ISSUES
: Sexuality and Gender
Chapter 1: Understanding sexuality
7
One in two young people say they
are not 100% heterosexual
Asked to plot themselves on a ‘sexuality scale’, 23% of British people
choose something other than 100% heterosexual – and the figure rises
to 49% among 18–24-year-olds.
By Will Dahlgreen and Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare
I
nvented by Alfred Kinsey in
the 1940s, the Kinsey scale
plots individuals on a range
of sexual dispositions from
exclusively heterosexual at 0
through to exclusively homosexual
at 6. Where the original study had
a large number of methods for
placing people, YouGov simply
asked people to place themselves
on the sexuality scale.
Taken as a whole, 72% of the
British public place themselves at
the completely heterosexual end of
the scale, while 4% put themselves
at the completely homosexual end
and 19% say they are somewhere
in between – classed as bisexual in
varying degrees by Kinsey. Of the
people that do place themselves in
this 1–5 area, the majority incline
away from homosexuality – 15%
are closer to the heterosexual end,
2% directly in the middle and 2%
are closer to the homosexual end.
With each generation, people see
their sexuality as less fixed in stone.
The results for 18–24-year-olds are
particularly striking, as 43% place
themselves in the non-binary area
between 1 and 5 and 52% place
themselves at one end or the other.
Of these, only 46% say they are
completely heterosexual and 6%
as completely homosexual.
Peopleofall generationsnowaccept
the idea that sexual orientation
exists along a continuum rather
than a binary choice – overall 60%
of heterosexuals support this idea,
and 73% of homosexuals. 28% of
heterosexuals believe that “there is
no middle ground – you are either
heterosexual or you are not”.
But what does it mean to be at 1 on
the scale, and what is the difference
being here or at 2? According to the
research, progressing further away
from ‘completely heterosexual’ (0)
towards themidpoint (3, or ‘completely
bisexual’) increases the chance that
you have had a sexual experience
with a member of the same sex. 23%
of those at level 1 have had a sexual
encounter with a member of the same
sex, while 52% of people at level 2
have had such an experience.
Clearly, these figures are notmeasures
of active bisexuality – overall, 89% of
the population describes themselves
as heterosexual – but putting yourself
at level 1 allows for the possibility of
homosexual feelings andexperiences.
More than anything, it indicates an
increasingly open-minded approach
to sexuality. In a further set of
questions asking if respondents
could conceivably be attracted to,
have sex with or have a relationship
with someone of the same sex (if the
right person came along at the right
time), level 1s were at least 35% more
likely to say they could than level 0s.
16 August 2015
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from YouGov. Please visit
for further
information.
© YouGov 2016
One in two young people not 100% heterosexual
British adults were asked to place themselves on the Kinsey scale,
ranging from 0 (completely heterosexual) to 6 (completely homosexual).
Exclusively heterosexual
Exclusively homosexual
Varying bisexual responses
All Great British adults
18–24-year-olds
0
1
2
3
4
5
7
6%
72%
6%
46%
9%
22%
13%
2% 3%
1% 1%
1%
4%
4%
Source:
One in two young people say they are not 100% heterosexual
, YouGov, August 13–14 2015
“People of all
generations now accept
the idea that sexual
orientation exists along
a continuum rather than
a binary choice”
