title: Asexuality: classification and characterization.
abstract: The term "asexual" has been defined in many different ways and asexuality has received very little research attention. In a small qualitative study (N = 4), individuals who self-identified as asexual were interviewed to help formulate hypotheses for a larger study. The second larger study was an online survey drawn from a convenience sample designed to better characterize asexuality and to test predictors of asexual identity. A convenience sample of 1,146 individuals (N = 41 self-identified asexual) completed online questionnaires assessing sexual history, sexual inhibition and excitation, sexual desire, and an open-response questionnaire concerning asexual identity. Asexuals reported significantly less desire for sex with a partner, lower sexual arousability, and lower sexual excitation but did not differ consistently from non-asexuals in their sexual inhibition scores or their desire to masturbate. Content analyses supported the idea that low sexual desire is the primary feature predicting asexual identity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Prause
authors.forename: Cynthia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012746:Sexual Abstinence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020018:Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology; D019529:Sexuality / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires