Correlates of Early Overt and Covert Sexual Behaviors in Heterosexual Women

Abstract

We used data provided by 417 Kinsey-0 and Kinsey-1 heterosexual women using an anonymous computerized survey to determine the adult correlates of two female-female behaviors that occurred before age 18; 25.4% of participants reported engaging in one or both behaviors. Sexual experimentation with females and masturbating using images of females before age 18 were statistically significant predictors of four different female-female behaviors in adulthood: sexual contact with females, masturbating using images of females, preferring a female fantasy partner while having sex with a favorite (male) partner, and voyeurism directed at females; 27.3% of the participants reported engaging in one or more of the latter four behaviors. The analogous early female-male behaviors were not statistically significant predictors of female-female behaviors in adults. Conditioning resulting from participation in these early female-female behaviors might explain the correlations between the two early behaviors and the subsequent four adult same-gender behaviors. The earliest and latest ages that participants engaged in each early behavior and case-by-case analysis showed that the sequence of events leading to the female-female adult behaviors was initial sexual experimentation with similar age females (at a median age of 9 years) followed by masturbating using images of females (at a median age of 15). These results suggest that conditioning and other forms of learning play an important role in establishing coexisting same-gender orientations in heterosexual women.

Not Always a Straight Path: College Students’ Narratives of Heterosexual Identity Development

“…Striepe and Tolman's (2003) interviews with adolescents also revealed purposeful examinations of heterosexuality as a result of not conforming to prescribed heterosexual gender ideologies for both girls and boys. Several studies have also revealed that a significant subgroup of heterosexual men and women have histories of same-sex attraction and behavior beginning adolescence and continuing into adulthood (Bickham et al 2007;Dunne et al 2000;Kinnish et al 2005;Vrangalova and Savin-Williams 2010). This body of research provides support for the possibility that a heterosexual identity does not consistently reflect stable or uniform heterosexual attraction, fantasy, or behavior.…”

Sister-brother Incest: Data from Anonymous Computer Assisted Self Interviews

“…There is growing evidence that all types of incest that start early in the victims' lives tend to result in early hyper-eroticization of the victims that persists into adulthood (e.g., Beard et al, 2013;Stroebel et al, 2012;Stroebel, O'Keefe, Griffee et al, 2013;Yates, 1982), and the mechanism behind this effect appears to be a type of early learning directly related to sexual functioning called sexual imprinting ; for a review of animal studies on sexual imprinting see Irwin & Price, 1999) working in concert with Pavlovian conditioning and operant conditioning Bickham et al, 2007). Furthermore, sexual imprinting working in concert with Pavlovian conditioning and operant conditioning is the mechanism that explains the powerful tendency of same-sex sibling incest or non-incestuous early experiences with same-sex partners to produce permanent adult same-sex or bisexual orientations in the victims Bickham et al, 2007;Hoffman, 2012;Pfaus et al, 2012;Robinett, 2012;Stroebel, O'Keefe, Griffee et al, 2013).…”

“…Furthermore, sexual imprinting working in concert with Pavlovian conditioning and operant conditioning is the mechanism that explains the powerful tendency of same-sex sibling incest or non-incestuous early experiences with same-sex partners to produce permanent adult same-sex or bisexual orientations in the victims Bickham et al, 2007;Hoffman, 2012;Pfaus et al, 2012;Robinett, 2012;Stroebel, O'Keefe, Griffee et al, 2013).…”

“…Very early and life-long eroticization, shaming, emotional cut-offs from sibling incest-partners, cognitive dissonance Caffaro & Conn-Caffaro, 1998;Festinger, 1957;Stroebel et al, 2012;Stroebel, O'Keefe, Griffee et al, 2013), and conditioning acting in concert with sexual imprinting Bickham et al, 2007;O'Keefe et al, 2009;Stroebel et al, 2010;Stroebel, O'Keefe, Griffee et al, 2013) are all important mechanisms that could cause harm as a result of participating in sexual experiences in childhood or adolescence that would not be readily apparent to the victims, themselves, and which could occur whether or not participation was voluntary and whether or not the participant's initial response was positive or negative.…”

Considering the Role of Conditioning in Sexual Orientation

“…(2002) found that adults born to older parents were more attracted to partners with older faces than those born to younger parents. Finally, Bickham et al (2007) compared heterosexual women (who were behaviorally Kinsey 0's or 1's) and found that experimenting sexually with females and masturbating using images of females prior to the age of 18 predicted sex contact with females, masturbating to images of females, fantasizing about a female sex partner when having sex with male, and voyeurism directed at women in adulthood. They proposed that because Kinsey 1's have a primarily heterosexual orientation and because analogous early female-male behaviors were not significant predictors of adult female-female behavior (i.e., such behavior did not differ between the Kinsey 0's and 1's) argue against the effect being due to a same-sex predisposition.…”