Gender-Specificity in Sexual Attraction and Fantasies: Evidence from Self-Report and Indirect Measures

Gender differences in the gender-specificity of physiological and psychological sexual responses have been widely studied. Men’s sexual responses are typically described as gender-specific, with stronger responses to their preferred gender compared to their nonpreferred gender. In contrast, women’s sexual responses, particularly those of straight women, have been reported to be less gender-specific. Using three large online datasets (N = 56,892), we examined gender differences in several sexuality-related measures, including some not previously used to study gender-specificity. Our findings revealed that men generally exhibited greater gender-specificity than women across self-reported sexual orientation, sexual attraction, and sexual fantasies, as well as indirect measures of sexual attraction. Notably, straight women demonstrated clear gender-specificity on all but one indirect measure. Depending on the measure, the gender difference in gender-specificity was smaller, absent, or even reversed in the gay/lesbian groups. Novel to the current research, we found that the gender difference in gender-specificity in self-reported sexual attraction and fantasies was most often characterized by women showing greater sexual response toward their nonpreferred gender and lower sexual response toward their preferred gender, compared to men. We discuss possible accounts for our findings and the theoretical implications of our results.