Sexual Desire and Fantasy Differ for Plurisexual vs Monosexual People in Mixed-Gender Relationships

Many clinicians use partner gender as a proxy for a patient's sexual orientation. Yet partnership and orientation are distinct constructs, and their interaction may be particularly relevant for bisexual/pansexual (i.e., plurisexual) people who may be in same- or mixed-gender relationships. We explored the effects of plurisexual identity, partner gender(s), and their interaction in predicting sexual desire and fantasy, two fundamental components of sexual functioning. Undergraduate participants in relationships (n = 493; 80% cisgender women, 16% cisgender men, 4% gender minority) completed an online survey including items on plurisexual identity, partner gender(s), sexual desire and fantasy. There were significant interactions between plurisexual identity and partner gender in predicting desire and fantasy, such that among participants in mixed-gender relationships, plurisexual participants reported significantly higher sexual desire and more diverse and frequent sexual fantasies than monosexual participants. As the interaction between sexual orientation and partner gender can reveal more information about sexual desire and fantasy than either variable alone, these findings suggest that clinicians should collect both pieces of information when working with plurisexual patients.