Romantic orientation

Sexual orientation
Sexual orientations
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Not to be confused with Romantic friendship.

Romantic orientation, also called affectional orientation, is the classification of the sex or gender which a person experiences romantic attraction towards or is likely to have a romantic relationship with. The term is used alongside the term "sexual orientation", as well as being used alternatively to it, based upon the perspective that sexual attraction is only a single component of a larger concept.[1]

For example, although a pansexual person may feel sexually attracted to people regardless of gender, the person may experience romantic attraction and intimacy, for example, with women only.

For asexual people, romantic orientation is often considered a more useful measure of attraction than sexual orientation.[2][3]

The relationship between sexual attraction and romantic attraction is still under debate.[4][5] Sexual and romantic attractions are often studied in conjunction. Even though studies of sexual and romantic spectrums are shedding light onto this under-researched subject, much is still not fully understood.[6]

  1. ^ Crethar, H. C. & Vargas, L. A. (2007). Multicultural intricacies in professional counseling. In J. Gregoire & C. Jungers (Eds.), The counselor’s companion: What every beginning counselor needs to know. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 0-8058-5684-6. p.61.
  2. ^ Richards, Christina; Barker, Meg (2013). Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide. SAGE. pp. 124–127. ISBN 978-1-4462-9313-3. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  3. ^ Cerankowski, Karli June; Milks, Megan (2014). Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives. Routledge. pp. 89–93. ISBN 978-1-134-69253-8. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Van Houdenhove, Ellen; Gijs, Luk; T'Sjoen, Guy; Enzlin, Paul (July 24, 2015). "Asexuality: A Multidimensional Approach". The Journal of Sex Research. 52 (6): 669–678. doi:10.1080/00224499.2014.898015. PMID 24750031. S2CID 35875780.
  6. ^ Hammack, Phillip L.; Frost, David M.; Hughes, Sam D. (June 13, 2019). "Queer Intimacies: A New Paradigm for the Study of Relationship Diversity". The Journal of Sex Research. 56 (4–5): 556–592. doi:10.1080/00224499.2018.1531281. PMID 30362833. S2CID 53102365.