The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Introduction: Many scholars have explored the participation of LGBTQ individuals in sports. However, these studies have either categorized homosexuality and bisexuality together or focused only on lesbian, gay, or transgender individuals. There is a lack of research in the literature on bisexual ind...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media
2023
|
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/1/109567.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848865406344757248 |
|---|---|
| author | Xiang, Meng Soh, Kim Geok Xu, Yingying Ahrari, Seyedali Zakaria, Noor Syamilah |
| author_facet | Xiang, Meng Soh, Kim Geok Xu, Yingying Ahrari, Seyedali Zakaria, Noor Syamilah |
| author_sort | Xiang, Meng |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Introduction: Many scholars have explored the participation of LGBTQ individuals in sports. However, these studies have either categorized homosexuality and bisexuality together or focused only on lesbian, gay, or transgender individuals. There is a lack of research in the literature on bisexual individuals’ sports participation and an even more significant lack of Asia perspectives. Therefore, this qualitative study is aimed to explore the experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews with four female bisexual student-athletes were conducted and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).
Results: Three themes and eight sub-themes were identified. Theme 1. what bisexual identity means, and sub-themes: a struggling journey, emotional attraction, and gender role for female bisexual student-athletes; Theme 2. invalid identity, and sub-themes: lesbian mask, unrecognized identity; Theme 3. perceptions of sports context, and sub-themes: the influence of the sports context on sexual fluidity, relative inclusion, and perceived rejection.
Conclusion: This study provides new insights into understanding the experience of female bisexual student-athlete. In addition, the results highlight the importance of the need to study bisexuality as a distinct identity. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:04:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-109567 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:04:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-1095672025-01-09T01:37:23Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/ The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis Xiang, Meng Soh, Kim Geok Xu, Yingying Ahrari, Seyedali Zakaria, Noor Syamilah Introduction: Many scholars have explored the participation of LGBTQ individuals in sports. However, these studies have either categorized homosexuality and bisexuality together or focused only on lesbian, gay, or transgender individuals. There is a lack of research in the literature on bisexual individuals’ sports participation and an even more significant lack of Asia perspectives. Therefore, this qualitative study is aimed to explore the experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with four female bisexual student-athletes were conducted and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Three themes and eight sub-themes were identified. Theme 1. what bisexual identity means, and sub-themes: a struggling journey, emotional attraction, and gender role for female bisexual student-athletes; Theme 2. invalid identity, and sub-themes: lesbian mask, unrecognized identity; Theme 3. perceptions of sports context, and sub-themes: the influence of the sports context on sexual fluidity, relative inclusion, and perceived rejection. Conclusion: This study provides new insights into understanding the experience of female bisexual student-athlete. In addition, the results highlight the importance of the need to study bisexuality as a distinct identity. Frontiers Media 2023-03-22 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/1/109567.pdf Xiang, Meng and Soh, Kim Geok and Xu, Yingying and Ahrari, Seyedali and Zakaria, Noor Syamilah (2023) The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. pp. 1-14. ISSN 1664-1078 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1129961/full 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1129961 |
| spellingShingle | Xiang, Meng Soh, Kim Geok Xu, Yingying Ahrari, Seyedali Zakaria, Noor Syamilah The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title | The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_full | The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_fullStr | The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_short | The experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in China: an interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_sort | experiences of female bisexual student-athletes in china: an interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109567/1/109567.pdf |