ABSTRACT
Though the newer figures are derived from larger samples more representative of the whole country, they may be underreported due to the social desirability bias against non-heterosexual phenomena. When we guess at the size of this reporting bias by comparing identity figures, we can't help noticing the influence of social groups on the construction of reported sexual orientation. The youngest group reports slightly more than the overall average, while the oldest group's figures are a fourth as high or less (rows 2-3). More Blacks report recent homosexual behavior but less identify with it than Whites (rows 4-5). At least twice as many college grads as high school grads report recent homosexual behavior and 9 times as many women, and almost 2 times as many men identify with it (rows 7-8). Rates in major central cities are 2 to 3 times as high as in their own suburbs, and rural areas report the lowest rates of all. Only the 9.2% frequency for men in the 12 largest central cities matches earlier reports. But while strong communities there could counteract the social bias against reporting alternative sexuality, these communities attract large numbers from other areas, so they are not representative of the country as a whole. So we still do not know what percentages to use, but we can estimate that they are more than the self-identified (1.4% of woman and 2.8% of men), perhaps closer to those reporting homosexual activity in the last 5 years (2.2% of women and 4.1 % of men) . But the 5% of women and 9.8% of men reporting some
homosexual behavior since puberty are not all bisexually or homosexually oriented. For example, people like this 40-year-old married man would not fit:
When I was 13 my best friend and I had a sexual affair. We were just learning about sex, and it was fun. After about a year we just quit. We didn't talk about it, but we both moved on to girls. I don't think of it as gay or right or wrong; it was just good kid stuff
Cultural attitudes have an immense effect. An inestimable percent of gender-segregated Arab youths reportedly engage in homosexual affairs, normally without ever considering themselves gay (Schmitt & Sofer, 1992). Even a third of those reporting a same-sex partner in the last year (Table 8.1) did not consider themselves to be gay or bisexual, and about a third of those who did identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual had not had a same-sex partner in the last year (Michaels, 1996). Thus, neither sexual behavior nor sexual thoughts or feelings constitute sexual orientation unless the person identifies with them. Therefore, sexual identity is self-constructed. And since the numbers vary so much by age, education, race, location, and religion (not shown), we can conclude that the labels for sexual orientation are constructed out of both social influences and personal choice.
