Women three times more likely to be bisexual, study finds
A study has found that women are more influenced by romantic opportunities when it comes to sexual identity.
Women are three times more likely to become bisexual than men because they have a more fluid approach to relationships and sexuality, new research suggests.
While the vast majority of men claimed to be “100 per cent” homosexual or heterosexual, women have a much more open-minded approach, and base their relationship choices on the personality of a partner rather than their gender.
US researchers also found that childless, successful, sexually attractive women were more likely to identify as “100 per cent” heterosexual – due their increased romantic opportunities with men.
The study found romance – as well as sex – is a key influencer in the sexual identity of women and that women are more open to changing or exploring their sexuality if they are not initially satisfied with what the opposite sex has to offer.
The study also found that women were more likely to change their sexual identities between the ages of 22 and 28.
This indicates that women’s sexuality may be more flexible and adaptive than men’s,” said study author Dr Elizabeth McClintock – an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame in the United States.
“Women with some degree of attraction to both males and females might not be drawn into heterosexuality if they have favourable options in the heterosexual partner market.
“Women who are initially successful in partnering with men, as is more traditionally expected, may never explore their attraction to other women,” she added.
“However, women with the same sexual attractions, but less favourable heterosexual options might have greater opportunity to experiment with same-sex partners.”
Dr McClintock said that when it comes to men – unlike women – higher levels of education were associated with an increased likelihood of identifying as bisexual and physical attractiveness had no clear association with sexual identity.
She said: “Men are less often attracted to both sexes.
“Men’s sexuality is, in this sense, less flexible. If a man is only attracted to one sex, romantic opportunity would little alter his sexual identity.”
“Women have a greater probability than men of being attracted to both men and women, which gives them greater flexibility in partner choice,” she said.
“Having flexible sexual attractions may grant greater importance to contextual and experiential factors when it comes to sexual identity.”
Last week, a survey revealed that almost half of young people in the UK would not define themselves as “100% straight”.
YouGov asked 1632 people to plot themselves on a Kinsey scale of sexuality, from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively homosexual).
Results showed that just 46% of young people would rank themselves as 0 (exclusively heterosexual) – compared to 49% who picked something else.
