Implicit Measurements of Sexual Preference in Self-Declared Heterosexual Men: A Pilot Study on the Rate of Androphilia in Italy

Abstract Introduction An unambiguous measurement of the rate of nonheterosexuality in the male population (male bisexuality and homosexuality) is essential to estimate the health risks associated with same-sex sexual behavior and to scale social and health programs for these citizens. However, self-reported questionnaires on explicit measures of sexual orientation yield significant underestimations of nonheterosexuality. A necessary prerequisite for nonheterosexual preference is androphilia (sexual–erotic attraction to males), which can be explored through psychological tests. Aims This study, using a pilot sample, investigates the possibility to inventory the frequency of male androphilia in the general population through a sexual preference implicit association test (sp-IAT). This test is a classical IAT that is based on an association of pictures and words and is easily portable. Methods First we conducted a preliminary validation of the specific IAT protocol on 24 control subjects; then, we examined a sample of 150 adult males in Italy as a pilot study. The subjects responded to the sp-IAT and completed the explicit Kinsey scale questionnaire. Main Outcome Measures Kinsey scale scores and D value of sp-IAT for both preliminary and pilot sample. Results On the explicit Kinsey scale, 2.7% of the sample declared themselves to be sexually attracted to men, corresponding to previous explicit samplings of the Italian homosexual male population. However, the sp-IAT identified that 11.3% of self-declared gynephilic heterosexuals showed a moderate to strong androphilia with a significant effect size (D) always below −0.2, and another 5.6% of the heterosexual sample showed no preference for females (D between −0.2 and 0). Conclusion The Kinsey questionnaire strongly dichotomized the responses as either attracted to females or attracted to men, whereas the sp-IAT showed a wider distribution of responses from gynephilia to androphilia. In conclusion, the sp-IAT could be a novel and unambiguous instrument useful to ascertain androphilia population prevalence as a proxy for possible male nonheterosexuality. Camperio Ciani A and Battaglia U. Implicit measurements of sexual preference in self-declared heterosexual men: A pilot study on the rate of androphilia in Italy. J Sex Med 2014;11:2207-2217.