Two-thirds of straight women and one-third of straight men are unwilling to date a bisexual person of the opposite sex, according to a YouGov poll published today, during Bisexuality Visibility Week. The poll illustrates how lingering stereotypes negatively affect people’s impressions of bisexual individuals.
The poll — which surveyed 5,983 Britons during late March, including 2,031 straight women and 1,517 straight men — found that 48% of all respondents had positive views of bisexual people and only 8% had negative views. The remaining percentage had neither a positive nor a negative view of bisexuals.
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The survey also included 824 gay men, 349 lesbian women, 396 bisexual men, and 866 bisexual women, and asked them about their willingness to date a bisexual person matching their preferred gender.
Approximately 19% of straight women expressed willingness to date a bi man, while 66% said they were unwilling. Among straight men, 53% said they were willing to date a bi woman, and 35% said they were unwilling.
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Among bi women, 82% expressed willingness to date a bi man, while 10% expressed unwillingness; and 89% were willing to date a bi woman, while 3% expressed unwillingness to do the same.
Among bi men, 78% expressed willingness to date a bi man, while 15% expressed unwillingness; and 85% were willing to date a bi woman, while 9% expressed unwillingness.
Among gay men, 83% expressed willingness to date a bi man, while 11% expressed unwillingness. Among lesbian women, 73% expressed willingness to date a bi woman, while 20% expressed unwillingness.
When the survey asked straight women and men why they were unwilling to date a bisexual person of the opposite sex, most (16% and 19%, respectively) said they “just don’t” or claimed, “It’s just a preference.”
A nearly similar portion, 17% of straight women and 16% of straight men, said they felt like bi people are more inclined to cheat, or that they themselves would feel insecure that they’d be unable to provide a bi partner whatever they get from a same-sex partner.
Interestingly, 9% of straight women said they feel disgust or discomfort towards men with same-sex experiences, 8% worried about possible sexual health risks, and 10% of straight men said they considered bisexuality to be either religiously or morally “wrong.” Approximately 12-13% of all straight respondents said they just wanted their dating partner to be heterosexual.
“Smatterings of people gave less common answers, such as believing that bisexuals want polyamorous/open relationships (3-5%); seeing bisexuals as confused, indecisive or ‘actually gay’ (2%); believing that being in a relationship with a bisexual person would be ‘complicated’ (2%); considering bisexuals to be more promiscuous (1%); or apparently confusing bisexual and transgender people (1%),” YouGov’s Head of Data Journalism Matthew Smith wrote.
Also interestingly, the poll found that greater percentages of older straight, gay, and lesbian respondents all expressed an increased unwillingness to date a bisexual person. That is, older respondents were generally less willing to date bi people than younger respondents.
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