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Gay, Mostly Gay, or Bisexual Leaning Gay? An Exploratory Study Distinguishing Gay Sexual Orientations Among Young Men

  • Special Section: The Puzzle of Sexual Orientation
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Abstract

This exploratory study assessed physiological, behavioral, and self-report measures of sexual and romantic indicators of sexual orientation identities among young men (mean age = 21.9 years) with predominant same-sex sexual and romantic interests: those who described themselves as bisexual leaning gay (n = 11), mostly gay (n = 17), and gay (n = 47). Although they were not significantly distinguishable based on physiological (pupil dilation) responses to nude stimuli, on behavioral and self-report measures a descending linear trend toward the less preferred sex (female) was significant regarding sexual attraction, fantasy, genital contact, infatuation, romantic relationship, sex appeal, and gazing time to the porn stimuli. Results supported a continuum of sexuality with distinct subgroups only for the self-report measure of sexual attraction. The other behavioral and self-report measures followed the same trend but did not significantly differ between the bisexual leaning gay and mostly gay groups, likely the result of small sample size. Results suggest that romantic indicators are as good as sexual measures in assessing sexual orientation and that a succession of logically following groups from bisexual leaning gay, mostly gay, to gay. Whether these three groups are discrete or overlapping needs further research.

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Funding

This research was funded by the American Institute of Bisexuality and the United States Department of Agriculture (NYC-321421).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853-4401, USA

    Ritch C. Savin-Williams & Brian M. Cash

  2. Department of Sociology, Durham University, Durham, UK

    Mark McCormack

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Gerulf Rieger

Authors
  1. Ritch C. Savin-Williams
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  2. Brian M. Cash
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  3. Mark McCormack
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  4. Gerulf Rieger
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Correspondence to Ritch C. Savin-Williams.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Savin-Williams, R.C., Cash, B.M., McCormack, M. et al. Gay, Mostly Gay, or Bisexual Leaning Gay? An Exploratory Study Distinguishing Gay Sexual Orientations Among Young Men. Arch Sex Behav 46, 265–272 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0848-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0848-6

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