Bisexual & Monosexual Chivalry Preferences

Abstract

Despite the gradual social evolution towards gender egalitarianism since the middle of the 20th century, gendered courtship and dating scripts, including chivalry, have remained representative of heterosexual courtship. At the same time, marriage equality and equal rights for the LGBTQIA+ community presents an opportunity to study genderless manifestations of chivalry and “apply the lessons from LGBTQ dating and relationships to heterosexual couples” (Lamont, 2021). In this study, we investigated chivalry expectations across sexual orientation, and among interorientation couples (heterosexual-bisexual and lesbian/gay-bisexual). We found that chivalry expectations were highest for anyone dating a male, expectations were lower for bisexual men than for heterosexual men, and chivalry expectations were generally lower for those in interorientation relationships than those in relationships with someone of the same sexual orientation. Overall, bisexuals have the most egalitarian chivalry expectations, suggesting that it is possible for courtship expectations to be equal regardless of sex.