Bisexual Phenomena Among Gay-Identified Men

Parenting Desire Among Sexual Minority Women in China: From the Stigma Perspective

In China, women who are childless or have children outside of heterosexual marriage are generally stigmatized. Consequently, Chinese sexual minority women are challenged for their willingness to have children. This study explored how multiple (structural-interpersonal-individual) levels of sexual minority stigma are related to parenting desire among Chinese sexual minority women. Furthermore, it examined the mediation mechanism of individual stigma and the moderation effect of outness to one's family in the link between structural/interpersonal stigma and parenting desire. Participants (265 lesbian and 193 bisexual women) completed online measures of structural stigma (adherence to Confucianism), interpersonal stigma (discrimination events), individual stigma (internalized homophobia and rejection sensitivity), outness to one's family, and parenting desire. Lesbian women reported lower structural and individual stigma and parenting desire levels than bisexual women. Sexual minority women's high adherence to Confucianism, internalized homophobia, and rejection sensitivity were positively associated with their increased parenting desires. Notably, adherence to Confucianism and discrimination events were associated with parenting desire through internalized homophobia, but not rejection sensitivity; moreover, outness to one's family buffered the direct link between adherence to Confucianism and parenting desire and strengthened the direct link between discrimination events and internalized homophobia and the indirect link between discrimination events and parenting desire. This study contributes to a robust understanding of how sexual minority stigma is connected to parenting desire among sexual minority women in Chinese sociocultural contexts, providing cultural-specific evidence to support theories of stigma and minority stress.

Sexual and romantic spectrums: Mostly straights and mostly gays/lesbians

Sexual and romantic orientations and identities exist along a spectrum with varying degrees of compliance to traditional concepts of sex and romance. Recent investigations have focused on individuals who are not exclusive in their sexual and romantic lives-mostly straights and mostly gays/lesbians. Multi-disciplinary research reveals the diversity of individuals' internal and external sexual and romantic feelings and expressions. One corrective strategy is to scrap categorically based assessment tools and replace them with continuum measures that capture the multiplicity of individuals' sexual and romantic lives. Here I suggest several new measures that are more responsive to a spectrum approach.

Measurement of Sexual Interests with Pupillary Responses: A Meta-Analysis

Objective measures of sexual interest are important for research on human sexuality. There has been a resurgence in research examining pupil dilation as a potential index of sexual orientation. We carried out a meta-analytic review of studies published between 1965 and 2020 (Mdn year = 2016) measuring pupil responses to visual stimuli of adult men and women to assess sexual interest. Separate meta-analyses were performed for six sexual orientation categories. In the final analysis, 15 studies were included for heterosexual men (N = 550), 5 studies for gay men (N = 65), 4 studies for bisexual men (N = 124), 13 studies for heterosexual women (N = 403), and 3 studies for lesbian women (N = 132). Only heterosexual and gay men demonstrated discrimination in pupillary responses that was clearly in line with their sexual orientation, with greater pupil dilation to female and male stimuli, respectively. Bisexual men showed greater pupil dilation to male stimuli. Although heterosexual women exhibited larger pupils to male stimuli compared to female stimuli, the magnitude of the effect was small and non-significant. Finally, lesbian women displayed greater pupil dilation to male stimuli. Three methodological moderators were identified-the sexual explicitness of stimulus materials, the measurement technique of pupillary response, and inclusion of self-report measures of sexual interest. These meta-analyses are based on a limited number of studies and are therefore preliminary. However, the results suggest that pupillary measurement of sexual interest is promising for men and that standardization is essential to gain a better understanding of the validity of this measurement technique for sexual interest.

The New Genetic Evidence on Same-Gender Sexuality: Implications for Sexual Fluidity and Multiple Forms of Sexual Diversity

In September of 2019, the largest-ever (N = 477,522) genome-wide-association study of same-gender sexuality was published in Science. The primary finding was that multiple genes are significantly associated with ever engaging in same-gender sexual behavior, accounting for between 8-25% of variance in this outcome. Yet an additional finding of this study, which received less attention, has more potential to transform our current understanding of same-gender sexuality: Specifically, the genes associated with ever engaging in same-gender sexual behavior differed from the genes associated with one's relative proportion of same-gender to other-gender behavior. I review recent research on sexual orientation and sexual fluidity to illustrate how these findings speak to longstanding questions regarding distinctions among subtypes of same-gender sexuality (such as mostly-heterosexuality, bisexuality, and exclusive same-gender experience). I conclude by outlining directions for future research on the multiple causes and correlates of same-gender expression.

Sexual Arousal Patterns of Mostly Heterosexual Men

Mostly heterosexual men describe themselves as slightly bisexual, with predominant sexual attraction to women but occasional attraction to men. After "completely heterosexual," "mostly heterosexual" is the most common male sexual orientation, by self-report. However, self-reported bisexual feelings among men can diverge from patterns of genital arousal, an objective measure of sexual interest with high validity. We compared 49 mostly heterosexual and 50 completely heterosexual men's patterns of genital and subjective sexual arousal to male and female erotic stimuli. In addition, we compared these groups on relevant self-report measures pertaining to sexual feelings, identity, and behavior. Results supported increased bisexual arousal with respect to self-report and genital arousal pattern among the mostly heterosexual men, compared with the completely heterosexual men. Furthermore, mostly heterosexual men reported more childhood gender nonconformity, greater male sex partners, and less self-reported disgust or aversion to sex acts with men. "Mostly heterosexual" appears to be a gradation of male sexual orientation associated with unique genital arousal patterns, among other correlates.

Gender Nonconformity of Bisexual Men and Women

The degree to which bisexual-identified individuals are distinct from either heterosexual or homosexual individuals in their sexual orientation is an ongoing debate. We examined potential differences between these groups with respect to a strong correlate of sexual orientation, gender nonconformity (femininity in males, masculinity in females). Across pooled data, we compared self-reports of childhood gender nonconformity (n = 919) and adulthood gender nonconformity (n = 1265) and observer ratings of adulthood gender nonconformity (n = 915) between sexual orientations. Most analyses suggested a steady increase in gender nonconformity from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. However, in some analyses, bisexual men were closer to homosexual men than to heterosexual men in their gender nonconformity. The intermediate status of bisexual people in gender nonconformity was not due to the sample having a mixture of very gender-conforming and very gender-nonconforming individuals. In total, men and women with bisexual orientations appeared neither like heterosexual nor homosexual individuals, at least with respect to their gender-related traits.

Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men

The question whether some men have a bisexual orientation-that is, whether they are substantially sexually aroused and attracted to both sexes-has remained controversial among both scientists and laypersons. Skeptics believe that male sexual orientation can only be homosexual or heterosexual, and that bisexual identification reflects nonsexual concerns, such as a desire to deemphasize homosexuality. Although most bisexual-identified men report that they are attracted to both men and women, self-report data cannot refute these claims. Patterns of physiological (genital) arousal to male and female erotic stimuli can provide compelling evidence for male sexual orientation. (In contrast, most women provide similar physiological responses to male and female stimuli.) We investigated whether men who self-report bisexual feelings tend to produce bisexual arousal patterns. Prior studies of this issue have been small, used potentially invalid statistical tests, and produced inconsistent findings. We combined nearly all previously published data (from eight previous studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada), yielding a sample of 474 to 588 men (depending on analysis). All participants were cisgender males. Highly robust results showed that bisexual-identified men's genital and subjective arousal patterns were more bisexual than were those who identified as exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. These findings support the view that male sexual orientation contains a range, from heterosexuality, to bisexuality, to homosexuality.

Heterogeneity in the Sexual Orientations of Men Who Have Sex with Fa'afafine in Samoa

In Samoa, feminine natal males who possess male-typical genitalia are known locally as fa'afafine. Some Samoan men express sexual interest in fa'afafine, whereas others do not. To assess the sexual orientation of men who are sexually interested in fa'afafine, we collected sexual attraction ratings and viewing times of Samoan men's and women's faces. Study 1 (N = 130) focused on men who were insertive or versatile during anal sex with fa'afafine partners. These men were compared to each other, as well as to males (i.e., men and fa'afafine) who were exclusively sexually interested in either women or men. Study 2 (N = 180) compared men who had sex with fa'afafine and women; men who had sex with fa'afafine, women, and men; and men who had sex with fa'afafine and men. These men were compared to each other, as well as to males who were exclusively sexually interested in either women or men. These studies suggest that men who have sex with fa'afafine are a heterogeneous group. A small portion of the men who are sexually interested in fa'afafine shows a relatively bisexual pattern of sexual attraction ratings and viewing times, namely men who have sex with fa'afafine, men, and women. In contrast, a larger number of men who were sexually interested in fa'afafine responded in a manner similar to men who were exclusively sexually interested in either women or men. The present research suggests that additional insights into male sexual orientation can be garnered by focusing on how sexuality is expressed in non-Western cultural contexts.

Do Bisexuals Have a Bisexual Viewing Pattern?

Past visual attention research appears to show that bisexual men and women view erotic images differently compared to heterosexual and gay/lesbian men and women. However, none of these studies have employed analytic approaches required to determine whether these apparent bisexual viewing patterns are due to averaging together heterosexual and gay/lesbian type viewing patterns, or rather are because bisexual-identified individuals possess unique viewing patterns which are distinct from heterosexual and gay/lesbian individuals. In the current eye-tracking study, we aimed to address this question. Visual attention of 60 men (24 heterosexual, 19 gay, 17 bisexual) and 54 women (21 heterosexual, 10 lesbian, 23 bisexual) was tracked, while they viewed erotic images of nude men and women. Applying analytic approaches capable of detecting bisexual responding revealed that bisexual men, but not bisexual women, had a unique bisexual controlled attention pattern, and that neither bisexual men nor women demonstrated a unique bisexual pattern of initial attention. Our findings provide mixed evidence for a unique bisexual attentional profile in men and women.

Bisexual men with bisexual and monosexual genital arousal patterns

Some research suggests that bisexual-identified men show bisexual genital arousal, whereas other research indicates monosexual arousal: they are aroused to one sex only. These seemingly contradictory findings may be due to the type of men identifying as bisexual and the performed analyses. We examined whether both bisexual and monosexual arousal patterns could co-occur within the same sample. 114 men of different sexual orientations viewed erotic videos of males or females while their penile circumference was measured. On average, bisexual-identified men were more aroused to males than females, and especially if they identified as "bisexual leaning gay." However, also on average, bisexual men showed bisexual arousal, and especially if they were "bisexual leaning straight". Furthermore, there was more variability in the arousal patterns of bisexual-identified men, compared with other men. Based on their physiological sexual arousal, bisexual men appear to be a more diverse group than men who identified as heterosexual or homosexual.

Visual Attention to Sexual Stimuli in Mostly Heterosexuals

Individuals who report mostly heterosexual orientations (i.e., mostly sexually attracted to the opposite sex, but occasionally attracted to the same sex) outnumber all other non-heterosexual individuals combined. The present study examined whether mostly heterosexual men and women view same- and other-sex sexual stimuli differently than exclusively heterosexual men and women. A novel eye-tracking paradigm was used with 162 mostly and exclusively heterosexual men and women. Compared to exclusively heterosexual men, mostly heterosexual men demonstrated greater attention to sexually explicit features (i.e., genital regions and genital contact regions) of solo male and male-male erotic stimuli, while demonstrating equivalent attention to sexually explicit features of solo female and female-female erotic stimuli. Mediation analyses suggested that differences between mostly and exclusively heterosexual profiles in men could be explained by mostly heterosexual men's increased sexual attraction to solo male erotica, and their increased sexual attraction and reduced disgust to the male-male erotica. No comparable differences in attention were observed between mostly and exclusively heterosexual women-although mostly heterosexual women did demonstrate greater fixation on visual erotica overall-a pattern of response that was found to be mediated by reduced disgust.

Young men's rationales for non-exclusive gay sexualities

Recent evidence suggests it is useful to distinguish sexual identities among young men at the gay end of the spectrum because of group differences between primarily gay, mostly gay and gay orientations on several assessed physiological, behavioural and self-report measures. However, little is known about individuals' rationales for choosing sexuality labels beyond traditional gay or bisexual categories. We addressed this issue by interviewing 24 young men with a non-exclusive gay orientation about their sexual desires and histories, drawing on both qualitative and numeric data. Undertaking an inductive analysis, we found four distinct rationales for identification with a sexual orientation label: sexual, romantic, intellectual and internalised homophobia. By examining what young men mean when they classify themselves as primarily gay, mostly gay or bisexual-leaning gay, this article provides data to understand these issues and proposes that greater focus should be placed on sexual identity for non-exclusive gay men. Although the sexual and affectional components of sexual orientation are meaningful, previous research has not sufficiently accounted for the importance of intellectual, cultural and romantic factors in non-exclusive sexual orientations. To address these issues, the use of in-depth interviews should be incorporated in future studies.

Who Are Gynandromorphophilic Men? An Internet Survey of Men with Sexual Interest in Transgender Women

Gynandromorphophilia (GAMP) is attraction to gynandromorphs (GAMs), who are natal males with both breasts and a penis, colloquially known as "she-males." Men with GAMP (n = 314) and heterosexual men not attracted to GAMs (n = 211) completed an Internet survey regarding their sexual attraction patterns, relationship history, and potential correlates of GAMP. Men with GAMP reported much higher attraction to natal women than to men, although they also reported slightly higher levels of bisexual feelings compared with controls. Men with GAMP were equally attracted to natal women and GAMs, on average. Thus, GAMP is best considered an unusual form of heterosexuality rather than a separate sexual orientation. Indeed, men with GAMP scored much higher than controls on a measure of autogynephilia, or sexual arousal by the idea or fantasy of being a woman, which is also considered a variant of heterosexual attraction.