality/heterosexuality: Concepts of sexual orientation (pp. 307–320). New York: Oxford University Press.
Boker, S. M., Deboeck, P. R., Edler, C., & Keel, P. K. (2010). Generalized local linear approximation of derivatives from times series. In S. M. Chow & E. Ferrar (Eds.), Statistical methods for modeling human dynamics: An interdisciplinary dialogue (pp. 161–178). Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis.
Boker, S. M., & Nesselroade, J. R. (2002). A method for modeling the intrinsic dynamics of intraindividual variability: Recovering the parameters of simulated oscillators in multi-wave panel data. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 37, 127–160. doi:10.1207/S15327906MBR3701_06.
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. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00750.x.
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, 1108–1121. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1108.
Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., Lalumiere, M. L., Laan, E., & Grimbos, T. (2010). Agreement of self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal in men and women: A meta-analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10508-009-9556-9.
Diamond, L. M. (1998). Development of sexual orientation among adolescent and young adult women. Developmental Psychology, 34, 1085–1095. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.34.5.1085.
Diamond, L. M. (2000). Sexual identity, attractions, and behavior among young sexual-minority women over a two-year period. Developmental Psychology, 36, 241–250. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.36.2.241.
Diamond, L. M. (2003a). Was it a phase? Young women’s relinquishment of lesbian/bisexual identities over a 5-year period. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 352–364. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.352.
Diamond, L. M. (2003b). What does sexual orientation orient? A biobehavioral model distinguishing romantic love and sexual desire. Psychological Review, 110, 173–192. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.110.1.173.
Diamond, L. M. (2005). A new view of lesbian subtypes: Stable vs. fluid identity trajectories over an 8-year period. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 119–128. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00174.x.
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.
Diamond, L. M. (2008b). Dynamical systems approach to the development and expression of female same-sex sexuality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 142–161. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00034.x.
Diamond, L. M. (2008c). Sexual fluidity: Understanding women’s love and desire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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. doi:10.1007/s10508-012-9909-7.
Diamond, L. M., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (2000). Explaining diversity in the development of same-sex sexuality among young women. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 297–313. doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00167.
Gagnon, J. H. (1990). Gender preference in erotic relations: The Kinsey Scale and sexual scripts. In D. P. McWhirter, S. A. Sanders, & J. M. Reinisch (Eds.), Homosexuality/heterosexuality: Concepts of sexual orientation (pp. 177–207). New York: Oxford University Press.
Garnets, L. D., & Kimmel, D. C. (2003). Lesbian, gay male, and bisexual dimensions in the psychology study of human diversity. In L. D. Garnets & D. C. Kimmel (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on lesbian, gay, and bisexual experiences (pp. 1–21). New York: Columbia University Press.
Golden, C. (1996). What’s in a name: Sexual self-identification among women. In R. C. Savin-Williams & K. M. Cohen (Eds.), The lives of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals: Children to adults (pp. 229–249). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
Hyde, J. S. (2005). The genetics of sexual orientation. In J. S. Hyde (Ed.), Biological substrates of human sexuality (pp. 9–20). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Kelso, J. A. S., & Tuler, B. (1984). A dynamical basis for action systems. In M. S. Gazzaniga (Ed.), Handbook of neuroscience (pp. 321–356). New York: Plenum.
Laumann, E. O., Gagnon, J. H., Michael, R. T., & Michaels, S. (1994). The social organization of sexuality: Sexual practices in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mustanski, B. S., Chivers, M. L., & Bailey, J. M. (2002). A critical review of recent biological research on human sexual orientation. Annual Review of Sex Research, 13, 89–140.
Peplau, L. A. (2001). Rethinking women’s sexual orientation: An interdisciplinary, relationship-focused approach. Personal Relationships, 8, 1–19. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2001.tb00025.x.
Peplau, L. A., & Garnets, L. M. (2000). A new paradigm for understanding women’s sexuality and sexual orientation. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 329–350.
Rellini, A. H., McCall, K. M., Randall, P. K., & Meston, C. M. (2005). The relationship between self-reported and physiological measures of female sexual arousal. Psychophysiology, 42, 116–124.
Russell, S. T., & Consolacion, T. B. (2003). Adolescent romance and emotional health in the US: Beyond binaries. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 499–508. doi:10.1207/S15374424JCCP3204_2.
Savin-Williams, R. C., & Diamond, L. M. (2000). Sexual identity trajectories among sexual minority youth: Gender comparisons. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29, 607–627. doi:10.1023/A:1002058505138.
Savin-Williams, R. C., & Diamond, L. M. (2004). Sex. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 189–231). New York: Wiley.
Spector, I. P., Carey, M. P., & Steinberg, L. (1996). The Sexual Desire Inventory: Development, factor structure, and evidence of reliability. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 22, 175–190. doi:10.1080/00926239608414655.
Tolman, D. L., & Diamond, L. M. (2001). Desegregating sexuality research: Combining cultural and biological perspectives on gender and desire. Annual Review of Sex Research, 12, 33–74.
von Oertzen, T., & Boker, S. M. (2010). Time delay embedding increases estimation precision of models of intraindividual variability. Psychometrika, 75, 158–175.
Weinberg, M. S., Williams, C. J., & Pryor, D. W. (1994). Dual attraction: Understanding bisexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the participants who generously shared their experiences as part of the longitudinal research project represented here. This work was supported, in part, by Grant 1 R21 HD044398 from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, awarded to Sheri A. Berenbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Farr, R.H., Diamond, L.M. & Boker, S.M. Female Same-Sex Sexuality from a Dynamical Systems Perspective: Sexual Desire, Motivation, and Behavior. Arch Sex Behav 43, 1477–1490 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0378-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0378-z