Sexual identity development in behaviourally bisexual married men: Implications for essentialist theories of sexual orientation

Abstract

There is confusion in research and clinical practice about married men who have sex with other men. They are seen variously as bisexuals, defensive homosexuals, or sex addicts. A series of survey-based investigations with 355 participants recruited through self-help groups, advertising, gay community contacts, and electronically via the Internet, explored processes of homosexual identify formation and psychological adjustment in these men. The population was found to have distinct subgroups, and processes of homosexual identity formation appeared understandable only by recourse to an underlying essentialist construct of sexual orientation. More homosexually oriented men manifested improved psychological adjustment following marital separation and this has implications for theoretical models of homosexuality and for prospective interventions with these men.