Bisexuality in
women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and
not "just a phase" or a gateway to lesbianism, the American
Psychological Association announced Tuesday.
Bisexuality in
women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and
not "just a phase" or a gateway to lesbianism, the American
Psychological Association announced Tuesday.
A study of 79
bisexual, lesbian, or unlabeled women ages 18–25 over
a decade found that bisexuals maintained a stable
pattern of attraction to men and women, according to a
press release from the APA. The study also disproves
the myth that bisexual women are unable to commit to
long-term monogamous relationships. Results were
published in the January issue of Developmental
Psychology, an APA journal.
University of
Utah psychologist Lisa Diamond, who conducted the study,
said in the press release that the research provides the
first experimental study on the topic and debunks
long-standing beliefs.
“The
findings demonstrate considerable fluidity in bisexual,
unlabeled, and lesbian women’s attractions,
behaviors, and identities and contribute to
researchers’ understanding of the complexity of
sexual-minority development over the life
span,” she said.
Bisexual women
were more likely than lesbians to change their identity
but tended to switch between bisexual and unlabeled rather
than lesbian and heterosexual.
At the end of the
10-year study, most of the women were involved in
long-term (more than one year in length), monogamous
relationships -- 70% of the self-identified lesbians,
89% of the bisexuals, 85% of the unlabeled women, and
67% of those who were then calling themselves
heterosexual. (The Advocate)
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