Similar to other sexual minorities, asexual individuals often face prejudice and stereotyping. However, the source of these attitudes and beliefs is not well understood. We hypothesized that asexual stereotypes stem from the belief that sexual attraction is an inevitable part of human development. This attraction inevitability assumption can lead to the deduction that people who identify as asexual do so because they are going through a transitory stage or excusing socially avoidant tendencies. To test this stereotype deduction account, we examined whether specific asexual stereotypes (immaturity and non-sociality) were associated with adherence to the attraction inevitability assumption. Heterosexual participants (N = 322; 201 women, 114 men; mean age 34.6 yrs.) from the UK and the US read vignettes describing a target character that was either asexual or heterosexual. People who assumed that attraction is inevitable were more likely to evaluate asexual targets (but not heterosexual targets) as immature and non-social. The impact of the sexual inevitability assumption was present even when social dominance orientation, an attitude closely related to negativity toward all sexual minorities, was accounted for. Participants who adhered to the attraction inevitability assumption also showed a reduced inclination to befriend asexual individuals. These findings suggest that generalized negativity toward sexual minorities does not fully explain stereotypes and prejudice against asexual people. Instead, the current study highlights how perceived deviation from the shared understanding of sexuality uniquely contributes to anti-asexual bias.

与其他性少数群体类似，无性恋者经常面临偏见和刻板印象。然而，这些态度和信念的根源尚不清楚。我们假设，无性恋刻板印象源于这样一种信念，即性吸引力是人类发展不可避免的一部分。这种吸引力不可避免的假设可能会导致这样的推断：认为自己是无性恋的人这样做是因为他们正在经历一个短暂的阶段或为社交回避倾向找借口。为了测试这种刻板印象推论，我们检查了特定的无性刻板印象（不成熟和非社交性）是否与遵守吸引力不可避免性假设有关。异性恋参与者（N = 322；女性 201 名，男性 114 名；来自英国和美国的平均年龄 34.6 岁）阅读了描述无性恋或异性恋目标角色的小插曲。那些认为吸引力是不可避免的人更有可能将无性恋目标（而不是异性恋目标）视为不成熟和不合群的。即使考虑到社会支配取向（一种与对所有性少数群体的消极态度密切相关的态度），性不可避免性假设的影响仍然存在。坚持吸引力不可避免性假设的参与者也表现出与无性恋者交朋友的意愿降低。这些发现表明，对性少数群体的普遍否定并不能完全解释对无性恋者的刻板印象和偏见。反而，