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EntityQ1035954· pop 110· linked from 1,589 articles

heterosexuality

Also known as ⚤, straight, straightness, heterosexual

thumb|upright|A heterosexuality symbol

AI overview

Heterosexuality is the sexual orientation of being attracted to people of a different gender than one's own. It matters because sexual orientation is a fundamental aspect of human identity and relationships that affects how people form romantic and intimate connections throughout their lives.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

23,836 papers

Making monsters: heterosexuality, crime and race in recent Western media coverage of HIV.Sociology of health & illness · 2008Persson A, Newman CDOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2008.01082.x
Sexual orientation and personality.Annual review of sex research · 2005Lippa RA
Self-expansion within sexual minority relationships.The Journal of social psychology · 2025McIntyre KP, Mattingly BA, Issula I et al.DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2024.2328122
Sexual health and behaviors in homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual Danes: baseline findings in the Project SEXUS cohort study.The journal of sexual medicine · 2025Schweizer FB, Dalgaard LNR, Graugaard C et al.DOI: 10.1093/jsxmed/qdaf220
Examining sexual minority engagement in recovery community centers.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024Bernier LB, Foley JD, Salomaa AC et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209340
Infantile bisexuality and the 'complete oedipal complex': Freudian views on heterosexuality and homosexuality.The International journal of psycho-analysis · 2011Heenen-Wolff SDOI: 10.1111/j.1745-8315.2011.00436.x
Meta-analysis of the association between methamphetamine use and high-risk sexual behavior among heterosexuals.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2016Hittner JBDOI: 10.1037/adb0000162
Disparities in health-related quality of life among lesbian, gay, and bisexual cancer survivors.Journal of psychosocial oncology · 2023Hoyt MA, Darabos K, Llave KDOI: 10.1080/07347332.2023.2210548

via PubMed

~18 min read

Encyclopedic overview

18 sections

Contents

Terminology
Demographics
Academic study
Biological and environmental
Prenatal hormones
Animals and reproduction
Sexual fluidity
Identity vs behavior
Sexual orientation change efforts
Society and culture
Symbolism
Historical views
Religious views
Heteronormativity and heterosexism
See also
References
Further reading
External links

thumb|upright|A heterosexuality symbol

Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the opposite sex. It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions." Someone who is heterosexual is commonly referred to as straight.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “heterosexuality” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.