Precarious (bi)sexuality: Mediated contact influences how bisexual individuals are differently categorized for unidirectional sexual behavior

This study extends the precarious sexuality framework to examine how observers categorize bisexual individuals who engage in exclusively same-sex or different-sex sexual behaviors. While prior research demonstrates that men's heterosexuality is easily reclassified when engaging in same-sex behavior, less is known about how bisexual identities are perceived when behavioral patterns appear monosexual. Furthermore, this study examines whether mediated contact with bisexual characters moderates categorization effects, whereas interpersonal contact has proven inconsistent. Through a 2 (character gender: male, female) x 2 (sexual behavior: same-sex, different-sex) factorial experimental design, participants read narratives about target characters’ identifying as bisexual but engaging in unidirectional sexual behaviors. Participants rated their confidence in the characters’ future sexual identity. Results show that bisexuality operates as a precarious identity within the LGB community itself, subject to reclassification tendencies to recategorize sexual identities into the binary. Notably, mediated exposure to bisexual characters moderated these categorization effects, though primarily for same-sex behaviors, suggesting that contemporary media representation may cultivate associations between bisexuality and gay-adjacent identities rather than genuinely disrupting binary thinking. These findings illuminate how status hierarchies operate within sexual minority communities and reveal both the potential and limitations of visibility-based media representation in challenging the categorization of non-monosexual identities.