It’s not just gay or straight
These days, there is growing awareness of the diversity in sexual orientation. But research on the continuum of sexual attraction and behavior goes back many decades. As early as the 1940s, Dr. Alfred Kinsey helped to develop the Kinsey Scale for measuring sexual attraction and behavior along a continuum, with many people falling somewhere in between gay and straight in terms of their sexual attractions and behaviors(Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, 2014).
More recently, Dr. Fritz Klein developed the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, which takes into account the romantic and emotional elements in attraction, as well as the possibility for fluctuation in sexual orientation over the course of a lifetime (American Institute of Bisexuality, 2014).
Visit the Featured Content below to learn more about the Kinsey Scale and Klein Sexual Orientation Grid.
The bottom line: there is tremendous diversity in human sexuality. Attraction—physical, romantic, and emotional—is basic to the human condition. And so is the broad diversity in sexual orientation.
Featured Content
Learn more about the Kinsey Scale from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.
Learn more about the Klein Grid from the American Institute of Bisexuality.
References:
The Kinsey Scale. (2019). Kinsey Institute. https://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/publications/kinsey-scale.php
The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid. (2014). American Institute of Bisexuality. http://www.americaninstituteofbisexuality.org/thekleingrid
