Bisexual women are more like straight men in these 'dark' ways: study

She is the daughter of a boy.

A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that bisexual women are more open to casual sex and possess more of the "Dark Triad" personality traits—that is, narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism—putting them more near heterosexual men than women in this field. respect

Such "dark" qualities have previously been associated with promiscuity and promiscuity and tend to be more present in men, while women are considered more cautious and restrained, especially 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 which theories are most likely to apply in the development of these attractive patterns," study author Scott W. Semenyna, an assistant professor of psychology at MacEwan University, said in a statement.

To the uninjured, narcissism is characterized by extreme self-esteem and a lack of empathy for others; psychopathy is characterized by antisocial behavior and 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 display a greater tolerance and even a preference for casual sex, while heterosexual women tend to be more cautious about sex and usually more inhibited than their male counterparts.

"This study was based on past research showing that bisexual women and men are not necessarily a 'middle ground' between exclusive same-sex attractions and heterosexual attractions, but are different groups," continued Semenyna.

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 the participants' responses, the researchers compared heterosexual, predominantly heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual individuals within each gender to find out whether straight respondents demonstrated a difference in traits and behaviors that mimic the opposite sex.

As predicted, the findings showed that heterosexual men harbored the darker aspects of the Triad, as well as a higher willingness to engage in casual sex and to be aroused more easily compared to women of any sexuality. On the other hand, women were found to be more sexually inhibited than men.

However, when sexual orientation was taken into account, bisexual women showed more interest in casual sex and were more easily aroused than their heterosexual peers—and scored higher on psychopathy, in particular.

As for why bisexual women mirror men in this regard, Semenyna said: "It could be that these women are less concerned about what others think of them, and less constrained by social mores that would view it negatively same-sex attraction or behavior."

Notably, homosexual women and men did not demonstrate the same lack of inhibition observed in bisexual women or men.

"Sexual orientation is a spectrum, but these kinds of patterns show us that we shouldn't assume that this spectrum is a smooth continuum," Semenyna told PsyPost.

"This line of research is about finding better ways to classify the spectrum of sexual orientation in a systematic way. Better classification helps us be more precise in the theories we use to explain the spectrum of same-sex attractions. sex.”