What is the study of sexual attraction in humans called?
Androphilia and gynephilia
Androphilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to men or masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to women or femininity. Ambiphilia describes the combination of both androphilia and gynephilia in a given individual, or bisexuality.
Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women
The philosopher John Corvino wrote in "The Philosophy of Sex: Contemporary Readings" (1997) that "Homosexualities" is the study most commonly cited to prove that gay men are sexually promiscuous, but that it was not based on a broad sample and that Laumann's more extensive study produced different results. The psychologist Jim McKnight stated in "Straight Science? Homosexuality, Evolution and Adaptation" (1997) that while the idea that bisexuality is a form of sexual orientation intermediate between homosexuality and heterosexuality is implicit in the Kinsey scale, that view was brought into question by the publication of "Homosexualities" and is now "severely challenged". The philosopher Timothy F. Murphy described "Homosexualities" as an important study of homosexuality in "Gay Science" (1997), commenting that despite its limitations it is useful, provided that it, like other studies, is regarded as part of a scientific process of "measuring the adequacy of hypotheses and evidence" rather than as a "window opening on veridical truth". He added that Bell and Weinberg studied people who came of age before gay liberation, and that probably a much smaller proportion of gays would now be dissatisfied with their sexual orientation or interested in attempting to change it through therapy. The psychologists Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse observed in "Ex-gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation" (2007) that "Homosexualities" is one of the most influential studies ever conducted on homosexuality, but that like several other influential studies, including those by Hooker, Kinsey, J. Michael Bailey, and Richard Pillard, its authors' conclusions were based on convenience samples, which have no known representativeness. They nevertheless consulted Bell and Weinberg's interview protocols when developing a questionnaire for their own study of ex-gays.