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Cited by 347LGBTQ Health, Identity, and PolicyGender and Feminist StudiesPsychometric Methodologies and Testing

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Defining and Measuring Sexual Orientation: A Review

Sell, Randall L.·1997·Archives of Sexual Behavior
DOI 10.1023/a:1024528427013
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Abstract

How to define and identify sexual orientations for the purpose of constructing representative samples of homosexuals, bisexuals, and heterosexuals is unclear and confusing to researchers. Different definitions and measures have been proposed and used to develop samples since the 1860s when sexual orientations first gained widespread research interest. Unfortunately, the definitions and measurement tools used since then result in the selection of divergent and incomparable samples. If advances in the understanding of sexual orientations are to be made, it is critical that definitions and measures of sexual orientation be standardized. This paper reviews and critiques definitions and measures of sexual orientation that have been proposed and used by researchers over the past century. This review is intended to further our understanding of this subject and to encourage researchers to be critical of how they classify subjects based upon sexual orientation.

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Citations

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Research works printed but not linked: 20

  1. Beach, F. (1950). Comments on the second dialogue in Corydon. In Gide, A., Corydon, Farrar, Straus, New York.
  2. Blumer, G. A. (1882). A case of perverted sexual instinct (contrare sexualempfindung). J. Insanity 39: 22–35.
  3. Bullough, V. (1990). The Kinsey Scale in historical perspective. In McWhirter, D. P., Sanders, S. A., and Reinisch, J. M. (eds.), Homosexuality/Heterosexuality: Concepts of Sexual Orientation, Oxford University Press, New York.
  4. Bullough, V. (1994). Introduction. In The Riddle of Man-Manly Love, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY.
  5. Carpenter, E. (1894). Homogenic Love and Its Place in a Free Society, Labour Press, Manchester, England.
  6. Carpenter, E. (1908). The Intermediate Sex, Allen and Unwin, London.
  7. Coleman, E. (1990). Toward a synthetic understanding of sexual orientation. In McWhirter, D. P., Sanders, S. A., and Reinisch, J. M. (eds.), Homosexuality/Heterosexuality: Concepts of Sexual Orientation, Oxford University Press, New York.
  8. Ellis, H., and Symonds J. A. (1896). Sexual Inversion, Wilson and Macmillan, London.
  9. Katz, N. (1992). Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the United States, Meridian, New York.
  10. Legman, G. (1941). The language of homosexuality: An American glossary. In Henry, G. W., Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patterns, Paul B. Hoeber, New York.
  11. Masters, W. H., Johnson, V. E., and Kolodny, R. C. (1988). Human Sexuality: Third Edition, Scott, Foresman, Glenview, IL.
  12. Moll, A. (1891). Die Kontrare Geschlechtsempfindung, Fischer's Medicin, Berlin, Germany.
  13. Plato (1993). The Symposium and The Phaedrus, State of New York Press, Albany, NY.
  14. Potter, L. A. F. (1933). Strange Loves: A Study in Sexual Abnormalities, Robert Dodsely, New York.
  15. Robinson, V. (ed.). (1936). Encyclopedia Sexualis. Dingwall-Rock, New York.
  16. Signorle, M. (1993). Queer in America, Random House, New York.
  17. Sudman, S. (1976). Applied Sampling, Academic Press, New York.
  18. Ulrichs, K. H. (1994). The Riddle of Man-Manly Love, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY.
  19. Weinrich, J. D. (1994). Homosexuality. In Bullough, V. L., and Bullough, B. (eds.), Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia, Garland, New York.
  20. Weinrich, J. D. (1990). The Kinsey Scale in biology, with a note on Kinsey as a biologist. In McWhirter, D. P., Sanders, S. A., and Reinisch, J. M. (eds.), Homosexuality,: Concepts of Sexual Orientation, Oxford University Press, New York.

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Metadata

Authors
Sell, R. L.
Affiliations
Columbia University (US)
Corresponding author
Sell, Randall L.
ORCID
Sell, Randall L.
Venue
Archives of Sexual Behavior
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
1997-12
Volume
26
Issue
6
Pages
643-658
ISSN
  • 0004-0002 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-2800
DOI
10.1023/a:1024528427013
OpenAlex
W2167752770
Cited by
347
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 16
FWCI
3.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Archives of Sexual Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Keywords
sexual orientation, sexual orientation measurement, sample representativeness, homosexuality, bisexuality, heterosexuality, measurement standardization
MeSH terms
Female, Gender Identity, Homosexuality, Humans, Male, Sexual Behavior

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