Examining the Factors Related to Bisexual Individuals' Preference for Future Parenting Partner

EXAMINING THE FACTORS REALTED TO BISEXUAL INDIVIDUALS’ PREFERENCE FOR FUTURE PARENTING PARTNER Laurin B. Roberts Old Dominion University, 2015 Director: Dr. James F. Paulson Although a notable amount of research has examined sexual minority parents and their families over the last decade, very little literature has focused on bisexual parents. Most of the research emphasis has been placed on parenting by lesbian women and gay men, with parenting by bisexual individuals often being subsumed by these categories. There is currently a lack of understanding of what factors contribute to bisexual individuals’ preference for gender of their future parenting partner. Because of this, the current study examined the factors related to parenting partner preferences of bisexual students. Forty-seven bisexual individuals completed a series of questionnaires examining variables such as general religiosity, the desire to have children, sexual attractions and behaviors, experiences of anti-bisexual prejudice, and internalized biphobia. Preferences for opposite-sex and same-sex future parenting partners were assessed among all participants. Findings indicated that various components of bisexual participants’ identities were related to parenting partner preferences. Specifically, higher levels of opposite-sex attractions predicted higher preferences for opposite-sex partners, whereas higher levels of same-sex attractions predicted lower preferences for oppositesex partners. Further, higher amounts of sexual contact with the opposite-sex predicted higher preferences for opposite-sex partners. In contrast, higher amounts of sexual contact with the same-sex predicted higher preferences for same-sex partners. Lastly, participants’ desire to have children was predictive of both opposite-sex and same-sex partner preferences, where parenting desire demonstrated linear and quadratic predictive relationships with opposite-sex and same-sex partner preferences, respectively.