| Abstract: | Abstract Data from 18–30 year-old behaviorally bisexual men were cluster analyzed using variables derived from the triad model of sexuality. Individuals were grouped based on the three dimensions: (a) sexual-orientation self-identity, (b) orientation of erotic fantasies, and (c) sexual experience and relationship history. Significant differences were found among the eight clusters that emerged for many important features, including demographic, psychosocial, and mental-health variables, as well as HIV-risk behavior with men and women. Although the clusters could be collapsed to conform to the trichotomous social construct of sexual orientation (gay, bisexual, and straight), grouping the men into eight clusters allowed relatively small subtypes with extreme characteristics. Cluster membership accounted for the variance in the criterion variables above and beyond the contribution of any single dimension from the triad model, providing further support for the usefulness of the clusters. |
