Abstract
Previous measures of sexual orientation ignore the possibility that attraction to men and attraction to women vary independently. In two studies, we test the structure and validity of the novel Dual Sexual Orientation Scales (DSOS), which separates attraction to men from attraction to women on multiple sexual orientation dimensions (e.g., romantic desires, emotional closeness, and fantasies). In both studies, we found support for the theoretical claim that attraction to men and attraction to women can vary separately and established that the DSOS was extremely reliable. The DSOS also predicts traditional sexual orientation identity labels, preferred relationships, and childhood gender/sex-typed behavior, supporting the validity of the measure. The attraction to women subscale further predicts openness and sensation seeking regardless of participant gender/sex, a finding that is not possible to detect using traditional measures.