Understanding attraction, behavior, and identity in the asexual community

Models of sexuality have evolved substantially in the past several decades through the inclusion of new aspects which were previously overlooked. Components such as romantic attraction and behavior have also traditionally been included in models of sexuality. However, romantic and sexual orientations do not coincide for all individuals. A population for which this is true and one that has developed a robust language for discussing romantic orientation is the asexual community. The current study aims to examine romantic and sexual orientation through patterns found within the factors of attraction, behavior, and identity in the asexual community. Within this sample, aspects of each factor such as fluidity, number and type of self-identified labels, desire for romance or sex, and the role of contextual influences were the primary characteristics within groups of similar participant approaches. These findings provide a mechanism for better understanding of some nuances of romantic and sexual orientation and may be a useful first step toward future inquiry and hypothesis generation