The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid
If you want to explore your own sexual orientation, here is a simple research instrument that was used by Fritz Klein and others. It is a refinement of the Kinsey Scale which ranked behaviour and "psychologic reactions" on a scale from 0 to 6, with 0 being exclusively heterosexual, 6 being exclusively homosexual, and 3 being equally homosexual/heterosexual.
Klein wanted to test his idea that sexual orientation was a "dynamic, multi-variable process," so he developed the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid. He thought that an individual's sexual orientation was composed of sexual and non-sexual variables which differed over time.
Sexual Behaviour: Who are your sexual contacts or partners?
Sexual Fantasies: Whom do you enjoy fantasizing about in erotic daydreams?
Emotional Preference: With whom do you prefer to establish strong emotional bonds?
Social Preference: Which sex do you prefer to spend your leisure time with, and with which sex do you feel most comfortable?
Hetero/Gay Lifestyle: What is the sexual identity of the people with whom you socialize?
Self-identification: How do you think of yourself?
Past: Your life up to 12 months ago.
Present: The most recent 12 months.
Ideal: Your prediction for the future.
See also the page about methods of measuring sexual identity.
Klein wanted to test his idea that sexual orientation was a "dynamic, multi-variable process," so he developed the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid. He thought that an individual's sexual orientation was composed of sexual and non-sexual variables which differed over time.
Definitions
Sexual Attraction: Who turns you on? Who do you find attractive as a real or potential partner?Sexual Behaviour: Who are your sexual contacts or partners?
Sexual Fantasies: Whom do you enjoy fantasizing about in erotic daydreams?
Emotional Preference: With whom do you prefer to establish strong emotional bonds?
Social Preference: Which sex do you prefer to spend your leisure time with, and with which sex do you feel most comfortable?
Hetero/Gay Lifestyle: What is the sexual identity of the people with whom you socialize?
Self-identification: How do you think of yourself?
Past: Your life up to 12 months ago.
Present: The most recent 12 months.
Ideal: Your prediction for the future.
Summary
The idea of this excercise is to understand exactly how dynamic a person's sexual orientation can be, as well as how fluid it can be over a person's lifespan. While a person's number of actual homo/heterosexual encounters may be easy to categorize, their actual orientation may be completely different. Simple labels like "homosexual", "heterosexual", and "bisexual" need not be the only three options available to us.See also the page about methods of measuring sexual identity.