The Complex Construction of Sexual Orientation

Date of Award

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Raghavan, Chemba

Keywords

Sexual Orientation, Sexuality

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Sexual orientation, rather than being conceptualized as dichotomous, is currently seen as a continuum along which one may move over time. Sexual behavior and attraction are not sufficient to describe sexual orientation, as many other variables, such as sexual fantasies, emotional preference, social preference, and self-identification influence the construct as well. Fifty-nine students from a college on the gulf coast of Florida completed an anonymous survey consisting of the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (Klein, 1980) along with measures of specific sexual experience and sexual knowledge. Sex was found to have a main effect on past sexual attractions, fantasies, and self-identification, indicating that sexual orientation is a fluid construct, perhaps more so for women than men.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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