Psychology, Department of
Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications
Accessibility Remediation
If you are unable to use this item in its current form due to accessibility barriers, you may request remediation through our remediation request form.
ORCID IDs
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
10-2012
Citation
Archives of Sexual Behavior 41:5 (October 2012), pp. 1199–1208.
doi: 10.1007/s10508-012-9927-5
Abstract
Few studies have focused on intragroup variations in sexual orientation and fewer on self-identified heterosexuals with same-sex attractions, fantasies, and/or behaviors. Self-identified heterosexual students at a large public midwestern university (N = 263) completed measures of sexuality and gender, attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, religious and political beliefs, emotional well-being, and demographics. The sample included 82 individuals (31%; labeled “H+”) who endorsed same-sex attraction, fantasy, and/or behavior and 181 (69%; labeled “H”) who did not. Women were more likely to be categorized as H+ than men. H+ participants had more positive attitudes toward lesbians and gay and bisexual men and reported more support for LGB-positive public policies than did H participants. H+ participants reported less literalistic beliefs about religious scripture than did H participants. H and H+ groups did not differ significantly on measures of emotional well-being. Results were discussed in the context of recent literature arguing for a more nuanced and gender-differentiated approach toward assessing sexual orientation, as well as literature on the flexibility of sexual orientation and on heterosexual identity development.
Comments
Copyright © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Used by permission.