Identity, Behavior, Attraction

Identity, behavior, attraction, and orientation are not the same.
Granted, about 80% of people in Western nations will identify as straight, be solely attracted to the opposite sex and only have sexual contact with the opposite sex.
That percentage drops dramatically when surveying teens, to around 40-50%.
That leaves 20% of the population who hold some sort of same sex attraction but their identity range from straight to gay; and that identity might change throughout their lifetime. Not to mention same sex behavior, however it is motivated.



CDC 2013 study published in 2016

Table 2. women aged 18-44
81% were only attracted to the opposite sex and
0.8% were only attracted to the same sex.
1.2% weren't sure.
The rest (16.9) were attracted to both in some degree.

Table 3. women aged 18-44
92.3% identified as heterosexual,
1.3% identified as lesbian, gay, or homosexual.
5.5% identified as bisexual,
0.9% didn't report.
 as something else was dropped from the survey.

As usual, when you narrow the age to younger women (18-24),
reported same sex attraction increases (22.4) and
heterosexual identity drops (89.5%).

2013 CDC study
They only questioned sexual identity
which I think is a shame. The study should be as comprehensive, if not more, than the last study.
Among all U.S. adults aged 18 and over,
96.6% identified as straight,
1.6% identified as gay or lesbian,
and 0.7% identified as bisexual.
The remaining 1.1% of adults chose:
‘‘something else’’ (0.2%),
selected ‘‘I don’t know the answer’’ (0.4%),
or refused to provide an answer (0.6%).
They threw out the 1.1% and the numbers changed, As shown in the study provided.

There is a 2013 Pew Research survey
That only surveys LGB identified people (1,197 people).
The discrepancies between identity and attraction still exists
People wonder why most Bisexual people in this survey have partners of the opposite sex (84%)
It's partially in the numbers,
For bisexual women,
13% report being mostly attracted to the opposite sex
34% report being attracted to the opposite sex more
31% report being attracted to the sexes equally.
That's at least 47% that are geared towards the opposite sex
78% that could easily be in relationships with the opposite sex.
6% who chose the opposite sex for whatever reason.

For the record, only 78% of the lesbians surveyed were mostly attracted to the same sex.

CDC national health report
In the cdc report.

Table 5. women aged 15-44.
12.5(0.8)% have had same sex contact with another woman.
The highest was women aged 20-24 at 15.8(1.8)%

Table 11. women aged 18-44.
83.3(1.1)% were only attracted to the opposite sex and
0.8(0.2)% were only attracted to the same sex.
 0.7(0.1)% weren't sure.
The rest (15.3%) were attracted to both in some degree.

women aged 20-24.
only 77.6(2.3)% were only attracted to the opposite sex and
0.8(0.3)% were only attracted to the same sex.
0.4(0.2)% weren't sure.
The rest (21.2%) were attracted to both in some degree

Table 12. women aged 18-44.
93.7(0.5)% identified as heterosexual,
1.1(0.2)% identified as lesbian, gay, or homosexual.
3.5(0.3)% identified as bisexual,
 0.6(0.1)% as something else, and
 1.1 (0.2)% didn't report.

women aged 20-24.
6.3 (1.1)% identified as bisexual

Table 14. women aged 18-44.
4.6(0.6)% of women who said they were only attracted to the opposite sex still had sexual contact with the same sex.
9.0(0.7)% of Women who identified as heterosexual still had sexual contact with the same sex.


Even this study is skewed because same sex behavior For females, includes oral sex or any sexual experience,
For males, includes oral or anal sex with male partners.

This study, the most comprehensive and the one with the highest sample size (56,032), shows a discrepancy in identity and attraction.

how many people are lgbt

how students identify

UK Research report 35: Sexual orientation explored

british kinsey scale study

discrepancies in adolescents
a study done in Quebec of 1,951 students

Twelve percent of adolescents (n=237) endorsed at least one measure of nonexclusive heterosexuality.
A total of 3.4% reported gay/lesbian or bisexual (GLB) identity
(another 3.4% were unsure),
9.0% reported same-gender attraction, and
4.0% same-gender behavior.
There was no consistent pattern of overlap between the three measures, and no single dimension effectively captured this population.
The question about attraction identified 71%;
identity identified 52%; and
behavior only 31%.
In raw numbers, more heterosexually identified students reported same-gender attraction (n=95) or same-gender behavior (n=33) than
GLB-identified students (n=44 and 29, respectively).

And other scholars see a distinction too.

"...I use the term "sexual orientation" to mean a consistent, enduring pattern of sexual desire for individuals of the same sex, the other sex, or both sexes, regardless of whether this pattern of desire is manifested in sexual behavior. A woman can have a lesbian orientation but never have a same-sex relationship, just as she can have a heterosexual orientation and still pursue multiple samesex affairs. Most scientists consider desire, not behavior, the marker of sexual orientation. "Sexual identity" refers to a culturally organized conception of the self, usually "lesbian/gay," "bisexual," or "heterosexual." As with sexual orientation, we cannot presume that these identities correspond to particular patterns of behavior. Nor can we presume that they correspond to particular patterns of desire. Because sexual identities represent self-concepts, they depend on individuals' own notions about the most important aspects of their sexual selves. These notions, as we will see, can vary quite a bit from individual to individual. Moreover, some people—particularly women—reject conventional lesbian/gay/bisexual identity labels in favor of alternative labels such as "queer," "questioning," or "pansexual." Others reject all identity labels in order to make room for a broad range of sexual possibilities, as well as to acknowledge the fact that all labels are somewhat arbitrary"- Lisa Diamond

Side note, Here is the conclusion of Lisa Diamond's study:

Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: Results from a 10-year longitudinal study:

The findings of this research suggest that there are, in fact, appreciable boundaries between the long-term developmental trajectories of lesbian, bisexual, and unlabeled women, but these boundaries are relatively fluid. 

Hence, the present study supports the notion of bisexuality as a third type of sexual orientation and also supports the notion of bisexuality as a capacity for context-specific flexibility in erotic response. In contrast, the findings are inconsistent with the long-debated notion of bisexuality as a transitional stage or “phase.” 

Of course, this study is limited by its reliance on a small (79), exclusively female, disproportionately White and middle-class sample, and future research on larger and more diverse samples of sexual-minority women and men is important for determining the generalizability of the findings.

 Nonetheless, the results have important social and scientific implications. They contribute to researchers' emerging scientific understanding of the basic nature and longitudinal development of female sexual orientation, and they provide critically important information for educators and clinicians attempting to understand the distinct challenges and meet the unique needs of bisexual individuals over the life course.

I've seen this study used to draw conclusions about female sexuality in broader populations, that is a misuse of the data. The sample size is too small and narrow to draw any broader conclusions. This data just shows that Bisexuality is not a phase.

Reading is Fundamental

revised from 1/30/12