Kinsey Scale Of Sexual Behavior
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Kinsey Scale Of Sexual Behavior
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The Kinsey Scale was created by pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues Wardell Pomeroy and Clyde Martin, who called it the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale. It was first introduced in their book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948.
Although it has a number of limitations, the Kinsey Scale was groundbreaking when it was initially published because it was the first scientific scale to suggest that human sexuality and sexual attraction are a continuum and not limited to solely heterosexual or homosexual orientations.
This article discusses the origins of the Kinsey scale, what the scale tells you, and how it works. It also explains the limitations of the scale and its impact on the study of human sexual orientation .
Kinsey, a biologist, and his team studied human sexual behavior, preferences, thoughts, and feelings by interviewing thousands of people, with Kinsey alone conducting 8,000 interviews. 1
Kinsey found that 37% of the men he interviewed had a same-sex experience sometime between adolescence and old age, a rate that jumped to 50% for unmarried men by the age of 35. 2
Meanwhile, of the women he interviewed, 13% had a same-sex experience. 3 This research made it clear that human sexuality couldn't be defined as exclusively heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.
As a result, Kinsey and his colleagues created the Kinsey Scale, which classifies people into eight categories that represent a spectrum of human sexual orientation.
The Kinsey Scale ranges from 0 to 6 and includes an additional category labeled "X." Here are the various ratings and their definitions:
Kinsey and his colleagues used the scale to categorize the individuals they interviewed. Consequently, no official Kinsey "test" exists to go with the scale, even though such tests have been created by others and many can be found online.
Instead, to use the Kinsey Scale, you simply assign yourself to the category that best defines you. However, the Scale has many limitations that may make it impossible to feel if one of the categories accurately sums up your sexual preferences.
In addition, sexuality often changes over time, so even if you assign yourself a category on the Scale now, you may find another category that fits you better in the future.
While the Kinsey Scale changed perceptions of human sexuality, it didn't fully capture the complexity and nuance of sexual behavior and attraction. Based on current understandings of sexuality, the scale is limited by the following listed below.
The entirety of human sexuality isn't encompassed by the Scale's heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and asexual categories. Today, people identify as pansexual , demisexual , and many other orientations that make up a rich tapestry of sexual behavior and attraction.
The Kinsey Scale is structured so that homosexuality and heterosexuality are inversely related. Thus, according to the Scale, the more someone identifies as heterosexual, the less they identify as homosexual and vice versa.
However, studies show opposite-sex and same-sex attraction are not related to one another but are experienced separately. As a result, homosexuality, bisexuality, and heterosexuality should be considered independent constructs. 4
The Scale categorizes people based on sexual behavior and attraction , but these are two different things that often don't correspond. 5
For example, a man might be attracted to both men and women but only engage in sexual behavior with women.
Moreover, the Scale doesn't account for a third category: sexual identity, or the label an individual uses for their sexual orientation. For instance, the man in the above example may refer to himself as heterosexual, even though he clearly experiences some homosexual attraction.
Ultimately, his sexual behavior, attraction, and identity don't match up and therefore can't be accurately captured by the categories on the Kinsey Scale.
The Scale also works off the assumption that people identify as either men or women, while completely overlooking the existence of trans, intersex , or other gender identities , further limiting who the Scale can be applied to.
Despite its limitations, the Kinsey Scale has been highly influential. When it initially came out in 1948, homosexuality was outlawed in every state in America due to sodomy laws and the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual included homosexuality as a mental health disorder.
Kinsey introduced an entirely new way of thinking about sexuality and what's "normal" into this environment, paving the way for further research and changing perceptions about homosexuality and the range of human sexual experiences.
Today, there are more than 200 scales that measure sexual orientation. Two that provide a more comprehensive picture of human sexuality, specifically mentioned by the Kinsey Institute , are the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid and the Storms Sexuality Axis.
According to a 2012 study, the Kinsey Scale has found new life online despite the proliferation of more inclusive scales. For those questioning their sexual identity, the versions of the Kinsey Scale that are available across the internet help them better understand and explore their sexuality.
The study concluded that for those attempting to define their sexual identity beyond homosexual, heterosexual, and bisexual orientations, the Scale helps expand their ideas of how they can define themselves. The Scaler also enables them to choose different placements on the Scale over time as their understanding of their sexual identity shifts. 7
In addition, the online forums associated with these scales offer an opportunity to discuss their perceptions of their sexuality and find affirmation as they decide which sexual identity fits them best.
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Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WR, Martin CE. Sexual behavior in the human male . Am J Public Health . 2003;93(6):894-898. doi:10.2105/ajph.93.6.894
Zietsch BP, Sidari MJ. The Kinsey scale is ill-suited to most sexuality research because it does not measure a single construct . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 2020;117(44):27080-27080. doi:10.1073/pnas.2015820117
Storms MD. Theories of sexual orientation . J Pers Soc Psychol . 1980;38(5):783-792. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.38.5.783
Drucker DJ. Marking sexuality from 0–6: the Kinsey scale in online culture . Sex Cult . 2012;16(3):241-262. doi:10.1007/s12119-011-9122-1
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The Kinsey Scale
The Kinsey Scale
Drs. Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, and Clyde Martin developed the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale—more commonly known as “The Kinsey Scale.” First published in Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948), the scale accounted for research findings that showed people did not fit into exclusive heterosexual or homosexual categories.
Creating the scale
The Kinsey team interviewed thousands of people about their sexual histories. Research showed that sexual behavior, thoughts, and feelings towards the same or opposite sex were not always consistent across time. Instead of assigning people to three categories—heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual—the team used a seven-point scale. It ranges from 0 to 6 with an additional category of “X.”
Selected references about the Kinsey Scale
University of Illinois at Springfield, Student Affairs Office. (2009). Continuum of Human Sexuality . [A short non-technical discussion of sexual orientation and the Kinsey Scale.]
Diamond, Milton. (1993). Homosexuality and bisexuality in different populations. Archives of Sexual Behavior , 22(4), 291–310. [Uses Kinsey Scale to standardize and measure later studies’ findings.]
Hansen, Charles E., and Evans, A. (1985). Bisexuality reconsidered: An idea in pursuit of a definition. Journal of Homosexuality , 11(1–2), 1–6. [Provides critique of Kinsey Scale and calls for other measures for bisexuality.]
Kinsey, Alfred C. et al. (1948/1998). Sexual Behavior in the Human Male . Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; Bloomington: Indiana U. Press. [First publication of Kinsey’s Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale. Discusses Kinsey Scale, pp. 636–659.]
Kinsey, Alfred C. et al. (1953/1998). Sexual Behavior in the Human Female . Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; Bloomington: Indiana U. Press. [Discusses the Kinsey Scale and presents comparisons of male and female data, pp. 468–475.]
McWhirter, David P., et al. (1990). Homosexuality/Heterosexuality: Concepts of Sexual Orientation . New York: Oxford University Press. [Based on symposium at The Kinsey Institute. Discusses sexual orientation and the current usefulness of the Kinsey Scale. Includes other scales proposed by contributors to this work. One such scale is the Coleman Model of Clinical Assessment of Sexual Orientation.]
Ross, Michael W. (1983). Femininity, masculinity, and sexual orientation: Some cross-cultural comparisons. Journal of Homosexuality , 9(1), 27–35. [Combines the Bem Scale with Kinsey Scale across different nationalities.]
Sell, Randall L. (1997). Defining and measuring sexual orientation: A review. Archives of Sexual Behavior , 26(6), 643–658. [Outlines Kinsey Scale, Klein Scale, and Shively/DeCecco Scale.]
Van Wyk, Paul H., and Geist, Chrisann S. (1984). Psychosocial development of heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior , 13(6), 505–544. [Adds a family development model to the Kinsey Scale.]
Selected references on other measures of sexual orientation
Chung, Y. Barry, and Katayama, Motoni. (1996). Assessment of sexual orientation in lesbian/gay/bisexual studies. Journal of Homosexuality , 30(4), 49–62. [Critically reviews methods for assessing sexual orientation.]
Davis, Clive M., et al. (1997). Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures . Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications. [Includes 14 measures of homosexualities, one for heterosexual preferences. There are also related measures for gender, masculinity, femininity, and transsexualism..]
Ellis, Lee, et al. (1987). Sexual orientation as a continuous variable: A comparison between the sexes. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 16(6), 523–529. [Measures sexual orientation in two facets: 1) experience measure; and 2) a fantasy measure.]
Gonsiorek, John C., and Weinrich, James D. (1995). Definition and measurement of sexual orientation. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior , 25(Suppl), 40–51. [Critically examines how sexual orientation is measured and defined.]
Klein, Fritz, et al. (1985). Sexual orientation: A multi-variable dynamic process. Journal of Homosexuality , 11(1–2), 35–49. [Discusses the problem of lack of clear, widely accepted definitions of heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual].
Read more on the Klein Grid at The American Institute of Bisexuality
Sell, Randall L. (1996). The Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation: Background and scoring. Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity , 1(4), 295–310. [Includes review of sexual orientation measures, which are characterized as dichotomous, bipolar, multidimensional, and/or orthogonal.]
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Rating | Description
0 | Exclusively heterosexual
1 | Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
2 | Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3 | Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4 | Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5 | Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
6 | Exclusively homosexual
X | No socio-sexual contacts or reactions
People at “0” report exclusively heterosexual / opposite sex behavior or attraction. Those at “6” report exclusively homosexual / same-sex behavior or attraction. Ratings 1–5 are for those who report varying levels of attraction or sexual activity with either sex. In the original Kinsey Report studies, the X category designated the group who reported no socio-sexual contacts or reactions in their interviews.
“The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects.”
- Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948)
An official Kinsey “test” does not exist, which is contrary to popular belief and many tests across the web. The original Kinsey research team assigned a number based on a person’s sexual history.
Data gathered from the Kinsey interviews has been digitized. The Kinsey Institute makes all related material, i
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