What is it about?
Heteronormativity is common in society today, and many sexual minority people face stigma and discrimination as they seek to understand and redefine their sexual identities. Because sexual minority persons don't conform to heterosexuality, they tend to report identity uncertainty, or a lack of confidence in their current identity label(s), as they encounter new social-romantic experiences. Our study investigates how daily identity-related experiences, like discrimination and rejection sensitivity, shape bisexual, pansexual, and queer (bi+) adults' confidence in their sexual identity. We also examine how identity-related experiences, like discrimination, differentially contribute to identity uncertainty among gender minority bi+ people, and bi+ Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
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Why is it important?
Since bi+ people are interested in partners of diverse sexes and/or genders, they don't conform to conventional norms of heterosexuality and monosexuality (dating only one sex/gender). Thus, bi+ persons encounter stigma and discrimination from heterosexual, lesbian, and gay people, and endorse more sexual identity uncertainty across their lifetimes. Since sexual identity uncertainty is a known contributor to poorer psychological well-being among bi+ people, we consider how daily identity-related experiences, like discrimination, contribute to daily identity uncertainty. Researchers and mental health practitioners may leverage our study's insights to inform therapeutic interventions and community-based resources for bi+ people.
Perspectives
In academia, bi+ people are widely under-researched; and in today's world, the experiences of bi+ people are disproportionately questioned, qualified, and disparaged. In collaborating with bi+ community members, I am honored to contextualize the daily hardships reported by bi+ people, here, in this article. As our society progresses, we must justly question the adversities of our fellow person (e.g., sexual identity uncertainty) and the structural processes (e.g., heteronormativity) that propagate them.
Paddy Loftus
George Washington University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Daily experiences of identity uncertainty among bi+ adults., Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, August 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/sgd0000870.
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