The Klein Sexuality grid developed by Dr. Fritz Klein is a valuable resource to review degrees of bisexuality as well as variations in our sexual attraction. It also helps highlight if we are living our lives in alignment with our actual sexual orientations. The purpose of this post is to make sure that people who use the Klein Grid are aware that there is a better way to use the Klein Grid than just a single average score.
I am seeing increasing incidences of people finding some websites that have dumbed down the Klein Grid to simple single score , enter some values into a form and bingo here is your Klein Grid score 3.0. In the words of the classic ad ” That’s not how any of this works.”
While the one dimensional Kinsey scale is reported as a simple score the Klein grid with its multiple dimensions needs to be looked at in its entirety. The Klein Grid is a grid not a score, the value of a grid is it highlights differences in values between cells. Averaging past/ present/ and ideal into a single score of say 2.3 is to take away the real value of the Klein Grid by removing that important aspect of comparisons between individual values. The value of the score in each cell of the grid is to see if our ideal is aligned with our present and help us see how that compares with our past. In other words if our present is 1 heterosexual and our ideal is 4 interested in both that says something about how we are living our life. Another example of the value of the grid is it highlights our emotional, sexual and social preferences in relation to each other , again a single score averaging them out is not helpful here either. Finally another value of the Klein grid is it allows us to look at how congruent our lives are is the relationship between present and ideal and present and fantasy. If our ideal and fantasy are the same then one would think that an effort should be made to bring the present into alignment.
The following highlights how the grid shares way more information than a simple score.
18 Year 30 Year 55 Years
Klein Grid showing subject at various ages.
The Klein Grid was developed by Dr. Fritz Klein and this example of the use of the Klein Grid was adapted from information obtained from his book The Bisexual Option By Fritz Klein, MD Copyright 1993 by the Haworth Press. The Klein grid is used here for the limited purpose of academic discussion of a specific case study .For all other use please refer to Klein’s original published work.
You may also be interested in our models of bisexuality overview at http://livingfabulous.org/models-of-bisexuality/
As using tools like the Klein Grid can raise questions regarding your understanding of your sexual orientation I recommend the Klein Grid be used in consultation of an experienced licensed therapist.