highly recommend this episode of helping existing featuring bisexual author of the book ‘greedy’, jen winston podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...
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Help Understanding Bisexuality Better—Author Jen Winston
Podcast Episode · Help Existing · 07/06/2022 · 43m
![SCREENGRAB, part of Summary and Implications: [highlight start] It has previously been
suggested that bisexual stereotypes stem from incorrect assumptions about sexuality and from
gender binarism [highlight end] (Rust, 2002; Zivony & Saguy, 2018). From these assumptions it follows that
being sexually attracted to men and women is akin to being pulled in opposite directions, which
would entail a persistent conflict for bisexual people and result in identity confusion and
romantic turmoil. [highlight start] This “stereotype deduction” account can explain why psychotherapists who are
not familiar with bisexual people and hold no explicit negativity toward bisexual people can still
hold stereotypical beliefs about them: given the low visibility of bisexual people in society in
general (Hayfield, 2020) and in psychology in particular[highlight end] (Barker, 2008; Ebersole et al., 2018),
these psychotherapists might not even know that their beliefs about bisexuality are prejudicial.
It is possible that to reduce bisexual stereotypes, it is crucial to use interventions that also
include multicultural education and dismantle incorrect assumptions about bisexual people in
particular and sexuality in general. Some support for this possibility has been found in studies
that examine prejudice and bisexual stereotype reduction interventions in the general population.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jqgyadlr3ca3mfrhcn62x7mw/bafkreihbnj5cyzbcawbnfmd4zxgpwo2nuqz47fwcrfi6etrv5ypi2rwbby)
![SCREENGRAB, part of Summary and Implications: [highlight start] Our results may also explain disparities in psychiatric diagnosis between bisexual and nonbisexual people. Specifically, previous studies showed that clinicians are predisposed to diagnose
bisexual people with a borderline personality disorder (BPD), independent of presenting
psychopathology[highlight ends] (Eubanks‐Carter & Goldfried, 2006; Rodriguez-Seijas et al., 2021). A possible
reason for this bias is that [highlight starts]bisexual stereotypes correlate with symptoms of BPD, such as identity
diffusion (e.g., Jørgensen, 2006) and sexual promiscuity (e.g., Sansone & Sansone, 2011). This
potential link points to an even more severe consequence of therapists holding stereotypical
beliefs about bisexual clients.[highlight ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jqgyadlr3ca3mfrhcn62x7mw/bafkreigpwl2zve5hloukhobr7axocsphwvo7dnvhge74cxrctyauq5sbhe)
![SCREENGRAB, continuation of the abstract of the study: issue. [highlighted portion start] Compared to non-bisexual clients, bisexual clients were evaluated as more likely to suffer from identity and relationship issues.[highlighted portion end] These clinical evaluations were observed regardless of whether the therapist was personally acquainted with bisexual people or had any experience with bisexual clients. Instead, stereotypical clinical issues were perceived as particularly salient among psychotherapists who viewed the hypothetical bisexual clients as immature and confused. These results suggest that like the general public, psychotherapists adhere to stereotypical beliefs about bisexual people. Such biases are likely to have negative impacts on bisexual clients’ diagnoses and overall satisfaction from therapy. We conclude that education may be key to curbing anti-bisexual bias among psychotherapists and ensuring better therapeutic outcomes for bisexual clients.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jqgyadlr3ca3mfrhcn62x7mw/bafkreib7z47qhh4filu7mkv7t2xy3eurdgvjfknmurxzitv3g6lgasmalq)
![SCREENGRAB of a part of the Abstract of the study cited bellow:
Abstract
Psychologists nowadays tend to view same-sex attraction as a normal part of human sexuality, but it is less clear whether they still hold prejudicial views regarding bisexuality. [start of highlighted part] Previous studies have demonstrated that psychotherapists’ clinical evaluation is affected by whether their client is bisexual. One plausible interpretation is that such differences stem from an uncritical adoption of bisexual stereotypes, namely, that bisexual people are confused, immature, and unable to maintain romantic relationships. [end of highlight]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jqgyadlr3ca3mfrhcn62x7mw/bafkreihbhbsq6pemscocv4lulyjf4radyksun4sczacozxk5d2574qk6ni)
