Kinsey Scale Research Articles

Similar Faces of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior: A Comparative Ethnographical Study in Brazil, Turkey, and Thailand

This is a cross-cultural ethnographical description of same-sex sexual behavior of male sexuality among slums dwellers (working class) and university students (middle class) in three cities: Florianópolis (Brazil), Istanbul (Turkey), and Bangkok (Thailand). The main goal of this study is to describe the similar aspects and issues of homosexual ghettos in urban environments of developing countries where two basic same-sex systems stand side by side: the “bugger system” and the “gay system.” This survey compares the same-sex sexual behavior and self-declared sexual-identity of those who practice same-sex, opposite-sex, and both-sex behaviors. The quantitative data from this study simply confirms other studies showing commonalities in terms of gender orientation among people who consider themselves homosexuals and those who consider themselves heterosexuals using the Kinsey Scale.

The Kinsey Scale and the Pashtun: The Role of Culture in Measuring Sexual Orientation

Although a useful and compelling model, the Kinsey Scale remains a model, a descriptor that at once measures sexuality and helps define the experience in our culture. In other cultures, such as that of the Pashtun tribe of Kabul, Afghanistan, we see how this descriptor may fail to be useful or meaningful. One expert estimates that one half of the city's male residents have sex with men or boys at some point in their lives. The discussion concludes questioning how the Western cultural model is changing the role of same-sex attractions in other cultures.

Bisexuality in the Kinsey–Klein Continuum: An Interview with Kinsey Institute Scholar Dr. John Bancroft

In this interview for the 60th anniversary commemoration of the Kinsey Male report, Kinsey Institute director emeritus Dr. John Bancroft answers questions about Alfred C. Kinsey's research on bisexuality, compares the Kinsey Scale and Klein Grid and considers Kinsey's continued legacy in terms of conservative backlash against him for his influence in initiating sexual liberation movements of the late 20th century.

Failed Reparative Therapy of Orthodox Jewish Homosexuals

ABSTRACT The author is an Orthodox Jewish psychiatrist who, at the time of this presentation, had spent thirty-six years in the general practice of psychiatry, primarily among the broad spectrum of Orthodox Jewish patients. As a part of this general practice, the author encountered a number of Orthodox patients with homosexual attractions who desired to change their orientation. Since the author's initial results seemed encouraging as he found that all of his patients moved at least one point towards heterosexuality on the Kinsey scale, he began accepting more referrals to achieve significant change in homosexual orientation. The author's therapeutic goals, at the time, were to counteract the homosexual patient's self-loathing; provide a warm, hopeful and accepting therapeutic environment; explain that human approaches to sexuality were variable and not monolithic and provide alternatives to a gay community lifestyle. The author believed a nurturing relationship with a straight male therapist, who understood the person's religious sensibilities and feelings, might help detoxify corrosive masculine influences of the past and provide some role-modeling for future identification. The author describes several long-term cases in which he treated Orthodox Jewish patients who wished to be rid of their homosexual feelings and attractions. All of the author's male homosexual patients in intensive therapy moved at least one point on the Kinsey scale towards heterosexuality. However, that movement was not unidirectional. Reversions occurred in response to stressful events of various sorts—at times compromising an intact and extensive nuclear family and leading to catastrophic results. In contrast to the men, the author found it virtually impossible to achieve significant movement toward heterosexuality with homosexual women. The author believes more was accomplished when there was no direct expectation that change in sexual orientation be the specific goal. In those cases, sexual reorientation happened as a result of organic change as a part of a successful therapy for mutually agreed emotional problems.

Learning from the Spirits: Candomblé, Umbanda, and Kardecismo in Recife, Brazil

ABSTRACTBrazilian spiritistic religions have developed along elaborate historical and cultural trajectories with spirit mediumship as a central feature of ritual practice in Candomblé, Umbanda, Kardecismo, and similar groups. In these studies, several Brazilian spiritistic practitioners who worked as mediums were interviewed and, in some cases, tested with psychological measures for dissociation using the Dissociative Experiences Scale, for absorption using the Tellegen Absorption Scale, and for sexual orientation using the Kinsey Scale. Few significant gender differences were noted in these measures. In two cases, psychophysiological measures were employed including electroencephalography, heart rate, skin conductance, and electromyography. In general, the research participants scored highly on measures of dissociation while scoring in the average range on absorption (using U.S. norms). The psychophysiological results indicated that for the two spiritistic practitioners investigated overall peripheral autonomic nervous system activation was negatively associated with sympathetic cortical level deactivation. The data suggested a psychophysiological incongruence between the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system functioning on the part of the two practitioners. However, the two variables were positively associated and congruent in data obtained from a control subject. Interview data identified five ways in which mediums received their “call to heal,” visions, dreams, and unexpected incorporations being the most frequent factors cited. One medium who engages in surgical procedures was observed; tissues were collected from ten clients and were found to be consistent with the site of the surgery. In conclusion, it is apparent that mediumship is a complex phenomenon, one deserving of further investigation by anthropologists, psychologists, and sociologists interested in human consciousness, in indigenous health care, and in the psychophysiology of practitioners who claim to work under the direction of spirit entities.

Fluctuating Asymmetry and Sexual Orientation in Men and Women

The present study measured handedness and bodily fluctuating asymmetry (FA), two markers of developmental instability, in 89 heterosexual and 78 gay men and women. Asymmetry in ear breadth, ear length, ankle breadth, second digit length, fourth digit length, and two composite indices were calculated for each participant and a modified Edinburgh Inventory was used to assess handedness. Results showed that, for men, there was a significant positive correlation between three measures of FA and sexual orientation scores (SOS). As ear breadth FA and two composite FA scores increased so did SOS on a modified Kinsey scale (where 0 indicated exclusive heterosexuality and 6 indicated exclusive homosexuality). No significant relationships were found between SOS and FA for women. Similarly, sexual orientation was not related to handedness for either sex. The theoretical implications of the present results are discussed.

Relationships Between Homosexual and Heterosexual Interest and Their Implications for Bisexuality: An Empirical Test

Conceptualizing heterosexual and homosexual interest as reciprocal constructs can be a source of confusion, and may obstruct understanding of sexual orientation in counseling. We investigated the relationships between homosexual interest, heterosexual interest, and masculinity and femininity. Seventy-eight men attending a homophile organisation completed the Kinsey Scale, and two separate continua measuring degree of homosexual interest and degree of heterosexual interest independently. The correlation between the two continua was -.51, suggesting that homosexual and heterosexual interest are to some extent independent of one another, and that a single continuum which assumes homosexual interest to be the direct converse of heterosexual interest may not be an adequate measure of sexual orientation. No significant relationships between masculinity, femininity and sexual orientation were found. Implications for counseling people with concerns about sexual orientation and sex of partner are discussed.

The Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation: Background and Scoring

The measurement of sexual orientations in research studies is becoming increasingly prevalent despite little critical examination of how this should be done. This paper reviews how sexual orientations have been measured historically, and provides a review of the strengths and limitations of each measure. Measures of sexual orientation are categorized as: 1) dichotomous, 2) bipolar (such as the Kinsey Scale), 3) multidimensional (such as the Klein Scale), and/or 4) orthogonal (such as the scale proposed by Shively and DeCecco). A new measure of sexual orientation, the Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation, is proposed based upon this review. Finally, methods of scoring and summarizing the proposed measure are discussed.

Beyond gender: the basis of sexual attraction in bisexual men and women.

The construct of sexual orientation has typically considered the gender of the sexual partner as defining whether the individual is homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual, and the Kinsey scale conceptualises bisexuality as a point midway between homosexuality and heterosexuality. We propose an alternative model which places homosexuality and heterosexuality at one end of a continuum as gender-linked choices of sexual partner, and bisexuality at the other as nongender-specific. As a test of this model, we administered repertory grids to nine bisexual men and women to investigate the characteristics of sexual attraction in individuals for whom gender of partner was not a critical variable. Results supported the hypothesis that gender is not a critical variable in sexual attraction in bisexual individuals. Personality or physical dimensions not related to gender and interaction style were the salient characteristics on which preferred sexual partners were chosen, and there was minimal grid distance between preferred male and preferred female partners. These data support the argument that, for some bisexual individuals, sexual attraction is not gender-linked.

Homosexuality/heterosexuality: concepts of sexual orientation

Part I: Historical and religious perspectives: Vern Bullough: The Kinsey scale in historical perspective John Boswell: Sexual and ethical categories in premodern Europe Bruce Voeller: Some uses and abuses of the Kinsey scale Part II: Psychobiological perspective: John Money: Agenda and credenda of the Kinsey scale Richard E. Whalen, David C. Geary, & Frank Johnson: Models of sexuality Louis Gooren: Biomedical theories of sexual orientation: a critical examination Richard C. Pillard: The Kinsey scale: is it familial? John Bancroft: Commentary: biological contributions to sexual orientation Part III: Evolutionary perspective: James D. Weinrich: The Kinsey scale, with a note on Kinsey the biologist Ronald D. Nadler: Homosexual behavior in nonhuman primates Leonard A. Rosenblum: Primates, homo sapiens, and homosexuality Part IV: Cultural and sociological perspectives: John H. Gagnou: Gender preference in erotic relations: The Kinsey scale and sexual scripts Gilbert Herdt: Developmental discontinuities and sexual orientation across cultures Part V: Identity development perspective: Vivienne C. Cass: The implications of homosexual identity formation for the Kinsey model and scale of sexual preference Eli Coleman: Toward a synthetic understanding of sexual orientation Frita Klein: The need to view sexual orientation as a multivariable dynamic process: A theoretical perspective Richard A. Isay: Psychoanalytic theory and the therapy of gay men Part VI: Relational perspective: Philip Blumstein, & Pepper Schwartz: Intimate relationships and the creation of sexuality Letitia Anne Peplau, & Susan D. Cochran: A relational perspective on homosexuality Margaret Nichols: Lesbian relationships: implications for the study of sexuality and gender Part VII: conceptual and theoretical perspectives: John P. De Cecco: Sex and more sex: a critique of the Kinsey conception of human sexuality Noretta Koertge: Constructing concepts of sexuality - a philosophical commentary.

Enough is enough: Reflections on the views of De Cecco and Meyer‐Bahlburg

BIRKE, L. I. (1981). Is homosexuality hormonally determined? Journal of Homosexuality, 6(4), 35-49. DORNER, G. (1976). Hormones and brain differentiation. Amsterdam: Elsevier. GAGNON, J. H. (1987). Science and the politics of pathology. The Journal of Sex Research, 23, 120-123. GARTRELL, N. K. (1982). Hormones and homosexuality. In W. Paul, J. D. Weinrich, J. C. Gonsiorek, & M. Hotvedt (Eds.), Homosexuality: Social, psychological, and biological issues (pp. 169-182). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. GOOREN, L. (1986, May 22). The brain androgenization theory of female and male homosexuality challenged. Paper presented at the symposium, Homosexuality/Heterosexuality: The Kinsey Scale and Current Research. The Kinsey Institute for Research, Bloomington, IN. KESSLER, S. J., & McKENNA, W. (1985). Gender: An ethnomethodological approach. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. MEYER-BAHLsuRG, H. F. L. (1984). Psychoendocrine research on sexual orientation: Current status and future options. Progress in Brain Research, 61, 375-398. MEYER-BAHLsuRG, H. F. L. (1987). Psychoendocrine research and the societal status of homosexuals: A reply to De Cecco. The Journal of Sex Research, 23, 114-120. RICKETTS, W. (1984). Biological research on homosexuality. Ansell's cow or Occam's razor. Journal of Homosexuality, 9(4), 65-102. SCHMIDT, G. (1984). Allies and persecutors: Science and medicine in the homosexuality issue. Journal of Homosexuality, 10(314), 65-102.

Bisexuality reconsidered: an idea in pursuit of a definition.

This paper examines the confusion and conflict stemming from the inability of sexological research to establish a reliable operational definition of the bisexual condition. An examination of current research assumptions, definitions, and limitations revealed several "errors" which predispose most investigations to controversial or insignificant results. These errors include the researcher's: erotophobia, dualistic thinking, use of "self-labels," and most important, misuse of the Kinsey Scale as a basic definitional assumption. This paper concludes with a description of an alternative research model and methodology for bisexuality research. This new model eschews subject labeling and proposes a two-axis system for operationally defining bisexuality and for generating testable hypotheses.

Psychosocial development of heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual behavior.

Relationships with overt adult Kinsey Scale scores (K) indicate that early sexual experiences are most closely related to K, followed in order by gender related and familial variables. A developmental model emphasizing social learning is presented. Interviewees were 7669 American white males and females. Elevated K (more homosexual scores) was found for females who had few girl companions at age 10 and few male companions at 16, had learned to masturbate by being masturbated by a female, had intense prepubertal sexual contact with boys or men, found thought or sight of females, but not males, arousing by age 18, had homosexual contact by age 18, higher K at 17, and higher first-year homosexual behavior frequency. Elevated K (more homosexual scores) was found for males who reported poorer teenage relationships with their fathers, had more girl companions at age 10, fewer male companions at 10 and 16, avoided sports participation, learned of homosexuality by experience, learned to masturbate by being masturbated by a male, had intense prepubertal sexual contact with boys or men, had neither heterosexual contact nor petting to orgasm by age 18, found thought or sight of males, but not females, arousing by age 18, had homosexual contact by age 18, higher K at ages 16 and 17, and had higher first-year homosexual behavior frequency. Behavioral bisexuals, those scoring between 2.0 and 4.0 on the K scale on the basis of overt behavior (0.7% of females, 1.2% of males), reported more arousal to heterosexual stimuli than did exclusive heterosexuals.

Subjective and penile plethysmograph responses following aversion-relief and apomorphine aversion therapy for homosexual impulses.

Results with relationship psychotherapy and with behaviour therapy in the treatment of homosexuality have not differed significantly as far as can be assessed, considering the different criteria used to measure response to treatment. Woodward (1956) reported that 36 per cent. and Bieber (1962) that 27 per cent. of their homosexual patients became exclusively heterosexual following psychotherapy; MacCulloch and Feldman (1967) reported a similar response in 33 per cent. of their patient group following behaviour therapy. The last authors also stated that 58 per cent. of their patients became heterosexual on the Kinsey scale (Kinsey et al., 1948). Mayerson and Lief (1965), using a similarly less rigorous definition of heterosexuality, concluded that 50 per cent. of their group achieved this state following psychotherapy. Freund (1960) considered that 18 per cent. of the group he treated showed a satisfactory response in that they had heterosexual intercourse regularly for several years after aversion therapy. He has been the only worker so far to utilize such a long follow-up period, and also the only one to report that some of his patients at later interviews admitted that they had lied about their degree of response at earlier interviews.