In women, sexual identity appears to enjoy a degree of "fluidity" as individuals reorient sexually over time, according to Diamond's research following 79 young New York women, published this month in Developmental Psychology. Her findings seem to debunk assumptions that women adopt bisexuality "on the way" to lesbianism and that bisexual women are incapable of committing to long-term relationships.
"Variable patterns of same-sex and other-sex desire and behavior may emerge in any woman over time, and might simply be more pronounced among the subset of women who identify as bisexual," reports Diamond, an associate professor of psychology. "According to this view, the distinction between lesbianism and bisexuality is a matter of degree rather than kind, and women's adoption of a bisexual versus lesbian identity may have more to do with her self-concept, ideology and intimate relationships than with her sexual 'essence.' "
Her research documented "considerable fluidity" among the subjects' attractions, behaviors and identities, suggesting many women have the capacity for same-sex attraction.
"There is no one clear definition of sexual orientation. People tend to act as if people can be categorized as either gay or straight, but sexuality is a complex thing," said Paula Rust, a New Jersey sociologist and expert in bisexuality. "People like simple categories because it makes it easier to understand the world. Bisexuality challenges those categories."
She said Diamond's work is unique because there are few longitudinal studies on sexual orientation. "Qualitative research is great for understanding the way people think, but the downside is you can't generalize to a larger population. That's where you need quantitative research with larger sample sizes and statistical data."
Two-thirds of the women in Diamond's study changed their sexual identity over the course of the study, and half of those changed twice or more. She found bisexual and unlabeled women were more likely than lesbians to change their identity, but they tended to switch between bisexual and unlabeled rather than settle on lesbian or heterosexual as their identities. By the 10th year, most of the women had become involved in long-term monogamous rela- tionships.
Diamond's work earned praise from gay and lesbian advocates.
"It helps us move the conversation toward acceptance, and allows people to understand individual differences," said Valerie Larabee of the Utah Pride Center.
bmaffly@sltrib.com
* University of Utah professor Lisa Diamond's article, "Female Bisexuality from Adolescence to Adulthood," reports results from a 10-year longitudinal study of 79 "sexual-minority" women - lesbian, bisexual and "unlabeled."
* Each woman was assessed five times, enabling Diamond to document changes in their sexual behavior and how they "label" their sexual identity.
* Diamond recruited her subjects at college campuses and gay and lesbian events, resulting in a sampling strategy with built-in limitations. Accordingly, the subjects are predominantly white, highly educated and upper middle class.
* The first interviews, conducted in 1995, were done face to face when the women's ages ranged from 18 to 25. Diamond conducted the biennial follow-up interviews by phone.
