Women 'three times more likely' to be bisexual than men

A new US study has found that women are three times more likely to be bisexual than men.

While the majority of men are reported that they were either ‘100 per cent’ homosexual or heterosexual, women were far more likely to choose the label ‘mostly heterosexual’, the study found.

Researchers say this is because female sexuality is more fluid and influenced by environmental factors such as chance romantic encounters and – somewhat controversially – a woman’s “options” when it comes to finding a man.

Dr Elizabeth McClintock, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame in the United States, analysed the results of a US study which tracked 5,000 women and 4,000 men over the course of their late teen and 20s, The Telegraph reports.

On average, the participants were 16 years old when first polled, 22 when spoken to the second time, and 28 when they gave their final set of answers. The study also found that women were three times more likely to change their sexual identities between the ages of 22 and 28 than men were.

Dr McClintock said the research “indicates that women’s sexuality may be more flexible and adaptive than men’s,” adding: “Women with some degree of attraction to both males and females might not be drawn into heterosexuality if they have favourable options in the heterosexual partner market.

“Women who are initially successful in partnering with men, as is more traditionally expected, may never explore their attraction to other women.

“However, women with the same sexual attractions, but less favourable heterosexual options might have greater opportunity to experiment with same-sex partners.”

Discussing the male participants’ answers revealed about male sexual fluidity, she went on: “Men are less often attracted to both sexes. Men’s sexuality is, in this sense, less flexible.

“If a man is only attracted to one sex, romantic opportunity would little alter his sexual identity.”

The study’s findings are due to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Women ‘three times more likely’ to be bisexual than men

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