Beyond Sexual Attraction: Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Attraction Measure Informed by Asexual People’s Experiences

Introduction: Asexuality is a sexual orientation including a diverse spectrum of experiences, and expressions of sexuality, typically characterized by little or no sexual attraction. However, asexual individuals often experience many other forms of attraction that are distinct from sexual attraction. Existing research and scales on attraction have not fully accounted for these complexities, although theoretical contributions such as the Split Attraction Model (SAM) have emphasized the importance of distinguishing between different types of attraction. Methods: This study addresses this gap by empirically investigating and validating multiple forms of attraction across both asexual and non-asexual (allosexual) people. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we initially conducted a qualitative conceptualization phase, using open-ended responses to inform the development and content of the instrument, followed by a quantitative validation phase (N = 691; administered in 2025) focused on creating and validating a new measure. Results: The results led to the development of the Multidimensional Attraction Measure (MAM), designed to assess seven distinct forms of attraction: intellectual, aesthetic, emotional, platonic, sensual, romantic, and sexual. Results showed a robust, reliable, and invariant factorial structure as well as strong evidence of convergent and divergent validity. Conclusions: This measure captures the diversity of attraction experiences across individuals and can be used by sexologists to assess the heterogeneity of attraction, including in the absence of sexual attraction. Policy Implications: Validating non-sexual forms of attraction challenges allonormative assumptions, legitimizes intimate experiences beyond sexual attraction and can supports the advocacy attempts of asexual and queer activists.