Men and women with bisexual identities show bisexual patterns of sexual attraction to male and female "swimsuit models"

Abstract

Do self-identified bisexual men and women actually show bisexual patterns of sexual attraction and interest? To answer this question, I studied bisexual men's and women's sexual attraction to photographed male and female "swimsuit models" that varied in attractiveness. Participants (663 college students and gay pride attendees, including 14 self-identified bisexual men and 17 self-identified bisexual women) rated their degree of sexual attraction to 34 male and 34 female swimsuit models. Participants' viewing times to models were unobtrusively assessed. Results showed that bisexual men and women showed bisexual patterns of attraction and viewing times to photo models, which strongly distinguished them from same-sex heterosexual and homosexual participants. In contrast to other groups, which showed evidence of greater male than female category specificity, bisexual men and women did not differ in category specificity. Results suggest that there are subsets of men and women who display truly bisexual patterns of sexual attraction and interest. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.