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Female Same-Sex Sexuality from a Dynamical Systems Perspective: Sexual Desire, Motivation, and Behavior

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Female Same-Sex Sexuality from a Dynamical Systems Perspective: Sexual Desire, Motivation, and Behavior Female Same-Sex Sexuality from a Dynamical Systems Perspective: Sexual Desire, Motivation, and Behavior Rachel H. Farr, Lisa M. Diamond & Steven M. Boker Archives of Sexual Behavior The Official Publication of the International Academy of Sex Research ISSN 0004-0002 Volume 43 Number 8 Arch Sex Behav (2014) 43:1477-1490 DOI 10.1007/s10508-014-0378-z 1 23 Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +Business Media New York. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be self- archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com”. 1 23 Author's personal copy Arch Sex Behav (2014) 43:1477–1490 DOI 10.1007/s10508-014-0378-z ORIGINAL PAPER Female Same-Sex Sexuality from a Dynamical Systems Perspective: Sexual Desire, Motivation, and Behavior Rachel H. Farr • Lisa M. Diamond • Steven M. Boker Received: 13 February 2013 / Revised: 21 February 2014 / Accepted: 14 April 2014 / Published online: 6 September 2014 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract Fluidity in attractions and behaviors among same- Keywords Dynamical systems analysis Á sex attracted women has been well-documented, suggesting Female sexuality Á Sexual orientation Á Sexual attraction Á the appropriateness of dynamical systems modeling of these Sexual behavior phenomena over time. As dynamical systems modeling offer an approach to explaining the patterns of complex phenom- ena, it may be apt for explaining variability in female same- Introduction sex sexuality. The present research is the first application of this analytical approach to such data. Dynamical systems Traditional models describing sexual orientation have gener- modeling, and specifically generalized local linear approxi- allyconsideredonly‘‘homosexual’’versus‘‘heterosexual’’mod- mation modeling, was used to fit daily diary data on same-sex els. However, recent research with diverse populations of sex- attractions and behaviors over a 21 day period among a ual minority persons (i.e., individuals with same-sex attrac- group of 33 sexual minority women characterized as lesbian, tions, behaviors, and/or identities) suggests a far more complex bisexual or ‘‘fluid’’ based on their identity histories. Daily picture about the development and nature of sexual orientation. measures of women’s reported same-sex attractions were fit Traditional models have tended to suggest sexual orientation is using a linear oscillator model and its parameters estimated innate, biologically driven, and stable over time. However, find- the cyclicity in these attractions. Results supported the exis- ings from recent studies illustrate that same-sex sexuality, par- tence of a‘‘coresexual orientation’’for women in this sample, ticularly female same-sex sexuality, unfolds through multiple devel- regardless of how they identified and despite a high degree of opmental pathways, has multiple manifestations, and may have variability in daily same-sex attractions. Thus, modeling multiple determinants (Diamond, 2005; Diamond & Savin- individual differences in the variability of attractions and Williams, 2000; Garnets & Kimmel, 2003;Hyde,2005;Mus- behaviors of sexual minority women may be critical to fur- tanski, Chivers, & Bailey, 2002;Peplau&Garnets,2000;Savin- thering our understanding of female same-sex sexuality and Williams & Diamond, 2000). human sexual orientation more broadly. Findings from studies specifically exploring female same-sex sexuality consistently demonstrate poor fit with conventional models, since women are more likely than men to report bisex- R. H. Farr (&) uality (i.e., attractions towards and/or behaviors with same- and Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, other-sex individuals) and women show less stability over time 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA than men in reported attractions and behaviors (Baumeister, e-mail: [email protected] 2000; Diamond, 2003a, 2005, 2008a). In effect, developing and L. M. Diamond testing systematic models of female same-sex sexuality have Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, proven complicated. Dynamical systems analysis offers a suit- USA able approach to analyzing extant longitudinal data regarding female same-sex sexuality (e.g., Diamond, 2008b), which could S. M. Boker Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, further our understanding about relationships among sexual ori- VA, USA entation,attraction,desire,motivation,andbehaviorsacrosstime. 123 Author's personal copy 1478 Arch Sex Behav (2014) 43:1477–1490 Female Same-Sex Sexuality genes, hormones, and maturational state) and social influences (e.g., situational, interpersonal, and cultural contexts), a dynam- Numerous studies have demonstrated that female same-sex ical systems perspective could be beneficial in sexuality studies sexuality is characterized by greater fluidity than is male (Savin-Williams & Diamond, 2004; Tolman & Diamond, same-sex sexuality—meaning that it is particularly sensitive 2001). to situational, interpersonal, and contextual factors (Baumei- Dynamical systems models attempt toexplain the order and ster, 2000; Diamond, 2003b, 2005; Peplau, 2001). Women patterning of complex physical phenomena in the natural are more likely than men to report changes in their sexual world (e.g., Kelso & Tuler, 1984) and may prove better suited attractions, behavior, and identities over time and across situ- to explaining variability in female same-sex sexuality than ations, often as a result of changes in their relationships or have traditional models. Specifically, traditional models have environments (Baumeister, 2000; Blumstein & Schwartz, not been able to adequately conceptualize phenomena such as 1990; Diamond, 2003a, 2005, 2008c; Weinberg, Williams, & within-person variability and nonlinear change in women’s Pryor, 1994). Research also indicates that women are more same-sex sexuality over time and across different environ- likely than men to report bisexual patterns of attraction and ments. Historically, such phenomena have been discounted as arousal rather than exclusive same-sex sexuality (Baumei- idiosyncratic and unexplainable‘‘noise’’in the data, reflecting ster, 2000; Chivers, Rieger, Latty, & Bailey, 2004; Chivers, the long-standing presumption that same-sex sexuality is a Seto, & Blanchard, 2007; Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, & fundamentally stable trait (Diamond, 2008c). When change Michaels, 1994; Russell & Consolacion, 2003). Women, overtimehas beenstudied,ithas onlybeeninthe contextofthe more so than men, often highlight the roles of choice, circum- classic‘‘coming out’’process, the linear‘‘unfolding’’of same- stance, and chance in influencing their sexual orientation and sexattractionsanddesiresthatculminateswiththeindividual’s identity (Golden,1996).Infact, somewomen experience sev- eventual realization, acceptance, and integration of his/her eral transitions in sexual identity as a result of changes in same-sex orientation and identity. The specific contribution of relationships, attractions, and experiences (Diamond, 2003a, adynamicalsystemsapproachisthatitwouldtreatchangeover 2005). Lastly, women often engage in sexual behavior that time as a fundamental characteristic of the system, rather than may seem counterintuitive given their reported attractionsand an atypical aberration. identities (e.g., women who have nearly exclusive heterosexual One particularly important contribution of the dynamical attractions having sex with women and women who have systems approach is its capacity to reconcile both stability and predominantly same-sex attractions pursuing sex with men) change. As noted earlier, not all women appear equally‘‘fluid’’ (Bell, Weinberg, & Hammersmith, 1981; Diamond, 2003a, in their same-sex attractions, behaviors, and identities. Simi- 2005; Weinberg et al., 1994). Thus, studies of female sexu- larly, the substantial within-person variability that has emerged alityhaveemergedasdemonstratingittobeuniquefrommale in studies of women’s same-sex sexuality should not be taken to sexuality in several ways, particularly as characterized by its suggest that women will tend toward progressively increasing fluidity. (and increasingly idiosyncratic) variability in their sexual expe- However, not all women are sexually ‘‘fluid’’or show such riences and self-concept over time. Rather, there appear to be ‘‘plasticity’’(Baumeister, 2000). The patterns of same-sex sex- both constraining and propelling influences on women’s pro- uality for some women fit rather well with more traditional pensities for change and the degree of change which occurs over models of sexual orientation, since some women report nearly time (including both biological and cultural factors). Over time, exclusive and stable attractions toward and behaviors with synergistic interactions between these propelling and constrain- members of the same-sex, identify consistently over time as ing influences tend to channel individuals in regular, albeit flex- lesbian, and describe their sexuality
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