The Status Dynamics of Sexual Relationships Formulation (SDSRF) distinguishes sexual orientations in terms of the statuses they involve and the dynamics between those statuses. Earlier formulations account for only two forms of sexuality -- masculine attraction to femininity and feminine attraction to masculinity --and categorize homosexuality as inverted heterosexuality or a form of intersexuality. The SDSRF describes sexual orientation in terms of dynamics between combinations and permutations of sex roles, yielding four forms of sexuality instead of two.

In this study, homosexual and heterosexual men and women were asked to provide ratings describing the kind of sexual relationship that would be desirable to them. They rated what they would be like with their partners and what their partners would be like with them, using measures of sex role identity (SRIS) and instrumentality/expressivity (PAQ).

Sexual dynamics were operationalized in terms of patterns of self and partner ratings. Using the SRIS, a significant majority of heterosexual women obtained profiles of low masculinity/high femininity in self, high masculinity/low femininity in partner; heterosexual men obtained profiles of high masculinity/low femininity in self, low masculinity/high femininity in partner; homosexual women obtained profiles of low masculinity/high femininity in both self and partner; and homosexual men obtained profiles of high masculinity/low femininity in both self and partner.

The PAQ did not effectively distinguish between sexual orientations, in part because instrumentality/expressivity are positively correlated unipolar attributes, unlike masculine and feminine sex role identity, which are negatively correlated bipolar attributes.

Complementarity was investigated. Heterosexuals prefer greater sex-role differences between self and partner than do homosexuals, based on SRIS ratings.

SRIS means of homosexuals and heterosexuals were compared; homosexuals rate themselves and partners in desired sexual relationships lower on same-sex attributes and higher on opposite-sex attributes than do same-sex heterosexual persons, but also higher on same-sex attributes and lower on opposite-sex attributes than do opposite-sex heterosexuals.

Heterosexuals and homosexuals also differ in preferences for acquiring certain social and sexual statuses relative to persons of one sex rather than another. [ pp.]