title: Implicit measurements of sexual preference in self-declared heterosexual men: a pilot study on the rate of androphilia in Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An unambiguous measurement of the rate of nonheterosexuality in the male population (male bisexuality and homosexuality) is essential to estimate the health risks associated with same-sex sexual behavior and to scale social and health programs for these citizens. However, self-reported questionnaires on explicit measures of sexual orientation yield significant underestimations of nonheterosexuality. A necessary prerequisite for nonheterosexual preference is androphilia (sexual-erotic attraction to males), which can be explored through psychological tests.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study, using a pilot sample, investigates the possibility to inventory the frequency of male androphilia in the general population through a sexual preference implicit association test (sp-IAT). This test is a classical IAT that is based on an association of pictures and words and is easily portable.
  
  
  METHODS
  First we conducted a preliminary validation of the specific IAT protocol on 24 control subjects; then, we examined a sample of 150 adult males in Italy as a pilot study. The subjects responded to the sp-IAT and completed the explicit Kinsey scale questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  Kinsey scale scores and D value of sp-IAT for both preliminary and pilot sample.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the explicit Kinsey scale, 2.7% of the sample declared themselves to be sexually attracted to men, corresponding to previous explicit samplings of the Italian homosexual male population. However, the sp-IAT identified that 11.3% of self-declared gynephilic heterosexuals showed a moderate to strong androphilia with a significant effect size (D) always below -0.2, and another 5.6% of the heterosexual sample showed no preference for females (D between -0.2 and 0).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Kinsey questionnaire strongly dichotomized the responses as either attracted to females or attracted to men, whereas the sp-IAT showed a wider distribution of responses from gynephilia to androphilia. In conclusion, the sp-IAT could be a novel and unambiguous instrument useful to ascertain androphilia population prevalence as a proxy for possible male nonheterosexuality. Camperio Ciani A and Battaglia U. Implicit measurements of sexual preference in self-declared heterosexual men: A pilot study on the rate of androphilia in Italy. J Sex Med 2014;11:2207-2217.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Evolutionary Psychology, Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camperio Ciani
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Battaglia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D020010:Heterosexuality / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Androphilia; Implicit Association Test; Nonheterosexuality