This study was a test of the hypothesis that demographic variables (e.g. gender, education) would predict who would be closed minded about the idea of asexuality as a sexual orientation. The participants received the link to the survey on the researcher’s Facebook page. The survey asked the participants’ awareness of asexuality, educational background, feelings towards the topic of sex, religious background, gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and where they were raised. The survey also asked three questions regarding the participants’ beliefs about asexuality as a sexual orientation. The results did show a significant affect on attitudes of gender, and previous education about asexuality. The study also found a strong but not significant relationship between attitudes and religiosity. • Presented at the Third Annual Conference of the International Network for Sexual Ethics and Politics in Ghent, Belgium 2013 • Presented at the Tenth Annual Conference of The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality in San Diego, CA 2013

1. INTRODUCTION
METHOD
A study conducted by Brown and Henriquez (2008)
strongly supported that being religious, non-white, not
having a gay friend, being politically conservative,
and having traditional gender role beliefs were all
factors in having a negative attitude towards gays
and lesbians. The study included three questionnaires:
Herek’s Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gays Scale
(1988), Kerr and Holden’s Gender Role Beliefs Scale,
and a socio-demographic survey. The questionnaires
were given to 320 participants.
An article by Bogaert (2006) discussed asexuality as a
sexual orientation as he reviewed his own study
(2004) on the prevalence of asexuality. His article
discussed the similarities and differences between
asexuality and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. He
also argued that without “distress or interpersonal
difficulty” asexuality should not be considered
pathological. Lastly, he debated whether asexuality
should be its own sexual orientation or if there is
always an underlying sexuality behind an asexual.
The present researcher set out to find what variables,
if any, predict attitudes towards asexuality as a sexual
orientation. A survey, similar to the idea of the Brown
and Henriquez (2008) study, was distributed to 123
participants asking them several demographic and
opinion questions, as well as their reactions towards
the topic of asexuality. Based on previous studies, the
researcher hypothesized that the demographic
variables would predict who would have a more
negative attitude than others about asexuality.
Design
The present researcher created a survey to see if the participants’
awareness of asexuality, educational background, feelings towards the
topic of sex, religious background, gender, race, age, sexual orientation,
or where they were raised, were at all correlated with their acceptance
of asexuality as a sexual orientation.
Participants
The survey was created on Surveymonkey.com and a link to the survey
was posted on Facebook.com. The participants were anyone who saw
the link and decided to take the survey. There were 123 participants
(32 Male, 89 Female, and 2 Other) ranging in ages 18-65.
Materials and Procedure
The survey was composed of 16 questions written by the present
researcher. There were seven demographic questions (i.e. gender, age,
etc.), five questions regarding awareness of asexuality, three questions
asking about attitude towards asexuality, and one final question
asking about feelings towards the topic of sex in general. There was an
optional comments section at the end of the questionnaire if needed.
Informed consent was requested before the survey. Contact
information for any questions or concerns about the survey or study
itself and a link to a website for more information about asexuality,
was given afterwards.
RESULTS
The researcher calculated an overall attitude score for the 123
participants so that the higher their score, the more negative their
attitude was. Two participants who chose “Other” as their gender
were eliminated from the tests. A t-test indicated that there was a
significant difference in genders, t (119) =6.777, p<.01. A One-way
Anova indicated that there was a significant difference in whether or
not the participant had been educated about asexuality as a sexual
orientation, F(6, 114)=3.162, p<.01. A t-test also indicated that there was
an approaching significant effect of religiosity, t (119)=3.638, p=.059.
TABLE 1 – Gender
Reactions to Asexuality
By Bibi Loizzo
Marymount Manhattan College
ABSTRACT
This study was a test of the hypothesis that
demographic variables (e.g. gender, education) would
predict who would be closed minded about the idea of
asexuality as a sexual orientation. The participants
received the link to the survey on the researcher’s
Facebook page. The survey asked the participants’
awareness of asexuality, educational background,
feelings towards the topic of sex, religious background,
gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and where they
were raised. The survey also asked three questions
regarding the participants’ beliefs about asexuality as a
sexual orientation. The results did show a significant
affect on attitudes of gender, and previous education
about asexuality. The study also found a strong but not
significant relationship between attitudes and religiosity.
TABLE 2 – Asexuality Education Anova
Bogaert, A.F. (2004). Asexuality: prevalence and associated factors
in a national probability sample. The Journal of Sex Research, 41,
279-287.
Bogaert, A.F. (2006). Toward a conceptual understanding of
asexuality. Review of General Psychology, 10, 241-250.
Brown, M.J., Henriquez, E. (2008). Socio-demographic predictors of
attitudes towards gays and lesbians. Individual Differences
Research, 6, 193-202.
REFERENCES
TABLE 3 – Religiosity
DISCUSSION
The present study strongly supports the hypothesis that gender
(females) and lack of education about asexuality would be
related to negative attitudes toward asexuality. Lastly, the study
also strongly suggests that people who are religious may be more
likely to be closed minded about asexuality. There were, however,
some limitations in the present study. The participants were not
randomly selected, but instead were chosen as a convenience
sample, which could affect external validity. Almost all of the
participants knew the researcher personally, which could have
affected the way they answered the questionnaire. The
participants were also mostly female (89 out of 121), which could
have had some effect on the significant gender difference. The
researcher also could have caused an expectancy effect to occur:
The survey could have unconsciously been written in a way that
led to a negative attitude and therefore, could have
unintentionally affected the results. At the same time, the study
represents a foray into a typically ignored and important topic.
Is Religion a Significant
Part of your Life?
N Mean Std. Dev.
Attitude
Score*
Yes 47 5.745 4.078
No 74 4.784 3.303
Gender N Mean Std. Dev.
Attitude Score * Male 32 4.25 2.817
Female 89 5.48 3.853
* The higher the score, the more negative the attitude.
* The higher the score, the more negative the attitude
* The higher the score, the more negative the attitude
*