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Gerulf Rieger vs. transgender people

Gerulf Rieger is a psychologist best known for publishing “science” that claimed bisexual men don’t exist. After getting money from bisexual activist John Sylla at the American Institute of Bisexuality, Rieger suddenly “discovered” male bisexuality. Sylla was also an author on Rieger’s published “discovery,” an unethical conflict of interest.

Rieger is also infamous for “science” claiming no woman is “totally straight.”

Rieger has also published anti-trans “science” claiming that trans women exhibit “male arousal patterns.”

Background

Rieger was born in July 1972. Rieger earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Vienna in 1995, followed by a master’s degree from University of Zurich in 1999. Rieger then attended Northwestern University, earning a master’s degree in 2004 and a doctorate in 2006.

Rieger’s dissertation advisor was anti-trans psychologist J. Michael Bailey. Bailey is notorious for engaging in “science by press conference,” a way of getting money and attention for questionable research through carefully timed media manipulation. Bailey is also known for work in the field of eugenics. Bailey has made a career of controversial “findings” about minorities which are reported uncritically by inept journalists. Bailey’s “finding” is later called into question and/or retracted after the damage is done. By then Bailey is on to some new “finding,” and the pattern of using gullible journalists begins again.

Rieger did postdoctoral work at Cornell University before taking a Lecturer position at University of Essex in 2014. As of 2024, Rieger was no longer listed as a Reader on the University of Essex psychology staff.

Rieger on bisexuality (2002–present)

Rieger became famous for parroting Bailey’s claims that “true bisexuality” does not exist in men, who are “gay, straight, or lying.” These claims were supported by plethysmograph quackery initially published by Rieger in 2002:

Recently, we finished our study on male sexual arousal and sexual orientation. We were most interested in figuring out whether putative bisexual men do really get aroused to both men and women. There has been a long-lasting skepticism as to whether bisexual men are really what they say they are. Some people suggested that they are closet gay men. Others said that they are confused heterosexual men. So what are they? We invited all heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men into our lab, and measured their sexual arousal with help of a penile strain gauge while showing them movies of naked men or of naked women. We found no obvious bisexual arousal trends for the bisexual men. Most of them showed arousal like gay men, and a few got aroused like heterosexual men. Here you will find a link to the poster, which was presented at the IASR conference in Hamburg in the Summer of 2002. (Rieger 2004, poster published via morov.com)

Rieger’s greatest media triumph was a 2005 puff piece by Benedict Carey in the New York Times. Titled “Straight, Gay, or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited,” it was one of the most widely shared stories from the Times website in the week following publication. Carey called Rieger’s claims “a new study” in an article timed to coincide with the opening of the International Academy of Sex Research conference, where the study had been presented three years earlier. The only apparent difference is the sample size. Carey’s report drew widespread criticism from media watchdog groups and civil rights groups including FAIR and GLAAD.

Rieger later “discovered” bisexuality after taking money from bisexual activist John Sylla at the American Institute of Bisexuality.

Rieger is also infamous for claiming no woman is “totally straight.” In a “science by press conference” piece for The Telegraph, Rieger said of women, “Our research shows that, when it comes to what turns them on they are usually bisexual or gay, but never totally straight”.

The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003)

In 2003, Rieger’s dissertation advisor J. Michael Bailey published the transphobic book The Man Who Would Be Queen. After several academics expressed concerns about Bailey’s unscientific and exploitative lectures in support of the book at Emory on 8 April 2003 (reported by Dr. Saralyn Chesnut) and at Stanford on 23 April 2003 (reported by noted biologist Joan Roughgarden), Bailey complained about “irate transsexuals” in a terse response to Rieger [all links added for reference]:

From: Gerulf Rieger gerulf[at]northwestern.edu 
Date: Mon Apr 28, 2003 10:36:08 AM US/Central 
To: gluu[at]listserv.it.northwestern.edu 
Cc: rainbow[at]listserv.it.northwestern.edu 
Subject: Dr. Bailey’s reply: Prof. Michael Bailey’s lecture lacks sensitivity
 

Here is a message from Professor Bailey, my advisor. 
Gerulf

Background: Roughgarden is a transsexual woman (who used to be a man), who is part of a group (I think a small one) who is extremely angry with me about my recent book, The Man Who Would Be Queen. For examples of vitriol (to the extent that one put dirty captions under pictures of my children) see:

  • http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/LynnsReviewOfBaileysBook.html [archive]
  • http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/j-michael-bailey.html [archive]
  • http://www.drbecky.com/blog05.html#apr13 [archive]

The main complaint is that I do not believe that all transsexuals are “women trapped in men’s bodies” but instead, believe the scientific evidence that one type of male-to-female transsexual is, prior to transition, a man with a sexual obsession for being a woman. The other type can be conceived of as an extremely feminine type of gay man. I explain in the book why the first type of transsexual tends to be very threatened by this explanation of their behavior. I posted on this before here, so instead of doing so again, I refer interested people to a website where they can read the book: (available to read for free at)

  • http://books.nap.edu/books/0309084180/html/ [archive]

The second section, on homosexuality, is what I lectured about at Stanford. The third section is the one that has Roughgarden mad. The transsexuals have been writing everyone possibly affiliated with the book, from the publisher (and someone in the upper echelon has a wife who is good friends with one Lynn Conway–see negative review #1 above–and this resulted in the book being taken off the publisher’s website for nearly 24 hours) to people who wrote positive blurbs on the cover (Steven Pinker and David Buss, for example) to my colleagues. I don’t have time for individual responses to irate transsexuals, so I’m writing something for my webpage.

Mike Bailey

Gerulf Rieger and Elizabeth Latty admire J. Michael Bailey and Bailey's book The Man Who Would Be Queen
J. Michael Bailey, left, and graduate students Gerulf Rieger and Elizabeth Latty admiring Bailey and the book The Man Who Would Be Queen. Photo by Theresa Kwok via Drier 2003 [archive | archive]

Rieger on LGBTQ stereotypes (2003–present)

In 2003, Rieger appeared in a short film by fellow Northwestern grad Jason Bolicki, titled “Twenty Gay Stereotypes Confirmed.” It was described as “a tongue-in-cheek look at gay stereotypes using the director’s childhood home movies.”

Rieger then solicited home movies that demonstrated stereotypes based on sexual orientation.

http:// www.gptforum.com/forum/Topic14319.htm

Men and Women Wanted in Paid Northwestern Study 
Reply to: gerulf[at]northwestern.edu 
Date: 2005-05-21, 5:55PM CDT 

Men and Women wanted who have home movies from their childhood and are willing to be interviewed for a study on child development. Participation takes about two hours. Participants will be paid $50. Please call Gerulf Rieger at Northwestern University, The Human Sexuality Lab at 847 / 491-3820. You may also email gerulf[at]northwestern.edu . IRB#: 0108-016 

Please note: in order to be eligible for this study, you must have a childhood home movie of yourself (approximately ages 0-10), and bring it with you during your interview. 

* Job location is Evanston 
* Compensation: $50

Rieger’s mentor J. Michael Bailey previously misused clips of gender diverse children for the amusement of “academic” audiences.

In 2007 Bailey and Rieger appeared on CNN to support their claims about stereotypically “gay” walking style, with Bailey as the “straight” one (Cohen 2007). Never have two people been filmed walking more self-consciously.

j michael bailey and gerulf rieger on how gay people walk

Associates

Graduate students

  • Jennifer Ann Coe
  • Milla Grigorova
  • Luke Holmes
  • Samuel James Ingram
  • Katherine Sarah Mcculloch
  • Joshua Paul Irvin Moreton
  • Jamie Anthony Raines
  • Erlend Slettevold
  • Tuesday Michelle Watts

Coauthors

  • Pablo V. Gejman
  • Elliot S Gershon
  • Helge Gillmeister
  • Dragos C. Gruia
  • Shengru Guo
  • Lorenz Gygax
  • Luke Holmes
  • Kara Joyner
  • Alana B. Kolundzija
  • Ritesha S. Krishnappa
  • Eden R Martin
  • Sarah Merrill
  • David A. Moskowitz
  • Rick O’Gorman
  • Sheina Orbell
  • Silke Paulmann
  • Jamie A. Raines
  • Silvia Rigato
  • Michael E. Roloff
  • Vincenzo Romei
  • A. M. Rosenthal
  • James Dalton Rounds
  • Chloe Tasker
  • Dennis C. Turner
  • Tuesday M. Watts
  • Lydia Whitaker

References

Chadwick, Jonathan (July 22, 2020). Scientist who denied the existence of bisexual men admits it IS possible to be attracted to both sexes in study that ‘reshapes our understanding of male sexual orientation.’ Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8548591/Scientist-admits-bisexuality-psychically-exists-controversial-2005-study.html

Milton, Josh (July 21, 2020). Scientist who denied bisexual men exist finally comes to his senses and discovers, yes, bi guys are telling the truth. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/07/21/bisexuality-bisexual-j-michael-bailey-gerulf-rieger-northwestern-essex-university-biphobia/

Pulley, Anna (November 6, 2015). Why I’m Not Buying This Study That Claims All Women Are a Little Gay. The Cut https://www.thecut.com/2015/11/study-all-women-are-a-little-gay-lesbian.html

Therrien, Alex (November 6, 2015). No woman ‘totally straight’, study says. BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/health-34744903

Steafel, Eleanor (November 6, 2015). Women are either bisexual or gay but ‘never straight.’ The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11977121/Women-are-either-bisexual-or-gay-but-never-straight.html

Cohen, Elizabeth (June 30, 2007). Step by step, researcher looks for sexuality clues. CNN http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/06/26/sexuality/index.html

  • https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.tsroadmap.com/images/bailey-gait.jpg [archive]

Bond, Alison (September 22, 2005). Grad student’s study sparks criticism from bisexuals. Daily Northwestern https://dailynorthwestern.com/2005/09/22/archive-manual/grad-students-study-sparks-criticism-from-bisexuals/ original URL http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/23/43339007ed9b2 [archive]

Staff report (July 8, 2005). New York Times Suggests Bisexuals Are “Lying”: Paper fails to disclose study author’s controversial history. FAIR https://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/new-york-times-suggests-bisexuals-are-quotlyingquot/ original: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2573 [archive]

Creager, Cyndi (July 7, 2005). New York Times Promotes Bisexual Stereotypes in “Straight, Gay or Lying?” GLAAD http://www.glaad.org/action/write_now_detail.php?id=3827&PHPSESSID=0b9e8b63af283601f7dc071e1a4c4568 [archive]

Carey, Benedict (July 5, 2005). Straight, Gay, or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/health/straight-gay-or-lying-bisexuality-revisited.html Original URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/health/05sex.html [archive]

DeNoon, Daniel J. (August 30, 2005). Do Bisexual Men Really Exist? WebMD via CBS News, Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD https://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-bisexual-men-really-exist/

Conway, Lynn (July 11, 2005). J. Michael Bailey attacks the identities of bisexual men, back in 2002. https://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Bailey/Bisexuality/Bailey%20attacks%20bisexual%20men%20in%202002.html

Conway, Lynn (July 6, 2005). J. Michael Bailey attacks the identities of yet another sexual minority group: He claims that the plethysmograph proves bisexual men are “lying”, and that most are just gay men after all. http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Bailey/Bisexuality/Bisexuality-NYT%207-05-05.html

Drier, Sarah; Anderson, Kevin (April 21, 2003). Prof’s book challenges opinions of human sexuality. Bailey tackles sensitive transsexuality issues; some find his views offensive. Daily Northwestern http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/21/3ea39785e6cef?in_archive=1 [archive]

Selected publications

Holmes L, Rieger G, Paulmann S (2024). The effect of sexual orientation on voice acoustic properties. Frontiers in Psychology (Vol. 15). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412372

Rieger G (2023). Genetically identical twins discordant for sexual orientation: potential reasons for their differences. Genetics and evolution of sexual orientation meeting at The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2023/03/sexual-orientation/ [archive]

About 75% of genetically identical twins who are homosexual have heterosexual co-twins, and it is largely unknown what causes their difference. However, the majority of past work with such twin pairs was based on self-reports, which can be biased, and how these twins truly differ remained uncertain. The author will summarise research from his lab showing that these twins differ in behavioural, physiological, and anatomical traits linked to sexual orientation: gender-nonconformity, genital arousal, and finger length ratios, respectively. Dr Rieger will then propose a mechanism that explains their different development. About 30% of identical twins develop with separate placentas. Maternal androgens or antibodies could diffuse differently through these placentas, affecting the differentiated development of the twins. The author will also propose a study design to indirectly test this hypothesis.

Tasker, Chloe (February 2, 2023). Women are more likely to identify as bisexual – can research into sexual arousal tell us why? The Conversation https://theconversation.com/women-are-more-likely-to-identify-as-bisexual-can-research-into-sexual-arousal-tell-us-why-197294

Milani S, Zhang JY, Zdaniuk B, Bogaert A, Rieger G, Brotto LA (2022). Examining Visual Attention Patterns among Asexual and Heterosexual Individuals. Journal of Sex Research (Vol. 60, Issue 2, pp. 271–281). https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2078768

Gruia DC, Holmes L, Raines J, Slettevold E, Watts-Overall TM, Rieger G (2022). Stability and Change in Sexual Orientation and Genital Arousal over Time. Journal of Sex Research (Vol. 60, Issue 2, pp. 294–304). https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2060927

Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Slettevold E, Gruia DC, Rieger G (2022). The relationship between finger length ratio, masculinity, and sexual orientation in women: A correlational study. In L. Bartos (Ed.), PLOS ONE (Vol. 17, Issue 3, p. e0259637). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259637

Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Slettevold E, Gruia DC, Rieger G (2021). Sex Differences in Sexual Arousal and Finger Length Ratio. Journal of Sex Research (Vol. 59, Issue 4, pp. 515–523). https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.1874262

Sanders AR, Beecham GW, Guo S, Dawood K, Rieger G, Krishnappa RS, Kolundzija AB, Bailey JM, Martin ER (2021). Genome-Wide Linkage and Association Study of Childhood Gender Nonconformity in Males. Archives of Sexual Behavior 50, 3377–3383 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02146-x

Holmes, L., Watts-Overall, T.M., Slettevold, E. et al. Sexual Orientation, Sexual Arousal, and Finger Length Ratios in Women. Archives of Sexual Behavior 50, 3419–3432 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02095-5

Raines J, Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Slettevold E, Gruia DC, Orbell S, Rieger G (2021). Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men. Psychological Science (Vol. 32, Issue 4, pp. 485–495). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620971654

Rieger G, Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Gruia DC, Bailey JM, Savin-Williams RC (2020). Gender Nonconformity of Bisexual Men and Women. Archives of Sexual Behavior 49, 2481–2495 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01766-z

Rieger G, Watts-Overall TM, Holmes L, Gruia DC (2020). Gender Nonconformity of Identical Twins with Discordant Sexual Orientations: Evidence from Video Recordings. Archives of Sexual Behavior 49, 2469–2479 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01709-8

Bailey, J.M., Rieger, G., Krishnappa, R.S. et al. Familiality of Gender Nonconformity Among Homosexual Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior 49, 2461–2468 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01626-w

Jabbour, J., Holmes, L., Sylva, D., Hsu, K. J., Semon, T. L., Rosenthal, A. M., Safron, A., Slettevold, E., Watts-Overall, T. M., Savin-Williams, R. C., Sylla, J., Rieger, G., & Bailey, J. M. (2020). Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 117, Issue 31, pp. 18369–18377). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003631117

Slettevold, E., Holmes, L., Gruia, D., Nyssen, C. P., Watts-Overall, T. M., & Rieger, G. (2019). Bisexual men with bisexual and monosexual genital arousal patterns. In Biological Psychology (Vol. 148, p. 107763). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107763

Watts, T. M., Holmes, L., Raines, J., Orbell, S., & Rieger, G. (2018). Finger length ratios of identical twins with discordant sexual orientations. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(8), 2435–2444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1262-z

  • An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 48(3) of Archives of Sexual Behavior (see record 2018-64336-001).

Sanders, A., Beecham, G., Guo, S., Dawood, K., Rieger, G., Krishnappa, R., Kolundzija, A., Bailey, J. M., & Martin, E. (2019). S67GENOME-WIDE LINKAGE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD GENDER NONCONFORMITY IN MALES. In European Neuropsychopharmacology (Vol. 29, p. S148). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.08.068

Booker CL, Rieger G, Unger JB (2017). Sexual orientation health inequality: evidence from understanding society, the UK longitudinal household study. Preventive Medicine 101, 126-132 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.06.010

Savin-Williams RC, Cash BM, McCormack M, Rieger G (2017). Gay, Mostly Gay, or Bisexual Leaning Gay? An Exploratory Study Distinguishing Gay Sexual Orientations Among Young Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior 46, 265–272 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0848-6

Watts TM, Holmes L, Savin-Williams RC, Rieger G (2017). Pupil Dilation to Explicit and Non-Explicit Sexual Stimuli. Archives of Sexual Behavior  46, 155–165 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0801-8

G Rieger, RC Savin-Williams, ML Chivers, JM Bailey Sexual arousal and masculinity-femininity of women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 111 (2), 265

S Rigato, G Rieger, V Romei Multisensory signalling enhances pupil dilation Scientific Reports 6 (1), 26188

AR Sanders, ER Martin, GW Beecham, S Guo, K Dawood, G Rieger, … Genome-wide scan demonstrates significant linkage for male sexual orientation Psychological Medicine 45 (7), 1379-1388

G Rieger, BM Cash, SM Merrill, J Jones-Rounds, SM Dharmavaram, … Sexual arousal: The correspondence of eyes and genitals Biological Psychology 104, 56-64

MC Stief, G Rieger, RC Savin-Williams Bisexuality is associated with elevated sexual sensation seeking, sexual curiosity, and sexual excitability Personality and Individual Differences 66, 193-198

Z Vrangalova, RE Bukberg, G Rieger Birds of a feather? Not when it comes to sexual permissiveness Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 31 (1), 93-113

G Rieger, AM Rosenthal, BM Cash, JAW Linsenmeier, JM Bailey, … Male bisexual arousal: A matter of curiosity? Biological Psychology 94 (3), 479-489

RC Savin-Williams, G Rieger, AM Rosenthal Physiological evidence for a mostly heterosexual orientation among men Archives of Sexual Behavior 42, 697-699

L Kubicová, J Valentová, J Havlíček, G Rieger, JM Bailey Differences in Nonverbal Behavior between Homosexual nad Heterosexual Men, SFA PA XXI BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HUMAN ETHOLOGY VIENNA/AUSTRIA

G Rieger, RC Savin-Williams The eyes have it: Sex and sexual orientation differences in pupil dilation patterns PloS One 7 (8), e40256

G Rieger, R Blanchard, G Schwartz, JM Bailey, AR Sanders Further data concerning Blanchard’s (2011)“Fertility in the mothers of firstborn homosexual and heterosexual men” Archives of Sexual Behavior 41, 529-531

G Rieger, RC Savin-Williams Gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, and psychological well-being Archives of Sexual Behavior 41, 611-621

RC Savin-Williams, K Joyner, G Rieger Prevalence and stability of self-reported sexual orientation identity during young adulthood Archives of Sexual Behavior 41, 103-110

JM Bailey, G Rieger, AM Rosenthal Still in search of bisexual sexual arousal: Comment on Cerny and Janssen (2011) Archives of Sexual Behavior 40, 1293-1295

J Valentova, G Rieger, J Havlicek, JAW Linsenmeier, JM Bailey Judgments of sexual orientation and masculinity–femininity based on thin slices of behavior: A cross-cultural comparison Archives of Sexual Behavior 40, 1145-1152

RC Savin-Williams, KM Cohen, K Joyner, G Rieger Rejecting the refutation that never was: Reply to Meyer’s (2010) comments on Savin-Williams, Cohen, Joyner, and Rieger (2010) Archives of Sexual Behavior 40, 659-661

DA Moskowitz, DW Seal, L Rintamaki, G Rieger HIV in the leather community: Rates and risk-related behaviors AIDS and Behavior 15, 557-564

G Rieger, L Gygax, JAW Linsenmeier, A Siler-Knogl, DA Moskowitz, … Sex typicality and attractiveness in childhood and adulthood: Assessing their relationships from videos Archives of Sexual Behavior 40, 143-154

RC Savin-Williams, KM Cohen, K Joyner, G Rieger Depressive symptoms among same-sex oriented young men: Importance of reference group Archives of Sexual Behavior 39, 1213-1215

D Sylva, G Rieger, JAW Linsenmeier, JM Bailey Concealment of sexual orientation Archives of Sexual Behavior 39, 141-152

G Schwartz, RM Kim, AB Kolundzija, G Rieger, AR Sanders Biodemographic and physical correlates of sexual orientation in men. Archives of Sexual Behavior 39, 93-109

G Rieger, JAW Linsenmeier, L Gygax, S Garcia, JM Bailey Dissecting “gaydar”: Accuracy and the role of masculinity–femininity Archives of Sexual Behavior 39, 124-140

DA Moskowitz, G Rieger, ME Roloff Heterosexual attitudes toward same-sex marriage Journal of Homosexuality 57 (2), 325-336

G Rieger, JAW Linsenmeier, JM Bailey Childhood gender noncomformity remains a robust and neutral correlate of sexual orientation: Reply to Hegarty (2009). American Psychological Association 45 (4), 901

DA Moskowitz, G Rieger, DW Seal Narcissism, self-evaluations, and partner preferences among men who have sex with men Personality and Individual Differences 46 (7), 725-728

DA Moskowitz, G Rieger, ME Roloff Tops, bottoms and versatiles Sexual and Relationship Therapy 23 (3), 191-202

G Rieger, JAW Linsenmeier, L Gygax, JM Bailey Sexual orientation and childhood gender nonconformity: evidence from home videos. Developmental Psychology 44 (1), 46

G Rieger The stickiness of sex atypicality: Movies of homosexual people from childhood and adulthood Northwestern University

Rieger G, Bailey JM (2005). The misfit of sex atypicality (IASR conference paper) iasr.org/meeting/2005/abstracts2005.doc [archive]

Homosexual people tend to reject sex-atypical partners: Homosexual men tend to find feminine men less attractive, and conversely, lesbians tend to find masculine women less attractive. We investigated what traits could trigger this disadvantage. Ten-second video clips of 95 targets, ages 18 to 30, were judged on sex atypicality of their movements, voice patters and appearances by 58 raters of both sexes and sexual orientations without explicit information on the targets’ sexual orientation. Another sex of 121 raters of both sexes/sexual orientations would rate targets on attractiveness, rating their preferred sex, again without explicit information on the targets’ sexual orientation. Homosexual targets of both sexes were, on average, rated as having more sex-atypical movements, voices, and appearance (ds = .6 to 1.5, ps < .01). The expressions of these traits were significantly related to each other (rs = .4 to .7, ps < .05) and we thus computed one factor of sex atypicality. Using a multi-factorial design, including raters as random factor, we would then assess the relation between sex atypicality and attractiveness. In men, only the most sex-atypical targets were judged to be less attractive (b = -.11, p < .0001). In women, however, both moderate and strong expressions of sex atypicality seemed to affect attractiveness negatively (b = -.12, p < .0001). Independent of their sex atypicality, homosexual men were less attractive than same sex heterosexuals (b = -.12, p < .0001), and lesbians were rated to be less attractive than heterosexual women (b = -.09, p < .0001). Thus a yet unknown parameter related to homosexuality seemed relevant to raters. Attraction patterns were mostly unaffected by the raters’ sex or sexual orientation, and self reported gender identity and homophobia.

G Rieger, ML Chivers, JM Bailey Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men Psychological Science 16 (8), 579-584

Siler-Knogl AK, Rieger G, Bailey JM. Sex Atypicality and Attractiveness in Gay and Heterosexual People. Psychological Science 2004. Later ASB paper https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9512-8 

Gay people are more sex-atypical (e.g. feminine men, masculine women), yet they don’t seem to seek sex-atypical partners. However, this study suggests that while sex atypicality enhances attractiveness, independently, homosexuality has a negative effect, especially for men. Thus, a yet undefined factor seems to detriment the attractiveness of gay people.

Chivers ML, Rieger G, Latty E, Bailey JM (2004). A Sex Difference in the Specificity of Sexual Arousal. Psychological Science, 15(11), 736-744. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00750.x

Chivers ML, Rieger G, Latty EM, Bailey JM (2003). A Sex Difference in the Specificity of Sexual Arousal. Psychological Science conference 2003.

Sexual arousal is category-specific in men; heterosexual men are more aroused by female than by male sexual stimuli, while homosexual men show the opposite pattern. There is reason to believe that female sexual arousal is altogether differently organized. We assessed genital and subjective sexual arousal to male and female sexual stimuli in women, men, and postoperative male-to-female transsexuals. In contrast to men, women showed little category-specificity on either genital or subjective measures. Both heterosexual and homosexual women experienced strong genital arousal to both male and female sexual stimuli. Transsexuals showed a category-specific pattern, demonstrating that category specificity can be detected in the neovagina using a photoplethysmographic measure of female genital sexual arousal. In a second study, we showed that our female results are unlikely to be explained by ascertainment biases. These findings suggest that sexual arousal patterns play a fundamentally different role in male and female sexuality.

Rieger G (2003). Research interests. J. Michael Bailey faculty website http://www.psych.nwu.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/rieger.html [archive]

Rieger G, Chivers ML, Bailey JM (2002), Who are bisexual men? Sexual orientation and sexual arousal in men. International Academy of Sex Research conference http://www.iasr.org/meeting/2002/abstracts_2002.pdf [archive]

Media

Cara Delevingne (2022). Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne. BBC 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0df24z1/planet-sex-with-cara-delevingne

BBC 4seven (c. 2015) [eye tracking and plethysmograph] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOLDNv0_pZo

Terje Lervik (2010). Brainwash S01E03 “Homo/hetero” [features Simon LeVay, Richard Lippa, Gerulf Rieger]

Brittany Blockman and Josephine Decker (2008). Bi the Way. [featuring Ritch Savin-Williams, Dan Savage, Gerulf Rieger, Pepper Schwartz, Meredith Chivers, J. Michael Bailey]

Lesley Stahl (August 27, 2006). “Gay or Straight?” [featuring J. Michael Bailey, Gerulf Rieger, and Marc Breedlove] 60 Minutes S38E25 CBS

Jason Bolicki (2004). Twenty Gay Stereotypes Confirmed. [featuring Gerulf Rieger and Dan Savage] Nothing in Moderation Productions

Resources

Northwestern University (northwestern.edu)

  • Gerulf Rieger
  • psych.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/rieger.html [archive]
  • “Recently, we finished our study on male sexual arousal and sexual orientation. We were most interested in figuring out whether putative bisexual men do really get aroused to both men and women. There has been a long-lasting skepticism as to whether bisexual men are really what they say they are. Some people suggested that they are closet gay men. Others said that they are confused heterosexual men. So what are they? We invited all heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men into our lab, and measured their sexual arousal with help of a penile strain gauge while showing them movies of naked men or of naked women. We found no obvious bisexual arousal trends for the bisexual men. Most of them showed arousal like gay men, and a few got aroused like heterosexual men. Here you will find a link to the poster, which was presented at the IASR conference in Hamburg in the Summer of 2002.” [published 2003]

http://www.psych.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/rieger.html

Research Interests

I am interested in human behavior, especially non-verbal behavior that does not depend on self-reports. Right now I am of course interested in human sexuality. What are the causes and the effects of a person’s sexual orientation? Could there be any adaptive qualities to being gay? Is sexual orientation correlated with any other personality traits, and if so, what can they tell us about the development of sexual orientation?

Right now, we are working on a study on the butch and femme behavior of gay people and at its effects on the mate value of the individual. We do know that gay men tend to prefer masculine men as partners and claim that they want “no femmes”. Lesbians on the other hand seek feminine partners and want “no butches” (link to Mike’s butch, femme study). Despite this tendency towards attraction for gender conforming traits, we also know that gay men are on average more feminine than heterosexual men and that lesbians are, on average, more masculine than heterosexual women (link to Mike’s unpublished study). However, we do not yet know what specific characteristics gay men mean when they say “no femmes” and what do lesbians mean when they want “no butches.

Recently, we finished our study on male sexual arousal and sexual orientation. We were most interested in figuring out whether putative bisexual men do really get aroused to both men and women. There has been a long-lasting skepticism as to whether bisexual men are really what they say they are. Some people suggested that they are closet gay men. Others said that they are confused heterosexual men. So what are they? We invited all heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men into our lab, and measured their sexual arousal with help of a penile strain gauge while showing them movies of naked men or of naked women. We found no obvious bisexual arousal trends for the bisexual men. Most of them showed arousal like gay men, and a few got aroused like heterosexual men. Here you will find a link to the poster, which was presented at the IASR conference in Hamburg in the Summer of 2002.

My next project will have a closer look at the possible genetic contribution to sexual orientation. We plan to work with discordant twins. These are identical twins, who differ on a specific trait. In our case, this will be their sexual orientation. For example, one twin is a gay man, but his brother is heterosexual. This could support the idea that sexual orientation is not solely genetically determined. However, no one has to our knowledge ever systematically tried to explore the twins’ sexual orientation by other means than pure self-report. There are several traits that we know gay and heterosexual people differ. We can use these traits to study our twins. How different or similar are these discordant twins in their psychology, their voices, their movements, or less subtle, their sexual arousal, and their brain activity while sexual aroused?

Personal Information

On a personal note, I seem to be a person who likes to move. I started in Biology in Vienna then moved to Biological Anthropology in Zurich and now I am here at Northwestern in the Psychology Department.

Here’s a picture of me & Marcel, [http://www.psych.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/pictures/gerulf&marcel.jpg archive] and one of me and some people from the lab [http://www.psych.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/pictures/gerulfparty.jpg archive] at a party.

Cornell University Sex and Gender Lab (sexgenderlab.human.cornell.edu) [archive]

  • Gerulf Rieger
  • human.cornell.edu/bio.cfm?netid=gr224 [archive]
  • sexgenderlab.human.cornell.edu/che/HD/sexgender/gerulfrieger.cfm
  • human.cornell.edu/che/HD/sexgender/gerulfrieger.cfm
  • human.cornell.edu/hd/sexgender [archive]

University of Essex (essex.ac.uk)

  • Department of Psychology: our academic staff
  • essex.ac.uk/departments/psychology/people/academic [archive]
  • “Research interests: My work focuses on sexual orientation: how it is organized, how it develops, and how it affects a persons life. I use a diversity of methodologies, including self-report, behavioural observations, physiological activity and neurological correlates, and employ an array of quantitative skills in order to pursue my research. I use videos and photos from childhood to examine whether masculine and feminine behaviours during early development predict adult sexual orientation. I also investigate the social impact of these signals. I have used large data sets of family members to investigate potential evolutionary reasons for sexual orientation. In another line of research, I study the association of sexual orientation with physiological sexual arousal in order to illuminate sex differences in sexual response. With a different methodology, pupil dilation, I am currently conducting research that will aid in explaining how early sex and sexual orientation differences in sexual attraction emerge. These studies have broad relevance for understanding how people perceive themselves and others, for the consequences of these perceptions, and for the development of differences between and within the sexes.”
  • http://www.essex.ac.uk/depts/psychology.aspx
  • http://www.essex.ac.uk/psychology/department/home.html
  • http://www.essex.ac.uk/psychology/department/people.html
  • https://www.essex.ac.uk/psychology/staff/Staff.aspx?type=academic
  • http://www.essex.ac.uk/psychology/staff/profile.aspx?ID=3361 [archive]
  • essex.ac.uk:80/people/RIEGE57202/gerulf-rieger [archive]

Google Scholar (scholar.google.co.uk)

  • Gerulf Rieger
  • scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=_XWt8q4AAAAJ&hl=en

ResearchGate (researchgate.net)

IMDb (imdb.com)

Note: The original 2003 URL for this article was http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/gerulf-rieger.html [archive]