Sexual Arousal Patterns of Identical Twins with Discordant Sexual Orientations

Watts, Tuesday M.; Holmes, Luke; Raines, Jamie; Orbell, Sheina; Rieger, Gerulf

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33188-2

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Participants for the constituent studies were recruited by researchers at four sites: Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (6,11,12,29), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (18), the University of Essex in Colchester, UK (15,30), and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY (17). Individual sample sizes and methodological differences between the studies are reported in Table 2.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men

Jabbour

Holmes

Sylva

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The question whether some men have a bisexual orientation—that is, whether they are substantially sexually aroused and attracted to both sexes—has remained controversial among both scientists and laypersons. Skeptics believe that male sexual orientation can only be homosexual or heterosexual, and that bisexual identification reflects nonsexual concerns, such as a desire to deemphasize homosexuality. Although most bisexual-identified men report that they are attracted to both men and women, self-report data cannot refute these claims. Patterns of physiological (genital) arousal to male and female erotic stimuli can provide compelling evidence for male sexual orientation. (In contrast, most women provide similar physiological responses to male and female stimuli.) We investigated whether men who self-report bisexual feelings tend to produce bisexual arousal patterns. Prior studies of this issue have been small, used potentially invalid statistical tests, and produced inconsistent findings. We combined nearly all previously published data (from eight previous studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada), yielding a sample of 474 to 588 men (depending on analysis). All participants were cisgender males. Highly robust results showed that bisexual-identified men’s genital and subjective arousal patterns were more bisexual than were those who identified as exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. These findings support the view that male sexual orientation contains a range, from heterosexuality, to bisexuality, to homosexuality.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Education data were available for 359 participants; educational attainment was not recorded in Jabbour et al ( 29 ), Watts et al ( 30 ), or Slettevold et al ( 15 ). Education was coded as 1 (no high school), 2 (some high school), 3 (high school diploma), 4 (some college), 5 (college graduate), or 6 (postgraduate student or degree).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men

Jabbour

Holmes

Sylva

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For cisgender men, the relationship (β) of their sexual attraction with their genital sexual arousal to male or female sexual stimuli falls between 0.80 and 0.90 (Rieger et al, 2015; Watts et al, 2018). Thus, significant power of 80% can be achieved with a minimum of nine cisgender men with different sexual attractions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men

et al. 2021

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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.

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“…There is concern that self-report measures of sexual arousal may have limited validity. As such, Watts et al (2018) conducted a twin study of sexual arousal that used two physiological measures, namely genital arousal and pupil dilation, when viewing sexual stimuli showing males or females. The sample included six MZ male twin pairs and nine MZ female twin pairs, all discordant for self-reported sexual orientation.…”

Section: Sexual Arousal Patterns In Mz Twins Discordant For Sexual Ormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, the results from the physiological measures aligned with the twins' self-reported sexual preferences. Watts et al (2018) speculated that a combination of epigenetic and prenatal hormonal influences might explain their results.…”

Section: Sexual Arousal Patterns In Mz Twins Discordant For Sexual Ormentioning

confidence: 99%

Twins Reared Apart: Zygotic Division After Artificial Insemination/Twin Research Reviews: Selective Resuscitation of Premature Twins; Scientist Jailed for Editing Twins’ Genes; Sexual Arousal Patterns in MZ Twins Discordant for Sexual Orientation; MZ Twins With Jejuno-Ileal Atresia/Media Reports: Twin Girls’ Search for a Bone Marrow Donor; Puppy with a Possible Parasitic Twin; Twins in Silicon Valley; Surgical Separation of Craniopagus Twins; Twin-BasedNew Yorker MagazineCartoon; Twin Tragedies

Segal

2020

Twin Res Hum Genet

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This article opens with the brief life histories of reared-apart monozygotic (MZ) male twins. A New York City program that helped childless couples conceive via artificial insemination from the 1930s to the 1950s is examined as it related to these twins. The frequency with which pregnancies following assisted reproductive technology resulted in MZ twin pairs is also provided. Next, summaries of twin research concerning selective resuscitation, gene editing, sexual arousal and jejuno-ileal atresia are presented. The article ends with media reports of twin girls’ efforts to find a bone marrow donor for their father, possible parasitic twinning in a puppy, identical female twins’ business venture, the surgical separation of craniopagus twins, a twin-themed magazine cartoon and tragic events involving identical male twins.

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Sexual Arousal Patterns of Identical Twins with Discordant Sexual Orientations

Cited by 14 publications

References 34 publications

Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men

Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men

Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men

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