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Sexual Fluidity and Women's Bisexual Identity Development Julijana Draganic

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Sexual Fluidity and Women's Bisexual Identity Development Julijana Draganic University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2013 Sexual Fluidity And Women's Bisexual Identity Development Julijana Draganic Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Draganic, Julijana, "Sexual Fluidity And Women's Bisexual Identity Development" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 1347. https://commons.und.edu/theses/1347 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SEXUAL FLUIDITY AND WOMEN’S BISEXUAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT by Julijana Draganic Bachelor of Arts, Minot State University, 2007 Master of Science, University of Mary, 2009 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota August 2013 Title Sexual Fluidity and Women’s Bisexual Identity Development Department Counseling Psychology Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work, or in her absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the dean of the Graduate school. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Julijana Draganic July 18, 2012 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................ix ACKGNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................xi ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 3 Terminology Relevant to Bisexual Research ............................. 3 Sexual Fluidity in Women ......................................................... 6 Bisexuality: Orientation and Identity ......................................... 8 Bisexual Orientation ........................................................ 8 Bisexual Identity ............................................................. 9 Orientation vs. Identity .................................................. 10 Brief Summary of Issues Related to Sexual Fluidity and Bisexual Orientation and Identity ............. 10 Bisexual Identity Models ......................................................... 11 Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Development Models ........................................................................... 11 Bisexual Identity Model: Weinberg ............................. 12 Bisexual Identity Model: Bradford ............................... 14 iv Comparison of the Models ............................................ 15 Overall Criticisms of the Bisexual Identity Models ...... 16 Summary ....................................................................... 17 Identity Resolution and Support .............................................. 18 Social Support ............................................................... 18 Biphobia and Community Support ................................ 19 Impacts of Biphobia ...................................................... 21 Summary ....................................................................... 22 The Current Study .................................................................... 23 Benefit of the Current Study ......................................... 23 III. METHOD .......................................................................................... 25 Participants and Procedures ..................................................... 26 Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Data Collection ... 28 Instruments............................................................................... 29 Demographic Questionnaire Form ................................ 29 Sexual Fluidity Grid (SFG) ........................................... 29 Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (KSOG) ........................ 31 Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale ............ 32 Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale (LGBIS) .... 33 Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) ........................................................................ 34 Statistical Analyses .................................................................. 36 IV. RESULTS ........................................................................................... 39 v Participants............................................................................... 39 Age ............................................................................... 39 Racial Identity .............................................................. 41 Education and Personal Income ................................... 41 Place of Residence ....................................................... 41 A Brief Summary of the Information in the Demographic Section is Presented Below ................... 42 Demographic Questionnaire Form........................................... 42 Research Question I ................................................................. 45 Research Question II ................................................................ 47 Research Question III .............................................................. 49 Research Question IV .............................................................. 50 Qualitative Findings ................................................................. 52 Attraction to Men and Women .................................... 54 Attraction to Person ..................................................... 54 Non-Restrictive Sexuality ............................................ 55 Physical and Sexual Attraction .................................... 55 Emotional and Relational Attraction ........................... 55 Identity and Labeling ................................................... 56 Monogamy and Polyamory .......................................... 56 Degree of Attraction and Preference ........................... 57 Summary .................................................................................. 57 V. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................... 59 vi Quantitative Analysis ............................................................... 60 Disclosure of Sexual Orientation .................................. 60 Invisibility and Isolation ................................................ 60 Pressure to Identify Exclusively .................................... 61 LGBT Community Involvement ................................... 61 Research Questions .................................................................. 62 Qualitative Analysis ................................................................. 66 Study Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research ................................................................................... 67 APPENDICES ............................................................................................... .70 REFERENCES ............................................................................................ .122 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Conceptual Model of Bradford’s Bisexual Identity Development .................. 121 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Sexual Fluidity Grid: Sample ........................................................................... 30 2 . Key Variables ................................................................................................... 37 3. Description of Demographic Information......................................................... 40 4. Description of Comfort Level and Disclosure of Sexual Orientation .............. 42 5. Description of Relationship History ................................................................. 43 6. Description of Community Involvement .......................................................... 44 7. Correlations: KSOG and SFG........................................................................... 46 8 . One-way ANOVA: KSOG ............................................................................... 48 9. One-way ANOVA: Negative Identity .............................................................. 48 10. Correlations: Fluidity, MSPSS, and Community Connection .......................... 49 11. Bradford’s Theoretical Stages x Fluidity .......................................................... 52 12 . Bisexuality Themes: Level of Fluidity ............................................................
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