People on the asexual spectrum are often viewed as lacking emotional depth and maturity by heterosexual individuals, especially when they do not express romantic interest. This emotional devaluation may stem from rigid societal expectations regarding sex and romance, particularly since those who deviate from romantic norms face the harshest social judgments from the general public.
This is according to a study – “Perceptions of A-Spec Individuals: Evidence of Emotional Devaluation Across Romantic and Sexual Dimensions” – published in The Journal of Sex Research.
According to researchers A. Catarina Carvalho and David L. Rodrigues, society typically operates under a framework of allonormativity, which is the assumption that experiencing sexual attraction is a universal and essential human trait. Also, culture is heavily influenced by amatonormativity, or the expectation that pursuing a central romantic relationship is a universal life goal.
For people who identify as asexual, or those who have little to no sexual attraction, there is marginalization or misunderstanding within these traditional societal frameworks, which may be a subtle form of stigma known as infrahumanization that occurs when people assume an outgroup experiences basic emotions like fear or happiness but lacks complex, uniquely human emotions like remorse or hope.
“In many Western societies, people are expected to experience sexual attraction and to want a romantic relationship,” said Carvalho. “But what happens when someone does not fit these expectations? Asexuality is typically defined as experiencing little or no sexual attraction, but it is increasingly understood as part of a broader spectrum — the asexual spectrum (a-spec) — encompassing a diverse range of identities and lived experiences.”
In this study, the researchers focused on two aspects of a-spec people’s experiences: whether or not they engaged in sexual activity, and whether or not they experienced romantic attraction. Previous research already showed that a-spec individuals experience stigma, but not a lot is known about why this stigma emerges. Their goal was, therefore, to document that stigma exists, and to better understand when it emerges and the social beliefs that contribute to it.
The researchers recruited 486 adults from various countries for an online survey, answering questions on a seven-point scale to indicate whether they believed identifying as asexual meant lacking sexual attraction, romantic attraction, or general affection.
The participants uniformly viewed a lack of sexual attraction as the defining feature of a-spec identities. Nonetheless:
- Heterosexual participants tended to assume a-spec individuals also lacked romantic attraction and a desire for affection.
- People who identified as LGBTQ+ or a-spec held more nuanced views, indicating an awareness that many a-spec people still desire romance and emotional intimacy.
In a second phase, the researchers tested how these beliefs translated into emotional judgments. For this part, 292 non-asexual participants from the initial group were involved.
- The heterosexual participants attributed fewer positive emotions and more negative emotions to the a-spec couples compared to the heterosexual couples. This emotional devaluation occurred regardless of whether the a-spec couple was described as having sex or not.
- Participants who identified as LGBTQ+ did not show this bias.
The researchers conducted an additional experiment with 232 heterosexual adults to focus on romantic norms. The responses point to a strong social penalty for violating romantic expectations. According to the heterosexual participants, the aromantic targets were rated as experiencing fewer uniquely human positive emotions, and they were viewed as less sociable and more immature.
For the researchers, the findings suggest that perceptions of a-spec individuals are shaped by social norms that privilege sexual and romantic conformity.
“Asexuality remains one of the least understood sexual identities, despite growing visibility. Although research has made important progress over the past decade, there is still much to learn about how social norms shape the everyday experiences of a-spec individuals,” Carvalho ended.
