People on the asexual spectrum are often viewed as lacking emotional depth and maturity by heterosexual individuals, especially when they do not express romantic interest. A recent paper published in The Journal of Sex Research indicates that this emotional devaluation stems from rigid societal expectations regarding sex and romance. The findings suggest that those who deviate from romantic norms face the harshest social judgments from the general public.
Society typically operates under a framework of allonormativity, which is the assumption that experiencing sexual attraction is a universal and essential human trait. Similarly, culture is heavily influenced by amatonormativity, or the expectation that pursuing a central romantic relationship is a universal life goal. Individuals on the asexual spectrum, often referred to as a-spec, report little to no sexual attraction. They often find themselves marginalized or misunderstood within these traditional societal frameworks.
A. Catarina Carvalho and David L. Rodrigues wanted to understand exactly how the general public perceives a-spec individuals. Prior academic work provides evidence that marginalized groups often face a subtle form of stigma known as infrahumanization. This occurs when people assume an outgroup experiences basic emotions like fear or happiness but lacks complex, uniquely human emotions like remorse or hope. The authors aimed to test whether violating norms about sex or norms about romance drives this kind of emotional devaluation toward a-spec people.
“In many Western societies, people are expected to experience sexual attraction and to want a romantic relationship,” said Carvalho, a PhD candidate in social psychology and research assistant at the University Institute of Lisbon in Portugal. “But what happens when someone does not fit these expectations? Asexuality is typically defined as experiencing little or no sexual attraction, but it is increasingly understood as part of a broader spectrum—the asexual spectrum (a-spec)—encompassing a diverse range of identities and lived experiences.”
“We wanted to understand whether perceptions of people on the a-spec are shaped by how closely they conform to dominant expectations surrounding sexuality and romantic relationships,” Carvalho continued. “To address this question, we focused on two aspects of a-spec people’s experiences: whether or not they engaged in sexual activity and whether or not they experienced romantic attraction. Although previous research has shown that a-spec individuals experience stigma, much less is known about why this stigma emerges. Our goal was therefore not simply to document that stigma exists, but to better understand when it emerges and the social beliefs that contribute to it.”
To begin, the researchers explored what traits people consider essential to an a-spec identity. They recruited 486 adults from various countries for an online survey. Participants answered questions on a seven-point scale to indicate whether they believed identifying as asexual meant lacking sexual attraction, romantic attraction, or general affection.
The data suggests that participants uniformly viewed a lack of sexual attraction as the defining feature of a-spec identities. Heterosexual participants tended to assume a-spec individuals also lacked romantic attraction and a desire for affection. People who identified as LGBTQ+ or a-spec held more nuanced views, indicating an awareness that many a-spec people still desire romance and emotional intimacy.
In a second phase, the researchers tested how these beliefs translated into emotional judgments. They presented 292 non-asexual participants from the initial group with a brief written scenario describing a couple. Participants randomly read about an a-spec couple that did not have sex, an a-spec couple that did have sex, or a heterosexual couple that had sex.
After reading the scenario, participants rated the couples on a seven-point scale for various positive and negative emotions. The researchers statistically controlled for participants’ pre-existing prejudices against asexuality.
Heterosexual participants attributed fewer positive emotions and more negative emotions to the a-spec couples compared to the heterosexual couples. This emotional devaluation occurred regardless of whether the a-spec couple was described as having sex or not. Participants who identified as LGBTQ+ did not show this bias, which suggests that belonging to a sexual minority group might protect against relying on strict societal norms to judge others.
The researchers did not expect the presence of sexual activity to have zero impact on the heterosexual respondents’ judgments. “One of the most surprising findings was that participants’ perceptions did not change depending on whether an a-spec couple was described as engaging in sexual activity,” Carvalho explained. “We expected that describing the couple as sexually active might make them seem more similar to couples in which both partners experience sexual attraction (i.e., allosexual couples), but heterosexual participants still attributed fewer positive and more negative emotions to the a-spec couple regardless of whether they were sexually active.”
Because the previous phase did not separate romantic attraction from sexual attraction, the authors conducted an additional experiment with 232 heterosexual adults to focus on romantic norms. Participants read scenarios about either an aromantic a-spec couple who experience no romantic attraction, a romantic a-spec couple who experience romantic attraction, or a heterosexual couple.
Participants then rated the targets on uniquely human emotions, primitive emotions shared with animals, social skills, and psychological immaturity using a seven-point scale. The authors controlled for the belief that romantic attraction is an inevitable part of human development.
The responses point to a strong social penalty for violating romantic expectations. Aromantic a-spec targets were judged the harshest by the heterosexual participants. Compared to the heterosexual couple, the aromantic targets were rated as experiencing fewer uniquely human positive emotions, and they were viewed as less sociable and more immature.
“Moreover, describing an a-spec individual as aromantic (experiencing little or no romantic attraction) was associated with additional forms of stigma,” Carvalho noted. “Heterosexual participants perceived aromantic a-spec individuals as less sociable and more immature than allosexual individuals who were described as experiencing romantic attraction. This suggests that conforming to expectations surrounding sexuality alone may not be sufficient to reduce stigma, and that expectations surrounding romantic relationships also play an important role in shaping how people perceive a-spec individuals.”
The romantic a-spec targets received softer judgments. They were rated similarly to heterosexual targets regarding uniquely human emotions and maturity levels. The romantic a-spec targets were still viewed as less sociable than heterosexual targets, but conforming to societal expectations of romantic love appeared to shield them from the most extreme forms of emotional devaluation.
“One of the key take-home messages from our study is that stigma toward a-spec individuals appears to be closely tied to broader social expectations about what people’s emotional lives and relationships are ‘supposed’ to look like,” Carvalho added. “Across our studies, these patterns were most evident when a-spec individuals departed from what researchers call allonormative and amatonormative expectations—the widespread assumptions that everyone experiences sexual attraction and wants a romantic relationship. In these situations, heterosexual participants tended to assume that a-spec individuals and their relationships were less emotionally positive, and additional forms of stigma were observed when a-spec individuals were also described as aromantic.”
“Together, these findings suggest that perceptions of a-spec individuals are shaped by social norms that privilege sexual and romantic conformity,” Carvalho explained. “When people evaluate a-spec individuals through these expectations, some a-spec identities and relationships may be perceived as less legitimate and less emotionally rich, reinforcing the invisibility and misunderstanding that many a-spec individuals report experiencing.”
While the differences in ratings were not massive on an absolute scale, Carvalho emphasized that these results capture a very real psychological mechanism. “Although the effects were modest, they are meaningful because they reflect subtle forms of stigma. Small differences in how people perceive a-spec individuals can accumulate over time, becoming ingrained in people’s assumptions about who a-spec individuals are and what their relationships are like. These seemingly small perceptions may contribute to the invisibility and misunderstanding that many a-spec people report experiencing, making it more difficult for their identities and relationships to be recognized as equally valid and emotionally meaningful.”
Reading brief, hypothetical scenarios in a survey does not capture the complexity of real-world social interactions. People often use different cues and gather more information before forming opinions about individuals they meet in daily life.
“One important caveat is that our findings come from experimental studies in which participants evaluated hypothetical scenarios,” Carvalho said. “This approach allowed us to isolate the effects of specific characteristics, such as sexual and romantic attraction. However, everyday social interactions are often much more complex. An important next step will be to examine whether these same patterns emerge in real-world settings and how they may shape the experiences of people on the asexual spectrum over time.”
The researchers also note that their sample was primarily drawn from Western, educated, and industrialized nations. Cultural norms surrounding marriage, sex, and romance vary wildly across the globe. Expanding the research to include different cultural and religious backgrounds could provide a more complete picture of how a-spec individuals are perceived worldwide. Additionally, the wording used in the scenarios might have influenced the outcomes. The vignettes used the term asexual rather than a-spec, which might have prompted participants to rely on specific stereotypes rather than considering a broader spectrum of identities.
Understanding these dynamics is a primary focus for Carvalho’s ongoing work. “This study is part of a broader doctoral research program examining the experiences of people on the asexual spectrum from multiple perspectives. On the one hand, I study how society perceives and responds to a-spec individuals, including the stereotypes and stigma they may face,” she explained.
“At the same time, I examine how a-spec individuals themselves navigate identity development, interpersonal relationships, minority stress, and community belonging,” Carvalho added. “Bringing these perspectives together helps us better understand not only where stigma comes from, but also how it affects people’s lives and what factors may promote well-being and resilience. Ultimately, I hope this research contributes to greater visibility for a-spec communities and helps inform more inclusive education, clinical practice, and public understanding.”
“Asexuality remains one of the least understood sexual identities, despite growing visibility. Although research has made important progress over the past decade, there is still much to learn about how social norms shape the everyday experiences of a-spec individuals,” Carvalho concluded. “I hope these findings encourage people to think more critically about the assumptions we make regarding intimacy, relationships, and emotional fulfillment, and to recognize that meaningful and fulfilling lives can take many different forms. Above all, I hope this study helps a-spec individuals feel more seen and represented in psychological research.”
The study, “Perceptions of A-Spec Individuals: Evidence of Emotional Devaluation Across Romantic and Sexual Dimensions,” was authored by A. Catarina Carvalho and David L. Rodrigues.
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