Women more fluid in sexual preference than men, says study

A recent study has found no significant link between gynephilia and nonheterosexuality in women, who also seem to exhibit greater fluidity in sexual preferences and behaviours than men.

“Implicit measures of nonheterosexuality appear to be less tied to social factors than explicit assessments,” the authors said.  

A total of 491 women participated in this cross-sectional study and completed a biographical questionnaire, the Autobiographical-Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Sexual Preference-Implicit Association Test (SP-IAT), and an explicit measure of sexual orientation.

Some 263 participants were recontacted for a follow-up study. These women completed the Autobiographical Sexual Orientation IAT and answered additional questions about their sexual behaviour and preferences related to the stimuli on the SP-IAT.

The authors measured D-scores on implicit association tests and scores on explicit measures of sexual orientation and behaviours.

Based on implicit measures, the rate of gynephilia was significantly higher than explicit nonheterosexuality (67.8 percent vs 19.6 percent), with consistent results across continents. 

Such finding indicated that women may be attracted to other women without necessarily desiring any sexual encounters with them. Moreover, it also suggested a certain degree of fluidity in terms of sexual preferences in this population.

“Studying the prevalence of gynephilia and nonheterosexuality in adult women can inform the development of health promotion programs tailored to women's diverse sexual experiences and preferences,” the authors said.