Changes in Sexual, Romantic, and Gender Identities Across the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures changed many aspects of everyday life. Many anecdotal accounts of changes in people’s self-perceptions as they spent more time alone have been reported. To further explore these accounts, the current study investigated potential shifts between pre- and post-pandemic self-perceptions of gender, sexual, and romantic identities among university students and adults in Canada (N = 342; M age = 22.8, SD = 6.7) during the Summer/Fall 2022. Participants were recruited for a study on changes in self-perceptions, body image, eating pathology, and sexual and gender identities, during the pandemic. Approximately half of participants indicated some change in their identity during the post-pandemic period. Specifically, participants reported changes in their identities related to sexual orientation and romantic attraction orientation, as well as sexual and romantic attraction rated continuously, gender identity, and gender expression. Changes in gender expression and changes in continuously-rated sexual and romantic attraction were more common than changes in identity labels (i.e., sexual and romantic orientation labels and gender identity). Participants also were asked to describe contributors to these changes in an open-text format. Response themes included time to reflect, reduced social interaction, and increased exploration through social media. These findings increase knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on self-perceptions and how opportunities for introspection may allow individuals the space to re-conceptualize their gender, sexuality, and romantic identities.