This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

The degree to which bisexual-identified individuals are distinct from either heterosexual or homosexual individuals in their sexual orientation is an ongoing debate. We examined potential differences between these groups with respect to a strong correlate of sexual orientation, gender nonconformity (femininity in males, masculinity in females). Across pooled data, we compared self-reports of childhood gender nonconformity (n = 919) and adulthood gender nonconformity (n = 1265), and observer ratings of adulthood gender nonconformity (n = 915) between sexual orientations. Most analyses suggested a steady increase in gender nonconformity from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. However, in some analyses, bisexual men were closer to homosexual men than to heterosexual men in their gender nonconformity. The intermediate status of bisexual people in gender nonconformity was not due to the sample having a mixture of very gender-conforming and very gender-nonconforming individuals. In total, men and women with bisexual orientations appeared neither like heterosexual nor homosexual individuals, at least with respect to their gender-related traits.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a unique context for studying the spread of conspiratorial beliefs within the general population and their role in mediating compliance with government guidance. Here, we apply multivariate and machine learning methods to analyse data from tens of thousands of members of the British public at 6-monthly timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report that distrust and conspiratorial beliefs significantly predict non-compliant behaviours and covary with sociodemographic variables, being most prevalent for disadvantaged and minority groups. Free text analyses reveal that perceptions of corruption, cronyism, disputing lockdown motivations and the potential of COVID-19 being a lab-leaked bioweapon were common topics motivating non-compliance, with the prevalence and distribution of such beliefs evolving as the pandemic progressed. We propose that survey data could be analysed this way to identify current topics of distrust and map them to demographic variables, enabling the most relevant arguments to be tailored for each individual.

Most men show sexual arousal to one, preferred sex, whereas most women respond to both sexes, regardless of their sexual orientation. A different research program indicates that men have lower secondto-fourth finger length ratios (2D:4D) than women, possibly because men are exposed to higher levels of androgens during prenatal development. We hypothesized that sex differences in sexual arousal patterns are influenced by prenatal androgen exposure and would thus be explained by sex differences in 2D:4D. We measured the sexual response patterns of 139 men and 179 women via genital arousal and pupil dilation to erotic videos, in addition to their 2D:4D. Compared to women, men showed stronger responses to one sex over the other, although this pattern was clearer in genital arousal than pupil dilation. Men also had lower 2D:4D than women. However, there was no evidence that sex differences in sexual arousal related to sex differences in 2D:4D. Thus, whichever factor explains sex differences in sexual arousal patterns may not be reflected in 2D:4D.

Most men show genital sexual arousal to one preferred gender. Most women show genital arousal to both genders, regardless of their sexual preferences. There is limited knowledge of whether this difference is driven by biological sex or gender identity. Transgender individuals, whose birth sex and gender identity are incongruent, provide a unique opportunity to address this question. We tested whether the genital responses of 25 (female-to-male) transgender men followed their female birth sex or male gender identity. Depending on their surgical status, arousal was assessed with penile gauges or vaginal plethysmographs. Transgender men’s sexual arousal showed both male-typical and female-typical patterns. Across measures, they responded more strongly to their preferred gender than to the other gender, similar to (but not entirely like) 145 cisgender (nontransgender) men. However, they still responded to both genders, similar to 178 cisgender women. In birth-assigned women, both gender identity and biological sex may influence sexual-arousal patterns.