Partnership dynamics of LGB people and heterosexuals

Authors: Jeanette Bohr & Andrea Lengerer

Project description

Research on same-sex partnerships has gained increasing importance in recent years. In Germany and numerous other countries, same-sex partnerships are now covered by official data whose samples are large enough to draw representative conclusions about even small groups. However, official data is generally cross-sectional data that only contains information on existing same-sex partnerships and no information on the processes of entering into and dissolving partnerships. In addition, official data is often limited to the household and does not contain information on non-cohabiting partnerships. As a result, only a part and presumably only a selective part of all same-sex partnerships is recorded.

The project examines partnership dynamics on the basis of survey data. The data basis is the SOEP LGB sample, which was collected for the first time in 2019. This is a random sample of around 450 households in which at least one household member has a non-heterosexual orientation. Information on the partnership biography of all persons included in the sample is available, in which partnerships are recorded independently of the household.

We investigate whether the process of partnership formation differ between people with different sexual orientations, i.e. whether people with a homosexual or bisexual orientation differ from people with a heterosexual orientation in their timing and their intensity to enter into a relationship. In addition to the (first) entering into a relationship, the (first) coresidential union with a partner is also examined.

Publications:

Bohr, Jeanette und Andrea Lengerer (2024): Partnership Dynamics of LGB People and Heterosexuals. Patterns of First Partnership Formation and First Cohabitation. In: European Journal of Population 40 (11). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-024-09697-4