Sexual orientation, preferences, and gender identity: health, cognition, and life history strategies

Extract

This study explores the relationships between sexual orientation, sexual preferences, gender identity, and their associations with health, cognitive performance, and life history strategies in a large, diverse sample of 5307 internet users. Data were collected via a 50-min survey assessing personality traits, physical and mental health, cognitive performance, and life history strategies. Sexual orientation was categorized based on arousal responses to same-sex and opposite-sex individuals, allowing for a detailed analysis of prevalence and associations with key psychological and health-related variables. The findings reveal significant differences in health, cognition, and sexual behavior across sexual orientations and gender identities, providing new information about the associations between these factors.

Bisexuality emerged as the most prevalent non-heterosexual orientation, reported by 40.02% of women and 25.35% of men, followed by homosexuality (2.17% of women, 3.47% of men) and asexuality (0.34% of women, 0.11% of men). A small proportion identified as transsexual (0.23% of women, 0.22% of men), with additional participants experiencing gender identity incongruence. Bisexual individuals demonstrated superior cognitive performance but reported poorer physical and mental health compared to heterosexual and homosexual individuals. Additionally, 50% of men and 40% of women reported sexual arousal linked to dominance/submission dynamics, with gender differences in dominance preference. Age-related declines were observed in same-sex arousal, alongside shifts in gender identity and partner counts over time.