Development of sexual orientation among adolescent and young adult women.
Although some research suggests that sexual orientation is a stable, early appearing trait, interviews with 89 young sexual-minority women revealed that a majority of women failed to report at least one of the following: childhood indicators of sexual orientation, stability in same-sex attractions, or awareness of same-sex attractions prior to the conscious process of sexual questioning. Lesbians were not more likely to report these experiences than bisexuals, although they reported significantly greater same-sex attractions. Consistent with studies on older cohorts, few young women reported exclusive same-sex attractions. These findings suggest that recollected consistency among prior and current behavior, ideation, and attractions are not systematically associated with sexual orientation among contemporary young women.
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. lmd15@cornell.edu
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D011606:Psychosexual Development; D012725:Sexual Behavior