Abstract
Previous research has examined the phenomenon of “sexual fluidity,” but there is no current consensus on the specific meaning and operationalization of this construct. The present study used a sample of 76 women with diverse sexual orientations to compare four different types of sexual fluidity: (1) fluidity as overall erotic responsiveness to one’s less-preferred gender, (2) fluidity as situational variability in erotic responsiveness to one’s less-preferred gender, (3) fluidity as discrepancy between the gender patterning of sexual attractions and the gender patterning of sexual partnering, and (4) fluidity as instability in day-to-day attractions over time. We examined how these four types of fluidity relate to one another and to other features of women’s sexual profiles (bisexual vs. exclusive patterns of attraction, sex drive, interest in uncommitted sex, age of sexual debut, and lifetime number of sexual partners). The four types of fluidity were not correlated with one another (with the exception of the first and fourth), and each showed a unique pattern of association with other features of women’s sexual profiles. The only type of fluidity associated with bisexuality was overall erotic responsiveness to the less-preferred gender. The findings demonstrate that future research on sexual fluidity should distinguish between its different forms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armstrong, E. A., England, P., & Fogarty, A. C. K. (2012). Accounting for women’s orgasm and sexual enjoyment in college hookups and relationships. American Sociological Review, 77(3), 435–462. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412445802.
Baumeister, R. F. (2000). Gender differences in erotic plasticity: The female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive. Psychological Bulletin, 126(3), 347–374.
Bogaert, A. F., Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2018). Personality and sexual orientation: Extension to asexuality and the HEXACO Model. Journal of Sex Research, 55(8), 951–961. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1287844.
Brown, T. L., & Alderson, K. (2010). Sexual identity and heterosexual male students’ usage of homosexual insults. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 19, 27–42.
Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, W. W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
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. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037802.
Chivers, M. L. (2017). The specificity of women’s sexual response and its relationship with sexual orientations: A review and ten hypotheses. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 1161–1179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0897-x.
Chivers, M. L., & Bailey, J. M. (2005). A sex difference in features that elicit genital response. Biological Psychology, 70(2), 115–120.
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. https://doi.org/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.
Chivers, M. L., Roy, C., Grimbos, T., Cantor, J. M., & Seto, M. C. (2014). Specificity of sexual arousal for sexual activities in men and women with conventional and masochistic sexual interests. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 931–940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0174-1.
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.
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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9937-3.
Diamond, L. M. (2007). A dynamical systems approach to female same-sex sexuality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(2), 142–161.
Diamond, L. M. (2008a). Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: Results from a 10 year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 44, 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.5.
Diamond, L. M. (2008b). 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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9909-7.
Diamond, L. M. (2016). Sexual fluidity in males and females. Current Sexual Health Reports, 8, 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-016-0092-z.
Diamond, L. M. (2017). Wanting women: Sex, gender, and the specificity of sexual arousal. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 1181–1185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-0967-8.
Diamond, L. M., & Alley, J. (2019). Was It good for her? An alternative perspective on life history theory, female same-sex sexuality, and pleasure. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(5), 1315–1320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1313-5.
Diamond, L. M., Dickenson, J. A., & Blair, K. L. (2017). Stability of sexual attractions across different time scales: The roles of bisexuality and gender. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 193–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0860-x.
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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-0063-z.
Dixon, J. K. (1984). The commencement of bisexual activity in swinging married women over age thirty. Journal of Sex Research, 20, 71–90.
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.
Guastello, S. J., & Gregson, R. A. (2012). Nonlinear dynamical systems analysis for the behavioral sciences using real data. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Huberman, J. S., & Chivers, M. L. (2015). Examining gender specificity of sexual response with concurrent thermography and plethysmography. Psychophysiology, 52(10), 1382–1395. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12466.
Huberman, J. S., Maracle, A. C., & Chivers, M. L. (2015). Gender-specificity of women’s and men’s self-reported attention to sexual stimuli. Journal of Sex Research, 52(9), 983–995. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.951424.
Ifrah, K., Shenkman, G., & Shmotkin, D. (2018). How does sexual orientation relate to openness to experience in adulthood. Personality and Individual Differences, 131, 164–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.030.
Jennings, J. R., Kamarck, T. W., Stewart, C., & Eddy, M. J. (1992). Alternate cardiovascular baseline assessment techniques: Vanilla or resting baseline. Psychophysiology, 29(6), 742–750.
Lippa, R. A. (2006). Is high sex drive associated with increased to sexual attraction to both sexes? It depends on whether you are male or female. Psychological Science, 17(1), 46–52.
Lippa, R. A. (2007). The relation between sex drive and sexual attraction to men and women: A cross-national study of heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(2), 209–222.
Nield, J., Magnusson, B. M., Chapman, D. A., & Lapane, K. L. (2014). Age at sexual debut and subsequent sexual partnering in adulthood among American men. American Journal of Men’s Health, 8(4), 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988313514768.
Ostovich, J. M., & Sabini, J. (2004). How are sociosexuality, sex drive, and lifetime number of sexual partners related? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(10), 1255–1266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167204264754.
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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-010-9691-3.
Penke, L., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2008). Beyond global sociosexual orientations: A more differentiated look at sociosexuality and its effects on courtship and romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1113–1135.
Preciado, M. A., & Peplau, L. A. (2012). Self-perception of same-sex sexuality among heterosexual women: Association with personal need for structure. Self and Identity, 11(2), 137–147.
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, 30(7), 843–853. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000201.
Rieger, G., Bailey, J. M., & Chivers, M. L. (2005). Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men. Psychological Science, 16, 579–584.
Rosenthal, A. M., Sylva, D., Safron, A., & Bailey, J. M. (2011). Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men revisited. Biological Psychology, 88(1), 112–115.
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.
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. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2012.702609.
Savin-Williams, R. C. (1996). Dating and romantic relationships among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths. In R. C. Savin-Williams & K. M. Cohen (Eds.), The lives of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals: Children to adults (pp. 166–180). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9913-y.
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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9088-5.
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.
Seto, M. C. (2012). Is pedophilia a sexual orientation? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(1), 231–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9882-6.
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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.07.008.
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(3), 175–190.
Sprecher, S., Treger, S., & Sakaluk, J. K. (2013). Premarital sexual standards and sociosexuality: Gender, ethnicity, and cohort differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(8), 1395–1405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0145-6.
van Anders, S. M. (2015). Beyond sexual orientation: Integrating gender/sex and diverse sexualities via sexual configurations theory. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(5), 1177–1213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0490-8.
Weinberg, M. S., Williams, C. J., & Pryor, D. W. (1994). Dual attraction: Understanding bisexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by grants from the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and the American Institute of Bisexuality, awarded to the first author. We gratefully acknowledge the insights of the anonymous reviewer whose critique challenged and altered our conceptual and analytical framework in indispensable ways.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the home institution of the first author. Informed consent was obtained by all participants, and all procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Diamond, L.M., Alley, J., Dickenson, J. et al. Who Counts as Sexually Fluid? Comparing Four Different Types of Sexual Fluidity in Women. Arch Sex Behav 49, 2389–2403 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01565-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01565-1