Scales of sexual orientation

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Scales of sexual orientation are classification schemes of different sexual orientations. Definitions of the term sexual orientation normally include two components: the "psychological" and the "behavioral" component, but definitions of the two components vary between researchers and across time. [1] Those difficulties motivate researchers to define scales to measure and describe sexual orientation. Most sexual behavior and sexual orientation scales are motivated by the view that sexual orientation is a continuum. The Kinsey scale works from a continuum viewpoint and is the most prevalent sexual orientation scale.

Contents

Kinsey scale

Kinsey scale of sexual responses, indicating degrees of sexual orientation Kinsey Scale.svg
Kinsey scale of sexual responses, indicating degrees of sexual orientation

"The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects. The sooner we learn this concerning human sexual behavior the sooner we shall reach a sound understanding of the realities of sex."

— Kinsey et al., 1948 [2]

The Kinsey scale (also Kinsey homosexual-heterosexual scale) was first presented by Alfred Kinsey in his two influential books Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) [2] and Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female (1953). [3] The two books are often referred to as "the Kinsey Reports". The scale was used to classify and quantify homosexual and heterosexual behaviour across the American population. It assesses both overt sexual behaviour as well as sexual fantasies.

Categories

Kinsey used seven categories (0–6) to classify sexual orientation as a continuum plus an additional category labeled X (no socio-sexual contacts or reactions). Equal intervals were assumed between the single categories, except for X. [4] The measurement for sexual behaviour was relative to the subject's full number of sexual encounters, rather than an absolute number of sexual encounters with the same sex.

RatingDescription
0Exclusively heterosexual
1Predominantly heterosexual/incidentally homosexual
2Predominantly heterosexual but more than incidentally homosexual
3Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4Predominantly homosexual but more than incidentally heterosexual
5Predominantly homosexual/only incidentally heterosexual
6Exclusively homosexual
XNo socio-sexual contacts or reactions

Testing method

Subject sexual orientation was assessed in a structured personal interview. This interview included around 300-500 questions. Depending on the subject's answers there could be a different order and number of questions. The wording was also not rigidly fixed, but could be adapted to e.g. the subject's level of education. In the interview, it was assumed that participants had tried different kinds of sexual acts, until explicitly negated. [5]

Evaluation

The Kinsey Reports and the developed scale had a big impact on the perception of human sexuality in general and homosexuality and bisexuality in particular. Before Kinsey, sexual orientation was conceptualized as only three categories: homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual, and homosexual contacts were regarded as rather rare. In his reports Kinsey showed the big variance in sexual orientation in the American population and claimed that homosexual encounters and fantasies were much more common than previously believed.

However, the Kinsey scale also has some shortcomings. The assessment involves the subjective rating of the interviewer. This can have various consequences. Depending on the behaviour and reactions of the interviewer, subjects may or not be willing to disclose their full sexual history. It is also the interviewer who has to define whether the subjects gave honest answers or when to ask further questions. A small number of trained researchers were able to get an insight into sexual behaviour in the American population using the scale, but comparing different studies using the Kinsey scale becomes difficult. Sell finds three shortcomings of the Kinsey scale: [6]

Kinsey acknowledged that sexual orientation is more than sexual attraction or behaviour alone. By evaluating sexual behaviour and fantasy, his scale already took into account more than one dimension, although combined to a single measure, but did not take into account other aspects such as varying sexual orientation during life or emotional preference.

Hansen and Charles [7] criticized that while the scale is successful in categorizing people at both ends of the continuum (exclusively homosexual/heterosexual) its categorization of bisexuals is driven by a negative definition of bisexuality. Bisexuality should be considered a discrete entity not an intermediate step between homosexuality and heterosexuality.

Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (KSOG)

The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (KSOG) was proposed by Fritz Klein as an alternative to the Kinsey Scale. It was first explained in Forum magazine, [8] in which Klein described the scale and asked readers to fill out the given grid and send him their answers.

It was designed as a further development of the Kinsey Scale. It does not yield one number as in the Kinsey scale but 21, three different numbers (representing past, present and ideal) for each of the seven variables assessed [9]

(A) Sexual Attraction
(B) Sexual Behaviour
(C) Sexual Fantasies
(D) Emotional Preference
(E) Social Preference
(F) Self Identification
(G) Heterosexual-/Gay Lifestyle

Testing method

Participants are asked to rate themselves regarding these seven variables, giving three numbers for each to rate past, present and ideal.

VariableQuestionspastpresent (the past year)ideal
ATo whom are you sexually attracted?
BWith whom have you had sex?
CAbout whom are your sexual fantasies?
DWho do you feel more drawn to or close to emotionally?
EWhich gender do you socialize with?
FIn which community do you like to spend your time? In which do you feel most comfortable?
GHow do you label or identify yourself?

For questions A–E the numbers corresponded to:

1234567
other sex onlyother sex mostlyother sex somewhat moreboth sexes equallysame sex somewhat moresame sex mostlysame sex only

For questions F and G the numbers corresponded to:

1234567
heterosexual onlyheterosexual mostlyheterosexual somewhat moreheterosexual/homosexual equallyhomosexual somewhat morehomosexual mostlyhomosexual only

Evaluation

The KSOG adds more dimensions to the Kinsey scale and is a more fine-grained measure. It also takes into account changes in all seven variables over time. Due to its standardized written form, studies using the KSOG are less dependent on the experimenter and more easily comparable.

Weinrich et al. [10] performed a factor analysis of KSOG scores and noted that one factor loaded substantially on all 21 scores. It might therefore be legitimate to use a scale with fewer dimensions while still accurately measuring sexual orientations.

Ratings in the KSOG are based on the self-assessment of the subjects. If there is a different interpretation of the questions, this will influence the subject's response. Lovelock reported such a confusion regarding emotional preference since Klein made no distinction between love and friendship. [11]

Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation (SASO)

The Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation proposed by Randall L. Sell [6] is an attempt to improve on the Kinsey scale by addressing three main concerns about the latter scale:

  1. measuring multiple attributes (sexual attraction, sexual orientation identity and sexual behaviour) separately
  2. reporting the extent of sexual attraction, orientation identity and behavior
  3. assessing homosexuality and heterosexuality separately

The Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation is designed to achieve a more detailed account of sexual orientation which may be more suitable to the specific nature of research.

Testing method

The Sell Assessment contains 6 matching pairs of questions, three evaluating sexual attractions, two evaluating sexual contacts and one evaluating sexual identity. The pairs consist each of one question assessing homosexuality and one question assessing heterosexuality. All of those questions and answers provide a profile of a subject's sexual orientation. To only access certain parts of this profile one of the four sets of summaries of the Sell Assessment may be used.

Summaries

Homosexuality and heterosexuality summary

To create a summary of the Sell Assessment the following standardized responses are assigned to each question: “not at all homosexual”, “slightly homosexual”, “moderately homosexual”, “very homosexual”. As a second step, the questions regarding sexual attraction and sexual contact are summarized to one value by taking the highest score from each set of questions. Finally, the summary results in a single measure for sexual attraction, sexual contact and sexual identity regarding homosexuality. The same procedure is then performed to assess the heterosexuality measures.

Bisexuality and asexuality summary

Taking into account the interactions of the six question pairs assessing homosexuality and heterosexuality, a subject's bisexuality and asexuality can be measured. In the case of bisexuality, subjects are classified as “not at all bisexual”, “slightly bisexual”, “moderately bisexual” or “very bisexual” depending on their answers to each question pair. As explained above, these standardized responses can be summarized to a single measure for sexual attraction, sexual contact and sexual identity. The Asexuality Summary differs from the other three summaries since it is measured dichotomously - a subject can either be “asexual” or “not at all asexual”. A subject is only classified as “asexual” in the domain of sexual attraction if the subject's answers report no sexual attraction in any of the six questions evaluating sexual attraction. The same holds for sexual contact and sexual identity.

Reliability and validity

Reliability of the Sell Assessment was measured via a test-retest procedure. Two weeks after their first participation, subjects were asked to complete the questionnaire again. The correlation of the results was used as a measure of test reliability. All test-retest correlations were extremely high with values above 0.93 which was the lowest value for the correlation between heterosexual identity in the test and pretest. This strongly indicates the reliability of the Sell Assessment.

Construct validity was assessed by correlating the results of the Kinsey Summary with the results Kinsey-type questions of sexual attraction, sexual contact and sexual identity included in the questionnaire. The Kinsey Summary refers to a classification of the subjects into the 7 categories of the Kinsey scale based on their results in the Sell Assessment. Results show correlations upwards from 0.85 which indicate the construct validity of Sell's scale.

Evaluation

As shown above, the Sell Assessment addresses all issues reported with regard to the Kinsey Scale: the separate measurement of multiple dimensions of sexual orientation, the integration of different degrees of homosexuality and heterosexuality and the independent measurement of homosexuality and heterosexuality.

The advantages of the Sell Assessment become visible when examining the variability found in the Sell Assessment between subjects with identical Kinsey scores. For example, the portion of subjects classified as “not homosexual” varies across the domains of sexual attraction, sexual contact and sexual identity (37,3% for sexual attraction, 53,1% for sexual contact and 44,6% for sexual identity). Therefore, it provides a more detailed and accurate assessment of sexual orientation compared to the Kinsey Scale. Especially, the Sell Assessment can make distinctions between subjects based on their sexual orientation which cannot be made using the Kinsey Scale.

However, the Sell Assessment was tested on internet users. On the one hand, this opens up the possibility to test subjects from every section of the population. On the other hand, one cannot rely on the subject's sincerity as one could during an interview since the experimenter never gets to know the subjects to form an opinion about their personality. Apart from that, the Sell Assessment remains largely untested and is eventually too complicated for average research studies. [12]

Multidimensional Scale of Sexuality (MSS)

The Multidimensional Scale of Sexuality (MSS) was developed by Berkey et al. in 1990 [13] and motivated by criticism of already-existing and commonly-used scales. Criticism was aimed at four basic points:

  1. Assumption of sexual orientation being uni-dimensional and bipolar (heterosexual - homosexual) is inaccurate
  2. Assumption of sexual orientation being static over the whole lifetime of an individual is inaccurate
  3. Bisexuality is not properly accounted for or not included at all
  4. Sexual behaviour is not the same as sexual orientation, behaviour alone cannot capture all there is to sexual orientation

The MSS assumes that sexual orientation is multidimensional, including the factors of time, behaviour, cognitive/affective ratings and a broader view on bisexuality.

Categories

There are nine MSS categories. The complexity of bisexuality is captured using six of these nine categories. The categories are:

  1. Heterosexual
  2. Heterosexual with some homosexuality
  3. Concurrent bisexual
  4. Sequential bisexual
  5. Homosexual with some heterosexuality
  6. Past heterosexual, currently homosexual
  7. Past homosexual, currently heterosexual
  8. Homosexual
  9. Asexual

Testing method

The test includes the MSS itself and a questionnaire about the subject's background information.

The MSS questionnaire consists of a self description where the subject is asked to select one out of nine possible descriptions/statements which they think describes their sexual orientation best. These descriptions/statements match the nine MSS categories.

For all nine categories, there is one item included regarding sexual behaviour, sexual attraction, arousal to erotic material, emotional factors and sexual dreams and fantasies. All the items (for all nine categories) have to be answered with either “true” or “false”. Answers regarding sexual behaviour from all categories make up the behavioural subscore. The mean of the other four makes up the cognitive/affective subscore.

Challenges

Researchers intending to measure sexual orientation can use different scales and measurements but as stated above, there is no scale which is fully satisfactory. Problems arise because the scales are based on the subject's answers and opinions about themselves, which could be biased. It is difficult to get a sincere answer from all participants.

Related Research Articles

Heterosexuality Attraction between people of the opposite sex or gender

Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the opposite sex; it "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions." Someone who is heterosexual is commonly referred to as straight.

Kinsey Reports Two books on human sexual behavior by Alfred Kinsey and others

The Kinsey Reports are two scholarly books on human sexual behavior, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953), written by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde Martin, and Paul Gebhard and published by W.B. Saunders. The two best-selling books were immediately controversial, both within the scientific community and the general public, because they challenged conventional beliefs about sexuality and discussed subjects that had previously been taboo. The validity of Kinsey's methods were also called into question. Kinsey was a zoologist at Indiana University and the founder of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction.

Sexual orientation Pattern of romantic and/or sexual attraction

Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generally subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, while asexuality is sometimes identified as the fourth category.

Kinsey scale Scale for measuring sexual orientation

The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual–Homosexual Rating Scale, is used in research to describe a person's sexual orientation based on one’s experience or response at a given time. The scale typically ranges from 0, meaning exclusively heterosexual, to a 6, meaning exclusively homosexual. In both the male and female volumes of the Kinsey Reports, an additional grade, listed as "X", indicated "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions" (asexuality). The reports were first published in Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, and others, and were also prominent in the complementary work Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953).

Asexuality Lack of sexual attraction to others

Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. It may be considered a sexual orientation or the lack thereof. It may also be categorized more widely, to include a broad spectrum of asexual sub-identities.

Homosexuality and psychology Homosexuality as viewed by the field of psychology

The field of psychology has extensively studied homosexuality as a human sexual orientation. The American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1952, but that classification came under scrutiny in research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. That research and subsequent studies consistently failed to produce any empirical or scientific basis for regarding homosexuality as anything other than a natural and normal sexual orientation that is a healthy and positive expression of human sexuality. As a result of this scientific research, the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973. Upon a thorough review of the scientific data, the American Psychological Association followed in 1975 and also called on all mental health professionals to take the lead in "removing the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated" with homosexuality. In 1993, the National Association of Social Workers adopted the same position as the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association, in recognition of scientific evidence. The World Health Organization, which listed homosexuality in the ICD-9 in 1977, removed homosexuality from the ICD-10 which was endorsed by the 43rd World Health Assembly on 17 May 1990.

Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically and/or sexually attracted. Sexual identity may also refer to sexual orientation identity, which is when people identify or dis-identify with a sexual orientation or choose not to identify with a sexual orientation. Sexual identity and sexual behavior are closely related to sexual orientation, but they are distinguished, with identity referring to an individual's conception of themselves, behavior referring to actual sexual acts performed by the individual, and sexual orientation referring to romantic or sexual attractions toward persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, to both sexes or more than one gender, or to no one.

Demographics of sexual orientation Prevalence of different types of sexual orientation

Obtaining precise numbers on the demographics of sexual orientation is difficult for a variety of reasons, including the nature of the research questions. Most of the studies on sexual orientation rely on self-reported data, which may pose challenges to researchers because of the subject matter's sensitivity. The studies tend to pose two sets of questions. One set examines self-report data of same-sex sexual experiences and attractions, while the other set examines self-report data of personal identification as homosexual or bisexual. Overall, fewer research subjects identify as homosexual or bisexual than report having had sexual experiences or attraction to a person of the same sex. Survey type, questions and survey setting may affect the respondents' answers.

Androphilia and gynephilia Sexual orientation to men or women

Androphilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to men or masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to women or femininity. Ambiphilia describes the combination of both androphilia and gynephilia in a given individual, or bisexuality.

Homosexuality Romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender

Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the same sex. It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions."

Klein Sexual Orientation Grid Multidimensional scale of human sexuality

The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (KSOG) developed by Fritz Klein attempts to measure sexual orientation by expanding upon the earlier Kinsey scale. Fritz Klein founded the American Institute of Bisexuality in 1998 which is continuing his work by sponsoring bisexual-inclusive sex research, educating the general public on sexuality, and promoting the bisexual community.

Blanchard's transsexualism typology is a proposed psychological typology of gender dysphoria, transsexualism, and fetishistic transvestism, created by sexologist Ray Blanchard through the 1980s and 1990s, building on the work of prior researchers, including his colleague Kurt Freund. Blanchard categorized trans women into two groups: homosexual transsexuals who are attracted exclusively to men and are feminine in both behavior and appearance; and autogynephilic transsexuals who are sexually aroused at the idea of having a female body.

Transgender sexuality Sexuality of transgender people

Sexuality in transgender individuals encompasses all the issues of sexuality of other groups, including establishing a sexual identity, learning to deal with one's sexual needs, and finding a partner, but may be complicated by issues of gender dysphoria, side effects of surgery, physiological and emotional effects of hormone replacement therapy, psychological aspects of expressing sexuality after medical transition, or social aspects of expressing their gender.

Questioning (sexuality and gender) Process of self-exploration

The questioning of one's sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender, or all three is a process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, or concerned about applying a social label to themselves for various reasons. The letter "Q" is sometimes added to the end of the acronym LGBT ; the "Q" can refer to either queer or questioning.

Bisexuality Sexual attraction to people of either sex

Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, which is also known as pansexuality.

Sexual fluidity is one or more changes in sexuality or sexual identity. Sexual orientation is stable and unchanging for the vast majority of people, but some research indicates that some people may experience change in their sexual orientation, and this is more likely for women than for men. There is no scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed through psychotherapy. Sexual identity can change throughout an individual's life, and may or may not align with biological sex, sexual behavior or actual sexual orientation.

LGBT demographics of the United States Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population

The demographics of sexual orientation and gender identity in the United States have been studied in the social sciences in recent decades. A 2022 Gallup poll concluded that 7.1% of adult Americans identified as LGBT. A different survey in 2016, from the Williams Institute, estimated that 0.6% of U.S. adults identify as transgender.

Outline of LGBT topics Overview of and topical guide to LGBT topics

The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBT topics.

Gender and sexual diversity (GSD), or simply sexual diversity, refers to all the diversities of sex characteristics, sexual orientations and gender identities, without the need to specify each of the identities, behaviors, or characteristics that form this plurality.

History of bisexuality Aspect of bisexuality history

The history of bisexuality concerns the history of the bisexual sexual orientation. Ancient and medieval history of bisexuality, when the term did not exist as such, consists of anecdotes of sexual behaviour and relationships between people of the same and different sexes. A modern definition of bisexuality began to take shape in the mid-nineteenth century within three interconnected domains of knowledge: biology, psychology and sexuality. In modern Western culture, the term bisexual was first defined in a binary approach as a person with romantic or sexual attraction to both men and women. The term bisexual is defined later in the twentieth century as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females, or as a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to people regardless of sex or gender identity, which is sometimes termed pansexuality.

References

  1. ↑ Sell, R. L. (1997) "Defining and Measuring Sexual Orientation: A Review" Archives of Sexual Behavior. 26: 643–58.
  2. 1 2 Kinsey, A. C. et al. (1948) "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male." Indiana University Press.
  3. ↑ Kinsey, A. C. et al. (1953) "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female." Indiana University Press.
  4. ↑ https://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/publications/kinsey-scale.php Kinsey Scale 23 August 2016
  5. ↑ Haeberle, E. J. (1993) “Alfred C. Kinsey als Homosexualitätsforscher.” Humboldt-Universität, Archiv für Sexualwissenschaft, Berlin https://web.archive.org/web/20101005022249/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/DEUTSCH/kinsey.htm, 23.8.2016
  6. 1 2 Sell, Randall (October 1996). "The Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation: Background and Scoring". International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies. Springer. 1 (4): 295–310. doi:10.1007/BF03372244. S2CID   151411037.
  7. ↑ Hansen, C. E., Evans, A. (1985) "Bisexuality reconsidered: An idea in pursuit of a definition." Journal of Homosexuality, 11.1–2: 1–6.
  8. ↑ Klein, F.; Sepekoff, Barry; Wolf, Timothy J. (2014). "Are You Sure You're Heterosexual? Or Homosexual? Or Even Bisexual?". Journal of Bisexuality. 14 (3–4: Bisexuality, the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, and Other Measures of Sexual Orientation): 341–346. doi:10.1080/15299716.2014.953282. S2CID   146761634.
  9. ↑ Klein, F. (Spring 1985). "Sexual Orientation: A Multi-Variable Dynamic Process". Journal of Homosexuality. 11 (1–2): 35–49. doi:10.1300/J082v11n01_04. PMID   4056393.
  10. ↑ Weinrich, J. D.; Snyder, P J; Pillard, R C; Grant, I; Jacobson, D L; Robinson, S R; McCutchan, J A (April 1993). "A Factor Analysis of the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid in Two Disparate Samples". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 22 (2): 157–168. doi:10.1007/BF01542364. PMID   8476335. S2CID   34708645.
  11. ↑ Lovelock, J. M. (2014). "Using the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid in Sociological Studies". Journal of Bisexuality. 14 (3–4: Bisexuality, the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, and Other Measures of Sexual Orientation): 457–467. doi:10.1080/15299716.2014.946197. S2CID   144656517.
  12. ↑ Meyer, I. H., Northridge, M. E. (2007) "The Health of Sexual Minorities: Public Health Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Populations." Springer. 370-371
  13. ↑ Berkey, Braden Robert; Perelman-Hall, Terri; Kurdek, Lawrence A. (10 September 1990). "The Multidimensional Scale of Sexuality". Journal of Homosexuality. 19 (4): 67–88. doi:10.1300/J082v19n04_05. PMID   2230111.
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