[6][7][8] In a 1990 study by the Social Organization of Sexuality, only 15.7% of women and 34.9% of men who reported some level of same-sex attraction had a homosexual or bisexual identity.
Those who are unlabeled are more likely to view sexuality as less stable and more fluid and tend to focus more on the "person, not the gender.
The results show that female employees first consider or choose (non)identity that matches their new sexual attractions.
[45] The term pomosexual is also similar to unlabeled in the sense that it defines the rejection of preexisting or mainstream labels.
[48] Various studies have shown that gender identity can be affected by family conditions, educational environment, society and media.
[49][50][51][52] According to Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, Braun (2006), "the development of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) sexual identity is a complex and often difficult process.
Unlike members of other minority groups (e.g., ethnic and racial minorities), most LGB individuals are not raised in a community of similar others from whom they learn about their identity and who reinforce and support that identity" and "[r]ather, LGB individuals are often raised in communities that are either ignorant of or openly hostile toward homosexuality.
For example, some LGBT youth become aware of and accept their same-sex desires or gender identity at puberty in a way similar to which heterosexual teens become aware of their sexuality, i.e. free of any notion of difference, stigma or shame in terms of the gender of the people to whom they are attracted.
[58] Fassinger's model of gay and lesbian identity development contains four stages at the individual and group level: (1) awareness, (2) exploration, (3) deepening/commitment, and (4) internalization/synthesis.
[60] The Unifying Model of Sexual Identity Development is currently the only model that incorporates heterosexual identity development within its statuses to include compulsory heterosexuality, active exploration, diffusion, deepening and commitment to status, and synthesis.
[4] More recent research has supported these theories, having demonstrated that heterosexual populations display all of Marcia's statuses within the domain of sexual identity.