Same-sex performativity, or public performances of sexuality between heterosexual women, is especially common in college settings, but why? A study published in Personal Relationships explores the motivations for engaging in this behavior.
If you have ever been in a college setting, you have probably witnessed or heard about straight women kissing at parties or in bars. It is estimated that 20% to 33% of college women who identify as heterosexual have kissed another woman at a party. There are a myriad of factors that are thought to contribute to these instances, including hookup culture and the college party scene. The new study sought to better understand the motivations and patterns associated for partaking in same-sex performativity.
“So long as this behavior occurs as commonly as it does during a critical period of women’s psychological, social, and sexual development, it is important to understand why and how this process unfolds for young women,” Samantha M. Stevens and her colleagues wrote in their study.
Stevens and her colleagues utilized 282 undergraduate heterosexual women ranging in age from 19 to 41 years old to serve as their sample. The sample was predominantly white and comprised of mostly college freshman. Participants completed measures online, including demographic information, identities, and attitudes.
Participants responded to an item defining same-sex performativity and indicated whether or not they had ever engaged in it. Participants who indicated that they had then answered questions about their experience and were included in this study.
They completed measures regarding their motivations, valence, re-engagement with same-sex performances, as well as their political affiliations, self-esteem, masculinity/femininity, privilege, and sorority membership. Additionally, they completed measures on sexuality and heterosexism.
Results separated women who engaged in same-sex performativity into three motivational patterns: other-motivated, ambiguously motivated, and sexually motivated. Sexually motivated women were motivated by sexual desire, sexual experimentation, and attraction to women, despite identifying as heterosexual. This represented the smallest section of the sample at around 13%.
Other-motivated women engaged in same-sex performances to shock others, gain male attention, or social pressure, and were more likely to be in a sorority. This represented approximately 33% of the sample.
Ambiguously motivated women were the least motivated, felt their experiences were less positive, and were less likely to re-engage in similar behaviors. They were predominantly motivated by alcohol and fun. This represented the largest portion of the sample at around 54% of participants.
This study took important steps into better understanding same-sex performativity in college women. Despite this, there are limitations to note. One such limitation is that same-sex performances and their motivations were based solely on self-report measures, making them vulnerable to bias. Additionally, more detailed questions about their engagement in this behavior would’ve been helpful, such as asking when it occurred or how many times they engaged in it.
“Our results elucidate the complexity in characterizing women who engage in [same-sex performativity], and our findings complement previous variable-centered approaches to examining [same-sex performativity] engagement by demonstrating how motivations manifest in different subgroups of women and how those groupings are meaningful for outcomes like same-sex performativity evaluation,” the researchers concluded.
“Notably, the women focused on same-sex desire and exploration of their sexuality appeared most likely to evaluate their experiences positively, supporting the notion that [same-sex performativity] can be a beneficial experience and a safe way to explore sexuality for some women. However, to understand the potential positive and negative ramifications of [same-sex performativity] more fully for women with different motivation profiles, future research should use complementary approaches to more comprehensively examine individual and relational outcomes.”
The study, “Latent class analysis of college women’s motivations for engaging in same-sex performativity“, was authored by Samantha M. Stevens, Flora Oswald, and Jes L. Matsick.