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Jabbour J, Holmes L, Sylva D, Hsu KJ, Semon TL, Rosenthal AM, Safron A, Slettevold E, Watts-Overall TM, Savin-Williams RC, Sylla J, Rieger G, Bailey JM. Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:18369-18377. [PMID: 32690672 PMCID: PMC7414168 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2003631117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Jabbour
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
| | - Luke Holmes
- Department of Psychology, Essex University, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom
| | - David Sylva
- Department of Psychiatry, Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles, CA 90056
| | - Kevin J Hsu
- Department of Psychological and Social Sciences, Pennsylvania State University Abington, Abington, PA 19001
| | - Theodore L Semon
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
| | - A M Rosenthal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
| | - Adam Safron
- Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405
| | - Erlend Slettevold
- Department of Psychology, Essex University, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - John Sylla
- American Institute of Bisexuality, Los Angeles, CA 90014
- University of Chicago Law School, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637
| | - Gerulf Rieger
- Department of Psychology, Essex University, Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom
| | - J Michael Bailey
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208;
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