In these “darknesses”, bisexual women are more like straight men

She is a man’s daughter.

A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior shows that bisexual women are more open to casual sex and have more “dark triangle” personality traits — namely narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism — which makes them closer to heterosexual men in this regard than women do.

Such “dark” traits have previously been associated with a tendency toward promiscuity and casual sex, and tend to be more pronounced in men, while women are thought to be more cautious and reserved, especially when interacting with the opposite sex.

“Understanding how personality traits vary across sexual orientation groups provides scientists with clues to help them better categorize and understand personality traits. Patterns of personality change also tell us which theories are more likely to apply to the development of these attraction patterns,” study author Scott W. Semenina, assistant professor of psychology at MacEwan University, said in a statement.

In the undamaged individual, narcissism is characterized by extreme self-importance and a lack of empathy for others, psychopathy is characterized by antisocial behavior and a lack of remorse for wrongdoing, and Machiavellianism refers to those who manipulate others for personal gain. These three personality traits, when combined, make up the so-called dark triangle.

Research shows that people with these traits show greater tolerance and even a preference for casual sex, whereas heterosexual women tend to be more cautious about sex and are generally more reserved than men.

“This study builds on past research that suggests bisexual women and men are not necessarily a ‘middle point’ between homosexuality and heterosexuality, but rather distinct groups,” Semenyna continued.

The study sample included 1,474 female and 573 male undergraduates from two Canadian universities who were asked to answer a series of questionnaires assessing their personality traits, sexual behaviors, and sexual orientation. Based on the participants’ responses, the researchers compared heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual people within each gender to see if heterosexual respondents showed personality and behavioral shifts that mimicked those of the opposite sex.

As expected, the results showed that heterosexual men had the most Dark Triad traits and were more willing to have casual sex and more easily aroused than women of any sexual orientation. Women, on the other hand, were found to be more sexually repressed than men.

However, taking sexual orientation into account, bisexual women showed greater interest in casual sex and were more likely to be sexually aroused than their heterosexual peers, especially scoring higher on psychopathy.

As to why bisexual women are similar to men in this regard, Semenina said, “it may simply be that these women are less concerned about what others think of them and less bound by social conventions that negatively view homosexuality or behavior.”

Notably, homosexual women and men did not display the lack of inhibition shown by bisexual women or men.

“Sexual orientation is a spectrum, but these patterns tell us that we shouldn’t assume that spectrum is a smooth continuum,” Semenina told PsyPost.

“This line of research is about figuring out the best way to systematically categorize sexual orientation. Better categorization will help us more precisely use theories to explain the range of same-sex attractions.”