Situational sexual behavior is sexual behavior of a kind that is different from that which the person normally exhibits, due to a social environment that in some way permits, encourages, or compels those acts. This can also include situations where a person's usual sexual behavior may not be possible, so rather than not engaging in sexual activity at all they may engage in different sexual behaviors.
One example of situational sexual behavior includes when people might not have sex with prostitutes in their home countries, but may do so when they visit other countries, where such activities are legal or ignored by authorities. Another example is when individuals or members of a community might engage in homosexual behaviors but identify as heterosexual otherwise, such as some people in prison, the military, single sex boarding schools, or other sex-segregated communities.
Many people change their sexual behavior depending on the situation or at different points in their life.[1] For example, men and women in a university may practice bisexuality, but only in that environment. Experimentation of this sort is more common among adolescents (or just after), both male and female. Some colloquialisms for this trend include "heteroflexible",[2] "BUG" (Bisexual Until Graduation), or "LUG" (Lesbian Until Graduation).[3]
A possibly common and transient example of situational sexuality is the person who, while self-identifying as heterosexual, will sexually interact with a member of the same sex (or a gay or lesbian self-identified person sexually interacting with a member of the opposite sex).[1] People who exhibit this behavior are sometimes referred to as "vortex bisexuals" and some classify them as "heteroflexible".
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Pseudo-homosexuality refers to homosexual anxieties, fantasies, or behavior exhibited by a person who self-identifies as heterosexual or who is generally attracted or sexually oriented to members of the opposite sex. Where actual sex is sought as a result, pseudo-homosexuality is commonly distinguished from homosexuality in that it may not reflect a desire based on sexual orientation or honest curiosity. For example, this behavior may be found in restrictive environments, such as prisons or encampments. Where consent is lacking in these circumstances, sociopathic elements may be manifest.[4]
Due to its somewhat vague nature, pseudo-homosexuality may be claimed as a defense by heterosexual men who feel some insecurity or doubt concerning their own masculine role in any area of behavior—sexual, social, or vocational. Anxiety about being homosexual is sometimes interpreted as a symbolic reflection of failure in masculine aspiration and competitive defeat in power struggles. In such cases, the true homosexual motivation, if present at all, is very temporary.
The notion of pseudo-homosexuality is important as it provides a possible explanation for homosexual anxieties and fantasies among patients undergoing psychotherapy. It offers an alternative interpretation of fantasies which were earlier understood to be the expression of the repressed homosexual component of our biological innate bisexuality.