Bisexuality : an exploration of women's relationships : a constructivist grounded theory

• Main Author: Chedid, Joyce
• Other Authors: Bray, Diane ; Moon, Lyndsey
• Published: University of Roehampton 2015
• Subjects: 150; Psychology
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.667468

This research study explored how women construct meanings out of their bisexual experiences in their relationships. Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology and methods, data was collected through intensive interviewing from nine participants. The participants had all been in at least one intimate and sexual relationship with partners of multiple genders. The data analysis resulted in the emergence of three main categories. Category one, spatial negotiation of sexual self, reflects primarily the process of moving from a heterosexual to a non-heterosexual identification. The second category, prism of experiences; refractions through another, portrays how women understand their sexual, physical and emotional experiences in relation to their partners. The third category, techniques of the relationship, represents the process resulting in the participants’ current preferences for bisexual partners. These three categories were integrated by examining the relations, intersections and interactions amongst them, leading to the identification of the basic social process underpinning the participants’ experiences. The occurrence of the basic social process, spatial negotiation, was evident in four dimensions: selfwith- self, self-with-society, self-with-partner, and self-with-relationship. The four dimensions of spatial negotiation explicate the multitude of properties involved in how meanings, behaviours, and actions are constructed and organised in forming relationships. The final theory suggests that women’s bisexual experiences in contemporary relationships are constructed within a sphere of spatial negotiations geared towards facilitating the achievement of their desired sexual, emotional and social existence with bisexual partners. This desired state varies individually, yet appears to integrate aspects of visibility, authenticity and belonging based on shared values, beliefs and views with partners. In light of existing literature indicating a lack of knowledge around bisexuals’ relationships by therapists, the theory offers a novel framework that accounts for multiplicity of factors pertinent to the construction of meanings in bisexual women’s relationships, which may be utilised by counselling psychologists as a guide to assist them in working with clients. Therefore, the implications anticipate a method that therapists may consult for abetting the facilitation of spatial negotiations, which in return can empower bisexual women through their relationships.