DrSmellThis
09-19-2005, 01:59 PM
Sexual Arousal Patterns of Bisexual Men
Gerulf Rieger1, Meredith L. Chivers2 and J. Michael Bailey1
Psychological Science
Volume 16 Issue 8 Page 579 - August 2005
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01578.x
[I can supply the PDF.]
First, the summary from the "Magazine and Journal Reader" feature of the daily bulletin from the Chronicle of Higher Education, 5.9.9:
Bisexual men generally have a physiological response to one sex or the other, but not both, even when they report that they are psychologically aroused by both sexes, three researchers write.
The research was conducted by Gerulf Rieger, a doctoral student in psychology at Northwestern University, and Meredith L. Chivers, a postdoctoral fellow in law and mental health at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, under the supervision of J. Michael Bailey, a Northwestern professor of psychology whose research has often been controversial in the past (The Chronicle, December 1, 2004).
The researchers showed images of two men having sex, or of two women, to 33 self-declared homosexual men, 33 bisexual men, and 38 heterosexual men. They found that the men who described themselves as bisexual generally had a strong genital arousal to either the male or female sexual images, but not to both, even though the bisexual men reported that they had felt sexually aroused -- psychologically -- by both sets of images. "Male bisexuality," the authors write, "appears primarily to represent a style of interpreting or reporting sexual arousal rather than a distinct pattern of genital sexual arousal." So, while "in terms of behavior and identity, bisexual men clearly exist," skepticism about male bisexuality must "concern claims about bisexual feelings, that is, strong sexual attraction and arousal to both sexes."
The authors say they undertook the research because, since the beginnings of the discipline of psychology, controversy has persisted about "whether bisexual men are substantially sexually aroused by both sexes." Clearly, they note, bisexual behavior in men exists, because many men certainly have had sex with both men and women, and, in a 1994 national survey, about 0.8 percent of American men described themselves as bisexual.
But, the researchers say, their findings provide a new, more complicated picture of the subject. At the least, they say, "it is reasonable to ask whether male bisexual behavior reflects sexual arousal to both sexes." The divergence between genital and reported arousal is "intriguing because measures of genital and subjective arousal tend to be highly correlated in men," they say. They also note that earlier research suggests that bisexual men exaggerate their subjective arousal.
The authors conclude: "With respect to sexual arousal and attraction, it remains to be shown that male bisexuality exists. Thus, future research should also explore nonsexual reasons why some men might prefer a bisexual identity to a homosexual or heterosexual identity."
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Abstract
There has long been controversy about whether bisexual men are substantially sexually aroused by both sexes. We investigated genital and self-reported sexual arousal to male and female sexual stimuli in 30 heterosexual, 33 bisexual, and 38 homosexual men. In general, bisexual men did not have strong genital arousal to both male and female sexual stimuli. Rather, most bisexual men appeared homosexual with respect to genital arousal, although some appeared heterosexual. In contrast, their subjective sexual arousal did conform to a bisexual pattern. Male bisexuality appears primarily to represent a style of interpreting or reporting sexual arousal rather than a distinct pattern of genital sexual arousal.
Although bisexual behavior is not uncommon in men, there has long been skepticism that it is motivated by strong sexual arousal and attraction to both sexes. For example, the case studies of Krafft-Ebing (1886) suggest that most men with bisexual activity have sex with women because of social pressure but have sexual attraction exclusively or almost exclusively to men (Cases 127, 128, 135 [-] 153, and 167). Hirschfeld (1914/2001, pp. 197 [-] 215) speculated that most self-identified bisexual men are either heterosexual or homosexual and that men with substantial bisexual attractions are rare. Freund, who was a pioneer in measuring male genital arousal, wrote that, after assessing genital arousal in hundreds of men, he never found convincing evidence that bisexual arousal patterns exist (1974, p. 39). The existence of male bisexual attraction and arousal remains controversial and poorly understood (Fox, 2000; MacDonald, 2000; Zinik, 2000).
Gerulf Rieger1, Meredith L. Chivers2 and J. Michael Bailey1
Psychological Science
Volume 16 Issue 8 Page 579 - August 2005
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01578.x
[I can supply the PDF.]
First, the summary from the "Magazine and Journal Reader" feature of the daily bulletin from the Chronicle of Higher Education, 5.9.9:
Bisexual men generally have a physiological response to one sex or the other, but not both, even when they report that they are psychologically aroused by both sexes, three researchers write.
The research was conducted by Gerulf Rieger, a doctoral student in psychology at Northwestern University, and Meredith L. Chivers, a postdoctoral fellow in law and mental health at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, under the supervision of J. Michael Bailey, a Northwestern professor of psychology whose research has often been controversial in the past (The Chronicle, December 1, 2004).
The researchers showed images of two men having sex, or of two women, to 33 self-declared homosexual men, 33 bisexual men, and 38 heterosexual men. They found that the men who described themselves as bisexual generally had a strong genital arousal to either the male or female sexual images, but not to both, even though the bisexual men reported that they had felt sexually aroused -- psychologically -- by both sets of images. "Male bisexuality," the authors write, "appears primarily to represent a style of interpreting or reporting sexual arousal rather than a distinct pattern of genital sexual arousal." So, while "in terms of behavior and identity, bisexual men clearly exist," skepticism about male bisexuality must "concern claims about bisexual feelings, that is, strong sexual attraction and arousal to both sexes."
The authors say they undertook the research because, since the beginnings of the discipline of psychology, controversy has persisted about "whether bisexual men are substantially sexually aroused by both sexes." Clearly, they note, bisexual behavior in men exists, because many men certainly have had sex with both men and women, and, in a 1994 national survey, about 0.8 percent of American men described themselves as bisexual.
But, the researchers say, their findings provide a new, more complicated picture of the subject. At the least, they say, "it is reasonable to ask whether male bisexual behavior reflects sexual arousal to both sexes." The divergence between genital and reported arousal is "intriguing because measures of genital and subjective arousal tend to be highly correlated in men," they say. They also note that earlier research suggests that bisexual men exaggerate their subjective arousal.
The authors conclude: "With respect to sexual arousal and attraction, it remains to be shown that male bisexuality exists. Thus, future research should also explore nonsexual reasons why some men might prefer a bisexual identity to a homosexual or heterosexual identity."
----------------
Abstract
There has long been controversy about whether bisexual men are substantially sexually aroused by both sexes. We investigated genital and self-reported sexual arousal to male and female sexual stimuli in 30 heterosexual, 33 bisexual, and 38 homosexual men. In general, bisexual men did not have strong genital arousal to both male and female sexual stimuli. Rather, most bisexual men appeared homosexual with respect to genital arousal, although some appeared heterosexual. In contrast, their subjective sexual arousal did conform to a bisexual pattern. Male bisexuality appears primarily to represent a style of interpreting or reporting sexual arousal rather than a distinct pattern of genital sexual arousal.
Although bisexual behavior is not uncommon in men, there has long been skepticism that it is motivated by strong sexual arousal and attraction to both sexes. For example, the case studies of Krafft-Ebing (1886) suggest that most men with bisexual activity have sex with women because of social pressure but have sexual attraction exclusively or almost exclusively to men (Cases 127, 128, 135 [-] 153, and 167). Hirschfeld (1914/2001, pp. 197 [-] 215) speculated that most self-identified bisexual men are either heterosexual or homosexual and that men with substantial bisexual attractions are rare. Freund, who was a pioneer in measuring male genital arousal, wrote that, after assessing genital arousal in hundreds of men, he never found convincing evidence that bisexual arousal patterns exist (1974, p. 39). The existence of male bisexual attraction and arousal remains controversial and poorly understood (Fox, 2000; MacDonald, 2000; Zinik, 2000).