She’s a guy’s girl.
A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior revealed that bisexual women are more open to casual sex and possess more “Dark Triad” personality traits — that is, narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism — putting them closer to heterosexual men than women in this regard.
Such “dark” qualities have previously been associated with promiscuity and a propensity for casual sex, and tend to be more present in men, while women are considered more cautious and inhibited, particularly when interacting with the opposite sex.
“Understanding how traits vary across sexual orientation groups gives scientists clues about better ways to classify and understand them. Patterns of personality variation also tell us what theories are more likely to apply to the development of these attraction patterns,” said study author Scott W. Semenyna, an assistant professor of psychology at MacEwan University, in a statement.
For the unscathed, narcissism is marked by extreme self-importance and a lack of empathy for others; psychopathy is characterized by antisocial behaviors and a lack of remorse for wrongdoing; and Machiavellianism refers to those who manipulate others for personal gain. The three traits combined make up the so-called Dark Triad personality.
Research shows that those with such traits exhibit a greater tolerance and even a preference for casual sex, whereas straight women tend to be more cautious about sex and typically more inhibited than their male counterparts.
“This study built on past research showing that bisexual females and males aren’t necessarily a ‘midpoint’ between exclusive same-sex attractions and heterosexual attractions, but are instead distinct groups,” Semenyna continued.
The study sample included 1,474 female and 573 male undergraduate students from two Canadian universities who were asked to answer a series of questionnaires designed to assess their personality traits, sexual behaviors and sexual orientation. Based on participants’ responses, researchers compared heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual individuals within each sex to find out if straight respondents demonstrated a shift in traits and behavior that mimics the opposite sex.
As predicted, the findings demonstrated that heterosexual males harbor the most Dark Triad aspects as well as a higher willingness to engage in casual sex and become aroused more easily when compared to women of any sexuality. On the flip side, women were found to be more sexually inhibited than men.
Accounting for sexual orientation, however, bisexual women showed more interest in casual sex and were more readily aroused than their heterosexual peers — and scored higher in psychopathy, in particular.
On why bisexual women mirrored men in this regard, Semenyna said, “It could just be that these women are less concerned about what others think of them, and less constrained by social mores that would view same-sex attraction or behavior negatively.”
Notably, homosexual females and males did not demonstrate the same lack of inhibition seen in bisexual women or men.
“Sexual orientation is a spectrum, but these kinds of patterns tell us that we shouldn’t assume this spectrum is a smooth continuum,” Semenyna told PsyPost.
“This line of research is all about figuring out the best ways to classify the sexual orientation spectrum in a systematic way. Better classification helps us be more precise in the theories we use to explain the spectrum of same-sex attractions.”
