Evaluation of a novel measure of sexual attraction: The Sexual Attraction Inventory

Sexual attraction is an important part of human sexuality, yet our understanding of this construct is limited by current measures that focus solely on the gender to which one is attracted and at a single point in time. This study aimed to evaluate the measurement properties of the Sexual Attraction Inventory (SAI), a new measure of sexual attraction to diverse stimuli (e.g., genders, ages, sexual acts) that might be sensitive to changes (fluidity) over time. The SAI integrates research from the sexual orientation and the paraphilia literatures to provide a more comprehensive and dynamic assessment of sexual attractions than what is currently available. The 40-item inventory was administered to 670 university students three times (at baseline, two weeks later, and six months later). Results indicated face validity with high participant agreement on effectiveness, acceptability, and clarity. There was evidence of convergent validity regarding gender-based sexual attractions and the Kinsey Scale, as well as acceptable two-week test-retest reliability for 32 out of 40 items. The exploratory factor analysis of the reliable items resulted in a five-factor structure explaining 64% of the variance. The SAI detected changes over the six-month period, particularly for sexual attractions related to dominance and submissiveness. We conclude that the SAI is a viable tool for measuring sexual attractions and can be used to explore the diverse and potentially fluid nature of sexual attraction. We caution about the reliability of low-endorsement items.