The Klein Sexual Orientation Grid (KSOG) developed by

Fritz Klein Fritz Klein (24 November 1888 – 13 December 1945) was an Austrian Nazi doctor and war criminal, hanged for his role in atrocities at Auschwitz concentration camp and Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during the Holocaust. Early life and educ ...

attempts to measure

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

by expanding upon the earlier

Kinsey scale The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual–Homosexual Rating Scale, is used in research to describe a person's sexual orientation based on one’s experience or response at a given time. The scale typically ranges from 0, meaning exclusive ...

. Fritz Klein founded the

American Institute of Bisexuality The American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB) is a charity founded on July 23, 1998, by sex researcher, psychiatrist and bisexual rights activist Fritz Klein to promote research and education about bisexuality. AIB produces the ''Journal of Bisexua ...

in 1998 which is continuing his work by sponsoring

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

-inclusive sex research, educating the general public on sexuality, and promoting the

bisexual community The bisexual community, also known as the bi+, m-spec, bisexual/pansexual, or bi/pan/fluid community, includes members of the LGBT community who identify as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual and sexually fluid. As opposed to hetero- ...

. Klein first described the KSOG in his 1978 book ''

The Bisexual Option ''The Bisexual Option'' (1978; second edition 1993) is a book by the sex researcher Fritz Klein. It is considered one of the seminal works on bisexuality in the discipline of queer studies. Summary The book shows bisexuals that they are not alo ...

''. In response to the criticism of the

only measuring two dimensions of sexual orientation, Klein developed a multidimensional grid for describing sexual orientation. Unlike the Kinsey scale, the Klein grid investigates sexual orientation in the past, the present and in the idealized future with respect to seven factors each, for a total of twenty-one values. The KSOG uses values of 1–7, rather than the 0–6 scale of the Kinsey scale, to describe a continuum from exclusively opposite-sex to exclusively

same-sex attraction Same sex may refer to: * A phrase used in the discussion of sex or gender * Gonochorism, the state of having just one of at least two distinct sexes in any one individual organism * Homosexuality, the romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexu ...

Overview

The KSOG is often used as a tool in research. Introduced in Klein's book ''The Bisexual Option'' the KSOG uses a seven-point scale to assess seven different dimensions of sexuality at three different points in an individual's life: past (from early adolescence up to one year ago), present (within the last 12 months), and ideal (what would be chosen if it were voluntary). Studies using the KSOG have used

cluster analysis Cluster analysis or clustering is the task of grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups (clusters). It is a main task of ...

to investigate patterns within the KSOG's twenty-one parameters, in one case suggesting a five-label (straight, bi-straight, bi-bi, bi-gay, gay) model of orientation. The KSOG has also been used in studies of

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...

Shortcomings

Klein, while recognizing that the grid explores many more dimensions of sexual orientation than previous scales, acknowledged that it omits the following "aspects" of sexual orientation: * Age of partner * Differentiation of love and friendship in the emotional preference variable * Sexual attraction being distinguished between

sexual desire Sexual desire is an emotion and motivational state characterized by an interest in sexual objects or activities, or by a drive to seek out sexual objects or to engage in sexual activities. It is an aspect of sexuality, which varies significantly ...

and

limerence Limerence is a state of mind which results from romantic or non-romantic feelings for another person, and typically includes intrusive, melancholic thoughts and/or tragic concerns for the object of one's affection as well as a desire to for ...

* Whether

sexual activity Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) ...

referred to number of partners or number of occurrences *

Sex role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cente ...

s as well as masculine and feminine roles While Klein held the belief that including more dimensions of sexual orientation was better, Weinrich et al. (1993) found that all of the dimensions of the KSOG seemed to be measuring the same construct. The study conducted a

factor analysis Factor analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors. For example, it is possible that variations in six observed ...

of the KSOG to see how many factors emerged in two different samples. In both groups, the first factor to emerge loaded substantially on all of the grid's 21 items, indicating that this factor accounted for a majority of the variance. They further found that a second factor emerged containing time dimensions of social and emotional preferences, suggesting that those dimensions may have also been measuring something other than sexual orientation. Therefore, despite the scale being helpful in promoting the concept of sexual orientation as being multidimensional and dynamic, the additional dimensions measured do not necessarily reveal any more of an accurate description of one's overall sexual orientation than the Kinsey scale. Another concern with the KSOG is that different dimensions of sexual orientation may not identify all people of a certain orientation in the same way. Measures of

sexual attraction Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or mat ...

, sexual activity, and

sexual identity Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically and/or sexually attracted.
''Sex ...

identify different (though often overlapping) populations. Laumann et al. (1994) found that of the 8.6% of women reporting some same gender sexuality, 88% reported same gender sexual attraction, 41% reported some same gender sexual behaviour and 16% reported a lesbian or gay identity.

Overview

Shortcomings

See also

References

Further reading