Facilitative Environments Related to Sexual Orientation Development and Sexual Fluidity in Sexual Minority Young Adults Across Different Gender Identities

ABSTRACT

Previous theories of sexual orientation development and sexual fluidity are limited because they describe these processes separately and represent the experiences of only some sexual orientation subgroups. This study qualitatively examined sexual orientation development and sexual fluidity among 18 young adults, ages 18 to 26 years. Participants reported sexual fluidity in attractions on an online survey and represented a range of gender identities and sexual minority subgroups. Participants completed an in-depth interview about sexual orientation development, sexual orientation identity labels, and interpretations of sexual fluidity. Three categories of themes emerged from participants' narratives and were explored in depth: early indicators of sexual orientation, context of first questioning sexual orientation, and current perceptions of sexual orientation and changes. The facilitative environments model is proposed to provide a conceptual representation of sexual orientation development and sexual fluidity as occurring at the confluence of individual, interpersonal, and societal factors.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual identity development
• sexual fluidity
• sexual orientation
• theoretical model

Acknowledgments

Sabra L. Katz-Wise is now at Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA. The authors wish to acknowledge Kyle Kunz and Caitlin Mosman Block for their help with transcription and coding; Martha Alibali, Jane Collins, Julie D'Acci, Kristin Shutts, Stephanie Budge and Julie Keller for their feedback throughout this project; and a special thank you to the participants for sharing their stories with us.

Funding

This research was funded by a Student Research Grant Award from the Kinsey Institute.

Notes

1. A full description of the online survey is detailed elsewhere (Katz-Wise, 2012, 2015; Katz-Wise & Hyde, 2015).

2. Pseudonyms are used throughout.

3. Descriptors of participants as female, male, or transgender are based on the gender identity that participants indicated on the survey.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sabra L. Katz-Wise

Sabra L. Katz-Wise, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital and in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Her research investigates sexual orientation and gender identity development, sexual fluidity, health disparities related to sexual orientation and gender identity in adolescents and young adults, and psychosocial functioning in families with transgender youth. She is working on an NIH-funded community-based mixed-methods longitudinal study to examine how the family environment affects the health and well-being of transgender youth.

Janet S. Hyde

Janet S. Hyde, PhD, is a developmental psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research investigates psychology of women, human sexuality, and gender-role development. She is currently working on a number of research projects, which examine the emergence of gender differences in depression in adolescence, gender differences and similarities in mathematics performance, and outcomes in single-sex and coeducational schooling.