Kinsey Scale
Updated:The Kinsey Scale, also known as the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale, is a tool developed by Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues in the 1940s to describe a person's sexual orientation. It uses a scale from 0 to 6, where 0 represents exclusively heterosexual behavior and 6 represents exclusively homosexual behavior. The scale acknowledges that sexuality exists on a spectrum rather than in rigid categories.
Additional Information
The Kinsey Scale includes the following ratings: 0: Exclusively heterosexual 1: Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual 2: Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual 3: Equally heterosexual and homosexual 4: Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual 5: Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual 6: Exclusively homosexual
Kinsey also included an "X" category for those with no socio-sexual contacts or reactions. While groundbreaking for its time, the scale has been criticized for its limitations, such as not including asexuality or other sexual orientations.
Examples
A person who identifies as mostly straight but has occasional same-sex attractions might rate themselves as a 1 on the Kinsey Scale.
Someone who is equally attracted to men and women might identify as a 3 on the scale.