Gender Expression and Its Correlates in a Nationally Representative Sample of the U.S. Adult Population

Findings from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior

Bibliographic Data

ID10205083
AuthorsTheo Sandfort (0000-0002-4986-1739, Columbia University, corresponding author), Henny M W Bos (University of Amsterdam), Henny Bos (0000-0003-0559-6088, University of Amsterdam), Tsung‐chieh Fu (0000-0003-2118-7225, Indiana University), Debby Herbenick (0000-0002-0352-2248, Indiana University), Brian Dodge (0000-0003-4491-6603, Indiana University)
Year2020
Volume58
Issue1
Pages51-63
Publication date2020-09-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Sex Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4499 • E-ISSN: 1559-8519
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00224499.2020.1818178
PMID32970489
OpenAlexW3088376155
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited64

We explored the associations of gender expression with childhood gender expression, sexual identity, and demographic characteristics in a representative sample of the U.S. population aged 18 to 65 years (N = 1277), using data from the 2015 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. As expected, gay men were less gender conforming than heterosexual men. However, among women, persons with a bisexual identity were less gender conforming compared to heterosexual and lesbian persons. In multivariate analyses, childhood gender expression trumped the role of sexual identity. In terms of demographic characteristics, gender conformity seemed to be more present among persons with positions with less social status in terms of age, race/ethnicity, education, income, and relationship status. Finally, we found among both men and women, that a large proportion saw themselves as more masculine or feminine than men and women on average, respectively, suggesting that accentuating one's gender conformity has a psychological function

Conformity · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Family planning · Heterosexuality · Homosexuality · Human sexuality · Lesbian · National Survey of Family Growth · Population · Sexual identity · Sexual orientation · Sociology · Clinical Psychology · Demography · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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