Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine pp 1778–1779Cite as

Sexual Orientation

  • Reference work entry

  • 98 Accesses

Definition

Sexual orientation is the sexual attraction, emotional, and/or romantic state that a person endures toward women, men, or both sexes. Sexual orientation also pertains to a person’s sense of identity that is tied to these attractions, behaviors, and membership into a community with similar individuals (American Psychological Association [APA], 2011). Therefore, sexual orientation is the compilation of a person’s sexual behavior and sense of sexual identity.

These two core components of sexual orientation are developed across a person’s life span, yet many believe it to be an innate and fixed state (APA, 2011). Nonetheless, an individual’s sexual orientation is often characterized with a label, such as heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. Sometimes asexuality is also considered as a separate entity of sexual orientation. Those labels normally, but not always, incorporate and include the individuals’ sexual identity and sexual behavior of her or his sexual...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   1,199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References and Readings

  • American Psychological Association. (2011). Sexual orientation and homosexuality. Retrieved February 4, 2011, from http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/orientation.aspx

  • Chung, Y. B., & Katayama, M. (1996). Assessment of sexual orientation in lesbian/gay/bisexual studies. Journal of Homosexuality, 30(4), 49–62.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., & Martin, C. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: Saunders. ISBN 978-0253334121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., Martin, C., & Gebhard, P. (1953). Sexual behavior in the human female. Philadelphia: Saunders. ISBN 978-0253334114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sell, R. L. (1996). The sell assessment of sexual orientation: Background and scoring. Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity, 1(4), 295–310.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 West Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI, 53226-3548, USA

    Dr. Jason W. Mitchell

Authors
  1. Dr. Jason W. Mitchell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason W. Mitchell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc D. Gellman

  2. Cardiovascular Safety, Quintiles, Durham, NC, USA

    J. Rick Turner

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Mitchell, J.W. (2013). Sexual Orientation. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_669

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_669

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation