Lay Conceptions of Sexual Minority Groups

Correlates of Attitudes Toward Bisexuality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This paper presents a systematic review of factors that correlate with attitudes toward bisexuals, and a meta-analysis to estimate the effect size of these relationships. A search strategy was designed to identify studies that had a measure of attitudes toward bisexuals and assessed the relationship between these attitudes and at least one attitude-relevant correlate. The strategy was then applied to PsycINFO, PsycEXTRA, Proquest Psychology Collection, EBSCO Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and SociINDEX databases, and calls for unpublished data were circulated through relevant professional bodies. Effect size data were extracted from the articles, and meta-analyses were conducted on each of the applicable correlates. The meta-analyses revealed that age, contact (quality and quantity), income, political orientation, religion, sexual orientation, education, ethnicity, gender, and population density were related to negative attitudes toward bisexual individuals (Fisher's Zs = 0.108, -0.418, -0.209, 0.221, 0.231, 0.346, & 0.831, and Hedges' g's = 0.365, 0.344, 0.278, & 0.193, respectively). In addition, a sub-group moderation analysis revealed these effect sizes for participant gender differed as a function of target gender (i.e., bisexual men vs. bisexual women).

Gendered Anti-Bisexual Bias: Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Gay/Lesbian People's Willingness to Date Sexual Orientation Ingroup and Outgroup Members

Bisexual people may appear to have more potential romantic partners than people only attracted to one gender (e.g., heterosexual, gay, lesbian people). However, bisexual people's dating choices are limited by non-bisexual people's reluctance to date bisexual people. Studies have indicated that some heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people are reluctant to date bisexual people, particularly bisexual men. We extend current understandings of gendered anti-bisexual bias through investigating heterosexual, bisexual, gay, and lesbian people's reported willingness to date within and outside of their sexual orientation groups. Participants (n = 1823) varying in sexual orientation completed measures regarding their willingness to engage in a romantic relationship with heterosexual, bisexual, gay, and lesbian individuals. Heterosexual and gay/lesbian people were less willing to date bisexual people than bisexual people were to date them, consistent with anti-bisexual bias rather than mere in-group preference. Preferences against dating bisexual men appeared particularly strong, even among bisexual women.

BIDAR: Can Listeners Detect if a Man Is Bisexual from His Voice Alone?

Previous research has identified a range of perceptual voice and speech features that differ between gay and straight men, enabling listeners to determine if a man is gay or straight at a rate better than chance from his voice alone. To date, no published studies have examined if bisexual men's voices differ from gay and straight men's voices with regard to perceived masculinity-femininity - nor whether listeners can identify a bisexual man based only on his voice. In the present study, we examined if listeners could identify bisexual men's sexual identities from voice recordings. Seventy participants (N= 70) rated 60 voice recordings of a sample of 20 gay, 20 bisexual, and 20 straight Australian men on perceived sexual orientation and degree of masculinity-femininity. Participants could correctly categorize the sexual orientations of the gay and straight speakers at rates greater than chance, but bisexual men were only identified at chance. Bisexual voices were consistently misperceived as being the most exclusively female attracted, and, contrary to expectations, were perceived as the most masculine sounding of all the speakers. Together, these findings suggest that while the voices of bisexual men in our sample were perceived as more masculine and female attracted, listeners do not associate this impression with bisexuality, and thus cannot identify bisexual men from their voices. Consequently, while bisexual men appear to be at lower risk of facing voice-based identification and discrimination than gay men, they may be often misperceived as being straight.

How Cisgender People Define "Transgender" Is Associated with Attitudes Toward Transgender People

Prior work suggests that some cisgender people do not consider gender identity when thinking about what being transgender means, and that exposure to a definition of transgender can reduce negative attitudes toward transgender people. In two studies, we sought to integrate these lines of research by examining whether anti-transgender attitudes are associated with how cisgender people define the term transgender. In Study 1, 293 participants (132 female and 157 male; four participants did not report their sex/gender) recruited via Mechanical Turk were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Participants in one condition first read a definition of "transgender" that referred to gender identity and then reported their attitudes toward transgender people. Participants in the other condition did not read the definition and instead simply reported their attitudes toward transgender people. Contrary to predictions, exposure (vs. lack thereof) to the definition did not affect attitudes. However, participants who identified gender identity as a central component of the definition of transgender on a manipulation check endorsed more positive attitudes. In Study 2, 295 cisgender participants (165 women and 130 men; recruited via Mechanical Turk) wrote down their own definitions of transgender. Participants who spontaneously included (vs. did not include) gender identity in their definitions reported distinctively positive attitudes. Observed effects held over and above individual differences in cognitive style, gender identification, contact with transgender people, and participant gender. How cisgender people think about gender identity may thus index their attitudes toward transgender people.

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.

Suicidality among bisexual youths: the role of parental sexual orientation support and concealment

Compared with the heterosexual population, the prevalence of mental health outcomes such as suicidality (suicidal ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts) is higher among sexual minority youth, particularly those who identify themselves as bisexuals. Bisexuals are at an even elevated risk within the LGB populations due to biphobia, monosexism, bisexual invisibility or erasure, and lack of support resources. These experiences may bring about issues regarding concealment of their sexual orientation linked to suicidality. Studies have also identified that parental support is a protective factor against suicidality among the youth, particularly their sexual orientation. The present study used a cross-sectional, predictive research design to examine parental sexual orientation support and concealment and their associations and predictive abilities in the suicidality of 151 Filipino bisexual youths aged 18-24 years old. The participants were recruited online within six months, from July 2021 to December 2021. As measured by the Parental Support for Sexual Orientation Scale, Sexual Orientation Concealment Scale, and Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, results showed that among our bisexual participants, parental sexual orientation support and concealment did not have a significant relationship with and could not predict their risk for suicidality. Limitations and suggestions for further research were discussed, considering our findings.

Stereotype Content at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation

According to the Stereotype Content Model (SCM), the content of stereotypes differs on two dimensions: communion and agency. Research shows that for stereotypes about the general gender categories of “women” and “men,” there is an ambivalent pattern of communion and agency, where high levels on one dimension are associated with low levels on the other. For sexual minority stereotypes, a gender inversion has been found, whereas homosexual women are seen as more similar to men in general than to women in general, whereas homosexual men are seen as more similar to women in general than to men in general. However, there is limited research on how stereotype content for general groups relate to stereotype content for subgroups with intersecting category memberships. This research addresses this gap by investigating stereotype content at the intersection of gender and sexual orientation, including stereotype content for general gender groups, heterosexual groups, homosexual groups, and bisexual groups. In Study 1, a community sample from Sweden (N = 824) rated perceived communion and agency for women and men in general, as well as hetero-, homo-, and bisexual women and men. In Study 2, a nationally representative Swedish sample (N = 424) performed the same rating task, and in addition completed Single-Category IATs (SC-IATs) for warmth and competence. Results from both studies show that the stereotype content for the general categories “women” and “men” overlap with the stereotype content for heterosexual same-gender targets. Homosexual and bisexual groups were rated as more similar to their non-congruent gender category than same gender heterosexual categories were, but stereotype content for sexual minority groups did not overlap with either general gender categories, thus showing only incomplete gender inversion of stereotype content. Implicit associations between “women” and “warmth” were significantly stronger than associations between “men” and “warmth.” There were no other significant relations between implicit associations to warmth/competence and gender or sexual orientation. Theoretical and methodological implications for future research into intersectional stereotype content are presented, including how the findings inform the co-dependent relationship between a binary gender structure and a heteronormative ideology.

Gender identification and attitudes toward gay people: Gender and sexuality differences and similarities

Previous research has demonstrated the existence of gender and sexuality differences in attitudes toward gay people (which in this paper includes both lesbian women and gay men unless specified). However, these studies did not account for people with diverse genders and sexual orientations ascribing different meanings to their gender identification and its potential role in attitudes towards gay people. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between gender identification and attitudes toward gay people among individuals of different genders and sexual orientations. Based on data obtained from 851 Russian respondents, the study reports the exploration of the direct link between two components of gender identification and four components of attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Results indicated that stronger gender identification, in general, was related to more negative attitudes toward both gay men and lesbians. At the same time, compared to women and bisexual respondents, this link was stronger among men and straight participants respectively. A possible explanation via traditional gender ideologies is discussed.

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.

Interest, Personality, and Sexual Traits That Distinguish Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual Individuals: Are There Two Dimensions That Underlie Variations in Sexual Orientation?

A diverse U.S. sample comprising 1437 men and 1474 women was assessed on sexual orientation, masculinity-femininity of occupational preferences (MF-Occ), self-ascribed masculinity-femininity (Self-MF), Big Five personality traits, sex drive, and sociosexuality (positive attitudes toward uncommitted sex). Discriminant analyses explored which traits best distinguished self-identified heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual individuals within each sex. These analyses correctly classified the sexual orientation of 55% of men and 60% of women, which was substantially better than a chance rate (33%) of assigning participants to one of three groups. For men, MF-Occ and Self-MF distinguished heterosexual, bisexual, and gay men, with heterosexual men most gender typical, gay men most gender atypical, and bisexual men intermediate. Independently, higher sex drive, sociosexuality, and neuroticism and lower conscientiousness distinguished bisexual men from other groups. For women, gender-related interests and Self-MF distinguished lesbians from other groups, with lesbians most gender atypical. Independently, higher sociosexuality, sex drive, and Self-MF distinguished non-heterosexual from heterosexual women. These findings suggest that variations in self-reported sexual orientation may be conceptualized in terms of two broad underlying individual difference dimensions, which differ somewhat for men and women: one linked to gender typicality versus gender atypicality and the other linked to sex drive, sociosexuality, and various personality traits.

Stereotype Deduction About Bisexual Women

Bisexuals are an invisible sexual minority. However, at the same time, bisexuals are stereotypically associated with confusion and promiscuity. Stereotype learning theories suggest that individuals who are unfamiliar with a social group are less likely to have stereotypical beliefs about its members. In contrast, it has been recently hypothesized that stereotypes about bisexuality are not necessarily learned but rather deduced based on common conceptualizations of sexuality. Because stereotypes are suppressed only if they are recognized as offensive, lack of knowledge regarding bisexual stereotypes should actually enhance their adoption. To assess the strength of the two competing accounts, we examined the relationship between explicit knowledge of bisexual stereotypes and stereotypical evaluation of bisexual individuals. Heterosexual participants (N = 261) read a description of two characters on a date and evaluated one of them. Bisexual women were evaluated as more confused and promiscuous relative to nonbisexual women. Moreover, the stereotypical evaluations of bisexual women were inversely related to knowledge about these stereotypes. The findings support the notion that bisexual stereotypes are not learned but rather deduced from shared assumptions about sexuality. Consequently, public invisibility not only exists alongside bisexual stereotypes but might also exacerbate their uninhibited adoption.

The Insidious Effects of Sexual Stereotypes in Clinical Practice

The present study investigated the influence of sexual stereotyping on the diagnostic impressions and treatment expectations of gay and straight male patients. Italian male, straight, licensed psychotherapists (N = 152) were presented with clinical vignettes that described a gay (versus straight) male patient reporting either a straight-stereotypical disorder (i.e., rage dyscontrol) or a gay-stereotypical disorder (i.e., sexual compulsivity). Results revealed that treatment efficacy expectations were influenced by the patient's sexual orientation and the stereotypicality of the disorder. Specifically, psychotherapists anticipated fewer benefits from psychotherapy when gay patients reported a sexual disorder rather than a rage disorder. Furthermore, explicit and implicit levels of sexual prejudice did not play any role in driving such results. Taken together, these findings reveal that sexual stereotyping might exert its subtle effects among clinicians by influencing their clinical evaluations.

Beyond Generalized Sexual Prejudice: Need for Closure Predicts Negative Attitudes Toward Bisexual People Relative to Gay/Lesbian People

Increasing evidence suggests that bisexual people are sometimes evaluated more negatively than heterosexual and gay/lesbian people. A common theoretical account for this discrepancy argues that bisexuality is perceived by some as introducing ambiguity into a binary model of sexuality. The present brief report tests a single key prediction of this theory, that evaluations of bisexual people have a unique relationship with Need for Closure (NFC), a dispositional preference for simple ways of structuring information. Participants (n=3406) were heterosexual medical students from a stratified random sample of 49 U.S. medical schools. As in prior research, bisexual targets were evaluated slightly more negatively than gay/lesbian targets overall. More importantly for the present investigation, higher levels of NFC predicted negative evaluations of bisexual people after accounting for negative evaluations of gay/lesbian people, and higher levels of NFC also predicted an explicit evaluative preference for gay/lesbian people over bisexual people. These results suggest that differences in evaluations of sexual minority groups partially reflect different psychological processes, and that NFC may have a special relevance for bisexual targets even beyond its general association with prejudice. The practical value of testing this theory on new physicians is also discussed.

Adapting to Injustice

In this study, we link together moments of discrimination described by young bisexual women. We do so in order to theorize about associations between negative stereotypes heard early in one’s life and later minimization of personal discrimination. Using interviews with 13 young women, we sought to understand the types of negative messages participants heard about “bi/sexuality” as well as the ways that they perceived or did not perceive themselves as having experienced discrimination related to their sexuality. We found that family members and friends often described participants’ bisexuality as “disgusting,” “difficult to understand,” or “hot,” and participants described their own experiences with discrimination as “no big deal.” We use this analysis to build on previous research concerning microaggressions, sexual stigma, and denial of discrimination to discuss how familial, social, and political environments create a set of conditions in which later injustices are imagined as normative and inevitable. Finally, we discuss the methodological dilemmas facing feminist psychologists who aim to analyze discrimination and the challenges in documenting individuals’ experiences of stigma, which may be imagined as no big deal to individuals, but are in fact unjust. It is imperative to develop strategies to recognize, document, and critically assess how injustice becomes all too normal for some and the role that feminist psychology can play in changing this. A podcast conversation with the author of this article is available on PWQ 's website at http://pwq.sagepub.com/site/misc/Index/Podcasts.xhtml

Perceptions of instability and choice across sexual orientation groups

Some have described gay and lesbian people as making a “lifestyle choice” while others assert that bisexuality is not a stable or valid identity. This paper examines the possibility that perceived instability and perceived choice, and their associations with prejudice, differ depending on both the sexual orientation of the participant and the target group. Participants varying in sexual orientation were randomly assigned to evaluate heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual targets. Results indicated that negative evaluation of the various target groups was more closely associated with perceived instability than it was with perceived choice. This relationship was moderated by both participant and target sexual orientation; for example, it was weaker for bisexual targets, whose sexual orientations were rated as unstable even among nonbisexual participants who evaluated them positively. A more nuanced understanding of the beliefs underlying prejudice against sexual minorities can be developed by considering targets and participants of many sexual orientations.