D

Sexual Orientation and Asexuality

Kinsey Scale

  • Alfred Kinsey's quote: "The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects."
  • Traditional view: Dichotomous thinking (heterosexual or homosexual).
  • Kinsey Scale: Introduced after interviewing thousands about sexual histories.
  • Scale from 0 to 6.
    • 0: Exclusively heterosexual.
    • 6: Exclusively homosexual.
    • 1: Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual.
    • 2: Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual.
    • 3: Equally heterosexual and homosexual (bisexual).
    • 4: Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual.
    • 5: Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual.
    • X: No sexual contacts or reactions (no sexual arousal).
  • Kinsey believed behavior and attractions exist on a spectrum.
  • Terms like "predominantly" and "incidentally" need operational definitions.

STORM's Model

  • Similar to Sandra Bem's model in setup (two spectrums).
  • Gender identity and sexual orientation are distinct and not related.
  • Stereotypes: Effeminate gay men, masculine lesbians (not always the case).
  • Heteroeroticism: Sexual attraction to the other sex (X-axis).
  • Homoeroticism: Sexual attraction to the same sex (Y-axis).
    • High homoeroticism, low heteroeroticism: Homosexual.
    • High heteroeroticism, low homoeroticism: Heterosexual.
    • High on both: Bisexual.
    • Low on both: Asexual (more inclusive than Kinsey's model).
  • Labels:
    • Individuals don't always label themselves as others do.
    • "Queer": Used to indicate somewhere on the spectrum of sexual orientation or gender.
    • Some heterosexual-identifying men have sex with men (MSM).

Fluidity of Sexual Orientation

  • Labels are not static; self-identification can change over time.
  • Example: Woman married to a man for 20+ years, then marries a woman.

Relevance to Sexual Orientation

  • Law, politics, and culture affect how sexual orientation is perceived.

Law

  • Marriage equality is the law, but there are further legal issues to consider.
  • No federal laws prevent discrimination in the workplace or housing based on sexual orientation.
  • Federal laws do prevent discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, age, religion, pregnancy status, and disability.
  • Only 22 states and Washington DC have laws preventing discrimination in employment & housing based on sexual orientation.
  • State laws cannot conflict with federal laws.
  • Example: A gay man transferred from California to Tennessee loses discrimination protections.

Politics

  • The administration in the White House sets an agenda affecting research funding.
  • Conservative administrations impacted the NHSLS, focusing it on HIV/AIDS.
  • Private funding allowed more leeway for researchers.
  • Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA):
    • Presented to President Clinton before reelection.
    • Signed late at night to avoid attention.
  • George W. Bush's party promoted statewide bans on same-sex marriage to increase voter turnout.

Culture

  • Culture affects the expression and acceptance of sexual orientation.
  • American society is becoming more accepting of LGBT people.
    • 63% of Americans said homosexuality should be accepted in 2016, compared to 51% in 2006.
    • Kinsey found that 10\% of people engaged in same-sex sexual behavior.

Percentage of LGBT Individuals

  • Number of Americans identifying as LGBT is rising.
  • Social desirability bias may have played a role in the past.
  • 2012: 8,300,000 Americans identified as LGBT (3.5% of the population).
  • 2016: 10,100,000 people identified as LGBT (4.1% of the population).

Religion

  • Some religions are not accepting of sexual orientations other than heterosexuality.
  • Can lead to self-hatred and internalized homophobia.
  • 13 states and Washington DC have banned conversion/reparative therapy.
  • Conversion therapy:
    • Aims to change sexual orientation.
    • Research shows it is damaging.
    • Often based in religion.

Asexuality

  • A sexual orientation; not a disorder.
  • Asexuals do not experience sexual attraction but are not distressed about it.
  • Difference from those seeking therapy: They are distressed by their lack of sexual desire.
  • Sexual behavior and sexual attraction are not perfectly correlated.
  • People may engage in sexual behavior to please a romantic partner.
  • Study findings:
    • 1.05 \% of the population classified as asexual.
    • Prevalence similar to same-sex attraction.
    • Fewer partners.
    • Later onset of sexual activity.
    • Less frequent sexual activity.
    • Fewer long-term relationships.
    • More women than men reported being asexual.
    • Tended to be older, from lower socioeconomic status, non-white, less educated, more religious, and more likely to have health problems.

Methodological Strengths (Asexuality Article)

  • Probability sample.
  • Individuals with literacy problems were eliminated.
  • Operational definition of asexuality: Affirmative answer to "I have never felt sexually attracted to anyone at all."
  • Specified that asexuality is not a disorder.
  • Examined gender differences.

Methodological Weaknesses (Asexuality Article)

  • Sample from ages 16-59 only (UK only).
  • Excluded communal living environments.
  • Response rate was 71.5% (lower than NHSLS).
  • Estimate is likely an underestimate.
  • People did not self-identify as asexual. Inferred from data.
  • Possible flaw in measure of sexual attraction: I have never felt sexually attracted to males or females.
  • Social desirability bias.
  • Not longitudinal: Correlational study, so cannot determine temporal order of variables associated with asexuality.
    • Example: Religious people tended to be asexual, but unclear why.