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Differences in fluidity between males and females

Studies have illustrated that there is a tendency for females to have greater erotic plasticity than males . That is, the genital arousal pattern of males tends to be significantly more specific to their sexual orientation than that of females. In the same way that women show greater plasticity in their sexual arousal patterns, it has been found that women also tend to show significantly more fluidity in their sexual orientations. That is, women have been shown to report more bisexual attractions than men. It has long been speculated that bisexuality is a transitional stage towards coming out as homosexual. However, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that many women who display same-sex attraction patterns after a lifetime of heterosexuality are considerably likely to show other-sex attraction at different points in their lives. It has been suggested that women are more likely than men to change the direction of their sexual attraction throughout their lives depending on contextual and situational factors. Converse to the sexual response patterns of women, men tend to show more category specificity in their sexual responding. That is, men who report heterosexuality in their sexual attractions are more likely to show genital arousal specifically to heterosexual stimuli while homosexual men are more likely to show genital arousal to homosexual stimuli. Similarly, men tend to be less fluid and more stable in their sexual orientations.

It has been suggested that there is a link between prenatal hormones and sexual orientation. Biological and physiological factors such as hormone levels in fetal development may contribute to the differences in fluidity of sexual orientation between females and males. It has also been suggested that environmental factors could play a role in the fluidity of sexual orientation. Gender roles in Western society are much more rigid for males than they are for females. This could account for the tendency for men to be much more stable in their sexual attractions than females.

Gender, transgender, cisgender, and conformance

A study by Meier et al. among a population of female-to-male (FtM) transgenders has demonstrated a shift in sexual orientation before and after transition. This change was most common among those who were attracted to females prior to transition and attracted to males post-transition. These results support Lisa Diamond's research that illustrates greater fluidity among natal females. There has not been sufficient research conducted on transitional changes in sexual orientation among male-to-female (MtF) transgendered people.

Fluidity throughout life

Research has shown that sexual orientation change during adolescence from same-sex attractedness toward heterosexuality is much more common than one may think. Studies report that teenagers who report same-sex orientation are 25 times more likely to classify themselves as heterosexual one year later than those who classify themselves in the reverse direction. It appears that homosexual orientation is much more fluid than heterosexual orientation. These findings could be attributed to the many other changes that occur in adolescenthood. Post-pubescent girls and boys can experience novel feelings and desires that seem intriguing. This seems to be the age at which experimentation with same-sexes is most common.

Cultural Influences in Fluidity

There exists cultures, such as that of the Sambia Tribe of Papua New Guiner, in which sexual orientation is determined by tradition. Rituals of this tribe involve the demasculinaztion of young boys and men in order to teach that they can survive without women. Many of the involved homosexual practices would be recognized in Western society as extremely erotic and in some instances, inhumane. In adulthood, most of the Sambian men will transition to heterosexuality. Social learning theory has been used by many researchers to account for transition in the sexual orientation of Sambian men.