Bisexual erasure: Perceived attraction patterns of bisexual women and men

Bisexual individuals face identity denial and erasure and qualitative analyses suggest that it may be gendered, such that people stereotype bisexual women as truly heterosexual and bisexual men as truly gay. Across three studies (total N = 787), we examined perceptions of bisexual targets’ attractio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of social psychology 2022-03, Vol.52 (2), p.249-259
Main Authors: Morgenroth, Thekla, Kirby, Teri A., Cuthbert, Maisie J., Evje, Jacob, Anderson, Arielle E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bisexual erasure
Bisexuality
Gender differences
Gender stereotypes
Heterosexuality
Homosexuality
Labelling
Lesbianism
LGBT
Men
Meta-analysis
monosexism
Qualitative research
sexual minorities
Women
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Summary:Bisexual individuals face identity denial and erasure and qualitative analyses suggest that it may be gendered, such that people stereotype bisexual women as truly heterosexual and bisexual men as truly gay. Across three studies (total N = 787), we examined perceptions of bisexual targets’ attraction patterns. Participants rated the attraction of either a female or male bisexual target to both the same gender/sex and opposite gender/sex. An internal meta‐analysis revealed that heterosexual, lesbian, and gay participants all perceived bisexual men as more attracted to men than to women. No such pattern emerged for bisexual women. These differences between the perception of bisexual women and bisexual men were also reflected in the endorsement of an explicit measure of bisexual erasure. Our findings add to the understanding of the unique bias bisexual people face by showing that perceived attraction patterns may underlie the labelling of bisexual men as “actually gay”.
ISSN:0046-2772
1099-0992
DOI:10.1002/ejsp.2773