An Exploration of the Relations Between Self-Reported Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in an Online Sample of Cisgender Individuals

Abstract

The present study explored the relations between self-reported aspects of gender identity and sexual orientation in an online sample of 4756 cisgender English-speaking participants (1129 men) using the Multi-Gender Identity Questionnaire and a sexual orientation questionnaire. Participants also labeled their sexual orientation. We found a wide range of gender experiences in the sample, with 38% of the participants feeling also as the “other” gender, 39% wishing they were the “other” gender, and 35% wishing they had the body of the “other” sex. Variability in these measures was very weakly related to sexual orientation, and these relations were gender-specific, being mostly U shaped (or inverted-U shaped) in men and mostly linear asymptotic in women. Thus, in women, feeling-as-a-woman was highest in the exclusively heterosexual group, somewhat lower in the mostly heterosexual group, and lowest in the bisexual, mostly homosexual, and exclusively homosexual groups, which did not differ, and the reverse was true for feeling-as-a-man (i.e., lowest in the exclusively heterosexual group and highest in the bisexual, mostly homosexual, and exclusively homosexual groups). In men, feeling-as-a-man was highest at both ends of the sexual orientation continuum and lowest at its center, and the reverse was true for feeling-as-a-woman. Similar relations were evident also for the other aspects of gender identity. This study adds to a growing body of literature that questions dichotomous conventions within the science of gender and sexuality. Moreover, our results undermine the tight link assumed to exist between sexual and gender identities, and instead posit them as weakly correlated constructs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10508-018-1239-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

What is gender, anyway: a review of the options for operationalising gender

“…All participants, regardless of gender identity, indicate to what extent they feel like a woman and feel like a man; to what extent they wish to be a woman and a man, etc. Results from large non-clinical samples indicate that humanity does not consist of 'typical women' and 'typical men'; instead, there was a large diversity of responses in gender identification and expression, regardless of gender identity (Jacobson & Joel, 2018;Joel et al, 2014).…”

Gender is a multifaceted concept: evidence that specific life experiences differentially shape the concept of gender

“…'Normative' 1 in this literature refers to people who feel that their assigned birth sex is aligned with their affirmed gender identity, and who generally conform to heterosexual norms, or people who are not plurisexual (i.e., are sexually attracted by only one sex). Joel and colleagues explored identity using a questionnaire which measured gender identity, gender dysphoria, and gender performance (Multi-GIQ questionnaire; Joel et al, 2014; see also Jacobson & Joel, 2018 among people who identified as women, men, and queer. They found that, among self-identified women and men, over 35% of people reported feeling the 'opposite' gender, both genders, or neither.…”

Self-Reported Gender Identity and Sexuality in an Online Sample of Cisgender, Transgender, and Gender-Diverse Individuals: An Exploratory Study

“…The two studies also challenged the common assumption that an atypical sexuality predicts an atypical gender identity by showing that the observed variability in gender identity in cisgender individuals was only weakly related to sexual attraction and to self-labeled sexual orientation (Jacobson & Joel, 2018;Joel et al, 2013).…”

“…In two recent studies we have shown that gender identities that transcend the either/or (i.e., either a man or a woman) conceptualization are also present among cisgender individuals (i.e., individuals whose self-labeling is the same as their birthassigned category). Using the Multi-gender Identity Questionnaire (Multi-GIQ; Jacobson & Joel, 2018;Joel, Tarrasch, Berman, Mukamel, & Ziv, 2013) we found that cisgender participants presented a range of gender identity experiences with different levels of feeling as the "other" gender, wishing to be the "other" gender, and/or wishing to have the body of the "other" sex (Jacobson & Joel, 2018;Joel et al, 2013). In other words, feelings and wishes that are usually considered typical of individuals with transgender or nonbinary identity labels were also present in cisgender individuals (for a similar finding in children, see Martin, Andrews, England, Zosuls, & Ruble, 2017).…”