Relying on an "Other" Category Leads to Significant Misclassification of Sexual Minority Participants.

This study assessed which sexual minority participants selected "Other" if their identity was absent. This was an online survey; 905 participants saw a limited set of sexual orientation options (bisexual, gay/lesbian, heterosexual, other), and later in the same survey, saw an expanded list. Twenty-one percent of participants chose different orientation labels across questions. When not presented with a "mostly heterosexual" option, 78% of mostly heterosexual participants chose "heterosexual"; 3% chose "other." However, when not presented with an "asexual" label, 100% of asexual participants chose "other." These findings suggest that "other" categories could misclassify a substantial proportion of sexual minority participants.