JOURNAL SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND SEXUALITY

For each of the following people, 1. identify the person’s
sexual orientation, based on the information provided. 2. For each person,
briefly make note of your reasons for your decision (how did you reach this
conclusion)?
1. A man who has self-identified as gay since his teens,
who has had two brief sexual relationships with women, and who has been
involved with his current (male) partner for 3 years.
2. A woman who has had a number of intimate sexual
relationships with women and expresses little interest in pursuing
relationships with men.
3. A man who has had several intimate sexual relationships
with both women and men, though he generally prefers the company of men.
4. A man who is strongly attracted to both men and women
although all of his sexual relationships have been with women.
5. A woman who has self-identified as heterosexual
throughout her life and finds herself strongly attracted to a new female
co-worker.
6. A man whose male partner died of AIDS 10 years ago and
is currently married to a bisexual woman.
7. A woman who self-identified as a lesbian, is active in
the women’s movement and gay rights groups, and is happily married to a man.
8. A woman who had a brief sexual relationship with her
college roommate 20 years ago but since then has had several intimate
relationships with men.
9. A woman who psychologically, emotionally, and socially
prefers the company of women over men but does not become sexually intimate
with either.
10. A recently divorced woman who had been married to a man
for 19 years and is now living with her female partner

3. Answer the questions below. The issues to be explored in
your Journal (you can make your modifications/insert your responses to this document
and submit):
How do a person’s psychological–emotional attachments
determine or factor into sexual orientation? How do the components of the
paradigm of sexuality interact to shape one’s sexual orientation? How does
gender factor into sexuality?
What is the role of brief experimentation in determining
sexual orientation?
How are inconsistencies between erotic attractions,
self-identification, and sexual behavior resolved? What affects the resolution
of inconsistencies?
Can sexual orientation can change across the lifespan?
How/why? Explain.

Activity adapted from:
Madson, L. (2001). A
Classroom Activity Exploring the Complexity of Sexual Orientation. Teaching
of Psychology, 28(1), 32–35. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328023TOP2801_08

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