From the Atlanta Daily World:
Shutterstock/Anton Vierietin by Willi Zhang, Karolinska Institutet Nearly 16% of people changed their sexual identity over a 12-year period, according to a new study I conducted with my colleagues, involving around 35,000 residents of Stockholm County. This challenges long-held beliefs about sexual identity being largely fixed. Between 2010 and 2021, we found that 15.7% of … Continued
The post Sexual identity is more fluid than previously thought, says twelve-year study appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.
I really don’t think this is true, nor does the study even imply this.
This study captures peoples perceptions and external communication about their own identity. This doesn’t get anywhere close to deep enough to say “sexual orientation can change” - just that people can be wrong about how they communicate that identity.
That is fine, and is not surprising.
Also people don’t always understand their own sexuality, frequently due to suppressing parts of it because of social pressures.
I’ve been bisexual since practically birth, and sharply recall in my childhood, how the adults in our community would be all “aww” when playing with female friends, but acted like I murdered someone when kissing a male friend.
It was like being born into a world of sharp divides, where an ice cream shop sold vanilla and chocolate ice cream, and being harshly screamed at for wanting both flavors.
“NO! NO Vanilla and Chocolate Twist!”
It only got worse from there, and I realized many humans are just prehistoric great apes operating on squishware enhanced by metal tools.
They invented mathematics and philosophy but the vast majority of them have shit for brains and shouldn’t be trusted with matches, let alone children, norms, or laws governing millions.
Yes, this is what I meant to express - understanding requires exploration. Externally, this can be viewed as “changes”.
Oh, I thought you did mean people being unaware of how to express and I intended to add an additional reason for why it might look like they have changed through self discovery. I see those as two separate things, because both are necessary to convey accurately, especially to a study.
If someone doesn’t understand the terminology of the survey, they may answer inaccurately.
If they don’t understand themselves, possibly due to internalized social pressures or not yet having an experience that would let them know, they may answer inaccurately.
A third case would be knowing the terminology and being unable to answer truthfully even on an anonymous survey because of social pressures.
Heck, they might have not actively thought about it! I love the question “When did you decide to be straight” because it drives home that maybe the person just hasn’t really questioned their own preferences. I’m straight and I know I am because of interacting with LGBTQ+ friends in various settings including gay bars (on request to support them) and gaining a better understanding of myself in the process.
I used to be pretty confused that sometimes people don’t realize a part of their sexual attraction until they’re like 50yos and realize its always been there and they just couldn’t accept it. Then in my late 20’s I realized I wasn’t het (or bi/pan/etc) partly because a misunderstanding of the meaning of words like “sexual attraction.”
I disagree, I think your tastes and desires, and through that your identity, can change. Like hating a certain kind of food as a kid but growing to love it as an adult. Some of it is just discovering yourself and learning how to express it, but that’s not all of it. I don’t think anything psychological is set in stone. My identity has changed over my lifetime in many ways, including my sexual identity. Also in another sense, how you internally perceive and externally express your feeling about your self IS your identity, so of course it can change.