Sexual identity, sexual attraction and sexual experience: the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships
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Unlabelled Background Behavioural and other aspects of sexuality are not always consistent. This study describes the prevalence and overlap of same-sex and other-sex attraction and experience and of different sexual identities in Australia. Methods Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 20094 men and women aged 16-69 years recruited by landline and mobile phone random-digit dialling with a response rate (participation rate among eligible people) of 66.2%. Respondents were asked about their sexual identity ('Do you think of yourself as' heterosexual/straight, homosexual/gay, bisexual, etc.) and the sex of people with whom they had ever had sexual contact and to whom they had felt sexually attracted. Results Men and women had different patterns of sexual identity. Although the majority of people identified as heterosexual (97% men, 96% women), women were more likely than men to identify as bisexual. Women were less likely than men to report exclusively other-sex or same-sex attraction and experience; 9% of men and 19% of women had some history of same-sex attraction and/or experience. Sexual attraction and experience did not necessarily correspond. Homosexual/gay identity was more common among men with tertiary education and living in cities and less common among men with blue-collar jobs. Many gay men (53%) and lesbians (76%) had some experience with an other-sex partner. More women identified as lesbian or bisexual than in 2001-02.…
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For Australian men and women, same-sex attraction and same-sex sexual behavior were more common than gay or bisexual identity would suggest.
“For Australian men and women, same-sex attraction and same-sex sexual behavior were more common than gay or bisexual identity would suggest (Richters et al. 2014; Smith et al. 2003)”
From Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women (2019) · cites this paper as Richters et al. 2014
The estimates for those who identify as gay or bisexual are slightly larger in this study compared to the proportion of people who identify as gay or bisexual in the United Kingdom and Australia.
“The estimates for those who identify as gay or bisexual are slightly larger here compared to the proportion of people who identify as gay or bisexual in the United Kingdom and Australia (see Geary et al. 2018; Richters et al. 2014)”
From Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women (2019) · cites this paper as Richters et al. 2014
Among Australian men and women, about 6% of self-identifying gay women reported only sexual attraction to men.
“about 6% of self-identifying Australian gay women reported only sexual attraction to men , and about 2% of selfidentifying Australian gay men reported only sexual attraction to women”
From Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women (2019) · cites this paper as Richters et al. 2014
The gender pattern (more women bisexual, more men gay) is also seen in data from Australia and the United Kingdom, and is consistent with past research in the United States.
“This pattern is also seen in data from Australia (Richters et al. 2014) and the United Kingdom (Geary et al. 2018), and is consistent with past research in the United States (England et al. 2016; Gates 2011; Korchmaros et al. 2013).”
From Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women (2019) · cites this paper as Richters et al. 2014
Among Australian men and women, about 2% of self-identifying gay men reported only sexual attraction to women.
“about 6% of self-identifying Australian gay women reported only sexual attraction to men , and about 2% of selfidentifying Australian gay men reported only sexual attraction to women”
From Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women (2019) · cites this paper as Richters et al. 2014
In Australian men and women aged 16-69, 17% of bisexual men and 9% of bisexual women report 0 same-sex sex partners, as do 3% of gay men and 4% of gay women.
“17% of Australian bisexual men and 9% of Australian bisexual women report 0 same-sex sex partners, as do 3% of Australian gay men and 4% of Australian gay women (Richters et al. 2014).”
From Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women (2019) · cites this paper as Richters et al. 2014
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References 35 · Cited by 195
- Authors
- Richters, J., Altman, D., Badcock, P. B., Smith, A. M. A., de Visser, R. O., Grulich, A. E., Rissel, C., & Simpson, J. M.
- Affiliations
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- La Trobe University (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- ESchool of Psychology, Pevensey 1, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9QH, UK.
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Richters, Juliet
- Venue
- Sexual Health
- Publisher
- CSIRO Publishing
- Published
- 2014-11-07
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 451-460
- ISSN
- 1448-5028 (ISSN-L)
- 1449-8987
- OpenAlex
- W2153785747
- Cited by
- 195
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 11.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- handle.unsw.edu.au
- Licence
- Locations
- Sexual Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UNSWorks (UNSW Sydney) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- National Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Sexuality, and Education
- Keywords
- sexual identity, sexual attraction, sexual experience, same-sex attraction, bisexual identity, gay men, lesbians, heterosexual identity, gender differences, non-heterosexual identity, sexual stigma, Australia
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