heterosexuality
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AI overview
Heterosexuality is the sexual orientation of being attracted to people of a different gender than one's own. It matters because sexual orientation is a fundamental aspect of human identity and relationships that affects how people form romantic and intimate connections throughout their lives.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
23,824 papers- Making monsters: heterosexuality, crime and race in recent Western media coverage of HIV.Sociology of health & illness · 2008
- Sexual orientation and personality.Annual review of sex research · 2005
- Self-expansion within sexual minority relationships.The Journal of social psychology · 2025
- Sexual health and behaviors in homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual Danes: baseline findings in the Project SEXUS cohort study.The journal of sexual medicine · 2025
- Examining sexual minority engagement in recovery community centers.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2024
via PubMed
Article
18 sectionsContents
- Terminology
- Demographics
- Academic study
- Biological and environmental
- Prenatal hormones
- Animals and reproduction
- Sexual fluidity
- Identity vs behavior
- Sexual orientation change efforts
- Society and culture
- Symbolism
- Historical views
- Religious views
- Heteronormativity and heterosexism
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright|A heterosexuality symbol
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the opposite sex. It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions." Someone who is heterosexual is commonly referred to as straight.