Comparing Pansexual- and Bisexual-Identified Participants on Demographics,Psychological Well-Being,and Political Ideology in a New Zealand National Sample

Pansexuality, characterized by attraction to people regardless of their gender, is an emerging sexual identity. Research has started to explore the differences between those who identify as pansexual and those who identify as bisexual, typically defined as being attracted to both men and women. This article extends past research by testing for differences between those who identify as pansexual (n = 52) and bisexual (n = 497) in a nationally representative sample. We used the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS) to test for differences in demographic variables, psychological well-being, and political ideology. We found that pansexual participants were younger, more likely to be gender diverse (transgender or nonbinary), and more likely to be from the indigenous Māori ethnic group than bisexual participants. Pansexual participants also reported higher psychological distress and were more politically liberal than bisexual participants. These results suggest that people who identify as pansexual are, on average, quantifiably different from those who identify as bisexual; this study adds to a new but growing body of research on emerging plurisexual identities.