Beyond Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual: A Diversity in Sexual Identity Expression

Abstract

In creating his Heterosexual-Homosexual rating scale, Kinsey conceptualized sexual orientation on a Likert-type scale from exclusive heterosexual attraction (score of 0) to exclusive homosexual attraction (score of 6),with bisexuality falling in the middle (Kinsey, Pomeroy, & Martin, 1948/1998; Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, & Gebhard, 1953/1998). Kinsey also recognized that some persons are asexual, which he described as an absence of "social-sexual contact or reactions" (Kinsey et al., 1948/1998). Indeed, asexual persons are thought to exhibit little or no sexual attraction (Bogaert, 2004; Hinderliter, 2009). However, the orientation of asexuality exists outside of the Kinsey 6-point rating scale, because of the inherent difficulty incorporating persons who report a complete lack of interest in sexual behavior within Kinsey's one-dimensional conceptualization of sexual orientation. In addition, the Kinsey scale does not consider diverse descriptions of sexual identity, such as pansexual or non-binary gender, which in recent years anecdotally appear to have gained limited acceptance among some small and diverse communities. Therefore, the Kinsey scale may not adequately reflect current expressions of sexual identity, particularly in Western society.