How does sexual orientation relate to openness to experience in adulthood

The adaptive role of openness to experience is widely established. However, the role of this personality dimension in the identity formation of different sexual minorities in adulthood has not been sufficiently addressed. Two studies examined the associations between openness to experience and sexual orientation variables. In Study 1, 136 gay men and 83 lesbian women in young adulthood (mean age 20.91, SD = 4.68) showed higher openness to experience, as compared to 219 matched heterosexuals. The gay men and lesbian women group also showed a positive association between openness to experience and self-disclosure of one's sexual orientation. In Study 2, 137 bisexual men in adulthood (mean age 35.94, SD = 13.05) showed higher openness to experience, as compared to 137 matched heterosexual men and 133 matched gay men. No difference in openness to experience was found between 368 gay men (mean age 38.54, SD = 14.43) and matched heterosexual men. Moreover, openness to experience showed a positive association with self-acceptance of one's sexual orientation among bisexual men, but not among gay men. The results suggest that openness to experience is pertinent to the sexual identity formation of sexual minorities.