Kinsey scale

The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual–Homosexual Rating Scale, is used in research to describe a person's sexual orientation based on one's experience or response at a given time. The scale typically ranges from 0, meaning exclusively heterosexual, to a 6, meaning exclusively homosexual. In both the male and female volumes of the ''Kinsey Reports'', an additional grade, listed as "X", indicated "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions" (asexuality). The reports were first published in ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1948) by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, and others, and were also prominent in the complementary work ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953).

History

Alfred Kinsey, the creator of the Kinsey scale, is known as "the father of the sexual revolution." The Kinsey scale was created in order to demonstrate that sexuality does not fit into two strict categories: homosexual and heterosexual. Instead, Kinsey believed that sexuality is fluid and subject to change over time.

Rather than using sociocultural labels, Kinsey primarily used assessments of behavior in order to rate individuals on the scale. Kinsey's first rating scale had thirty categories that represented thirty different case studies, but his final scale has only seven categories. Over 8,000 interviews were conducted throughout his research.

Introducing the scale, Kinsey wrote:

Table of the scale

The Kinsey scale ranges from 0 for those interviewed who solely had desires for or sexual experiences with the opposite sex, to 6 for those who had exclusively same sex desires or experiences, and 1–5 for those who had varying levels of desire or experiences with both sexes, including "incidental" or "occasional" desire for sexual activity with the same sex. It did not reference whether they "identified" as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual.

Kinsey recognized that the seven categories of the scale could not fully capture every individual's sexuality. He wrote that "it should be recognized that the reality includes individuals of every intermediate type, lying in a continuum between the two extremes and between each and every category on the scale." Although sociologists Martin S. Weinberg and Colin J. Williams write that, in principle, people who rank anywhere from 1 to 5 could be considered bisexual, Kinsey disliked the use of the term ''bisexual'' to describe individuals who engage in sexual activity with both males and females, preferring to use ''bisexual'' in its original, biological sense as hermaphroditic; he stated, "Until it is demonstrated hattaste in a sexual relation is dependent upon the individual containing within his anatomy both male and female structures, or male and female physiological capacities, it is unfortunate to call such individuals bisexual."

Psychologist Jim McKnight writes that while the idea that bisexuality is a form of sexual orientation intermediate between homosexuality and heterosexuality is implicit in the Kinsey scale, that conception has been "severely challenged" since the publication of '' Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women'' (1978) by Weinberg and the psychologist Alan P. Bell. Furthermore, although the additional X grade used to mean "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions" is today described as asexuality, psychologist Justin J. Lehmiller stated, "the Kinsey X classification emphasized a lack of sexual behavior, whereas the modern definition of asexuality emphasizes a lack of sexual attraction. As such, the Kinsey Scale may not be sufficient for accurate classification of asexuality."

Findings

Kinsey reports

The Kinsey Reports are two published works, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1948) and ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953). These reports discuss the sexual attractions, behaviors, and development of human males and females. The data to scale the participants comes from their "psychosexual responses and/or overt experience" in relation to sexual attraction and activity with the same and opposite sexes. The inclusion of psychosexual responses allows someone with less sexual experience to rank evenly with someone of greater sexual experience.

* Men: 11.6% of white males aged 20–35 were given a rating of 3 for this period of their lives.Kinsey, et al. 1948. '' Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', Table 147, p. 651 The study also reported that 10% of American males surveyed were "more or less exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55" (in the 5 to 6 range).
* Women: 7% of single females aged 20–35 and 4% of previously married females aged 20–35 were given a rating of 3 for this period of their lives. 2% to 6% of females, aged 20–35, were given a rating of 5 and 1% to 3% of unmarried females aged 20–35 were rated as 6.

The results found in "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female" show a higher number of men who lean towards homosexuality than recorded for the women. Kinsey addresses that the result is contrary to reports that women have more homosexual leanings than men. He posits that such reports are due to the "wishful thinking on the part of such heterosexual males."

Impact and later developments

General

The Kinsey scale is credited as one of the first attempts to "acknowledge the diversity and fluidity of human sexual behavior" by illustrating that "sexuality does not fall neatly into the dichotomous categories of exclusively heterosexual or exclusively homosexual." Most studies regarding homosexuality, at the time, were conducted by medical professionals who were sought out by individuals that wanted to change their sexual orientation. Alfred Kinsey's publications on human sexuality, which encompasses the Kinsey scale, were widely advertised and had a huge impact on society's modern conceptions of sexuality, post–World War II.

Galupo et al. argued, "Despite the availability of the Kinsey Scale, assessment via sociocultural