{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.asexuality","code":"thing-q724351","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q724351/","name":"asexuality","alternateNames":["non-binary asexual","aroace","apothisexuality","aegosexuality","strict asexuality","gray asexuality","averse asexual","fraysexuality","greyromantic"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.ACT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"Asexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by little or no sexual attraction to others, also used as an identity and an umbrella term for related experiences of limited or conditional sexual attraction.","purpose":"Enable an agent to represent asexuality accurately, distinguish attraction from identity and behaviour, and choose respectful actions without assigning an orientation to someone.","scope":{"in":["Definitions centred on absent, low, rare, or conditional sexual attraction and the boundaries between them","Relationships between asexuality, asexual-spectrum terminology, and personal identity","Distinctions among sexual attraction, romantic attraction, libido, arousal, behaviour, and attitudes toward sex","Operational definitions used to identify asexuality in research","Consent, disclosure, recognition, and support relevant to asexual people"],"out":["Asexual reproduction and reproductive biology","Sexual-orientation classification beyond its relationship to asexuality","Aromanticism as an independently modelled orientation","Diagnosis and treatment of sexual-function concerns","Celibacy, abstinence, and relationship arrangements as independent practices","General sexuality education and relationship counselling"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["A description concerns sexual attraction or an explicitly stated asexual identity; absence of sexual activity alone does not establish asexuality.","Celibacy describes a practice or commitment, whereas asexuality concerns orientation or identity; record them separately even when they coexist.","A claim about libido or physiological arousal does not by itself answer whether someone experiences sexual attraction.","A claim about romantic attraction does not determine asexuality; romantic and sexual self-descriptions require separate records.","Distinguish asexuality used narrowly from asexuality used as a spectrum umbrella, and preserve the speaker's intended meaning."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"definitions-and-spectrum-boundaries","name":"Definitions and spectrum boundaries","description":"Represent how asexuality is defined and how each definition handles neighbouring spectrum terms.","layers":[{"id":"attributed-definitions","name":"Attributed definitions","description":"Separate definitions by source and intended use.","findings":[{"id":"definition-inclusion-rule","name":"Definition inclusion rule","description":"Record whether a source defines asexuality through attraction, identity, or a combination, including its qualifiers.","questions":[{"text":"Does this definition require absent sexual attraction, include little attraction, or use another criterion?","id":"definition-inclusion-rule-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Who uses this definition, in which source, and for what community or research purpose?","id":"definition-inclusion-rule-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"umbrella-and-neighbouring-terms","name":"Umbrella and neighbouring terms","description":"Track relationships among narrow asexuality, spectrum usage, grey-asexuality, and demisexuality.","findings":[{"id":"spectrum-membership-boundary","name":"Spectrum membership boundary","description":"Represent inclusion relationships as attributed usage rather than a universally fixed taxonomy.","questions":[{"text":"Does this source use asexuality as a specific orientation or as an umbrella that includes grey-asexuality and demisexuality?","id":"spectrum-membership-boundary-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"How does the source distinguish rare attraction from attraction conditional on an emotional bond?","id":"spectrum-membership-boundary-q02","kind":"definition"}]}]}]},{"id":"attraction-and-associated-experiences","name":"Attraction and associated experiences","description":"Distinguish sexual attraction from experiences and behaviours that may otherwise be used as proxies.","layers":[{"id":"sexual-experience-dimensions","name":"Sexual experience dimensions","description":"Keep attraction, libido, arousal, and behaviour independently describable.","findings":[{"id":"attraction-proxy-check","name":"Attraction proxy check","description":"Determine which experience a statement actually reports before using it in an asexuality classification.","questions":[{"text":"Is the report about attraction toward someone, general sexual desire, physiological arousal, or sexual behaviour?","id":"attraction-proxy-check-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Would the proposed classification change solely because the person has sex, masturbates, or abstains, and what definition justifies that change?","id":"attraction-proxy-check-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"romance-and-sex-attitudes","name":"Romance and sex attitudes","description":"Represent romantic experience and attitudes toward sexual participation without deriving them from orientation.","findings":[{"id":"independent-preferences","name":"Independent preferences","description":"Preserve optional descriptions of romance, intimacy, and sex-related preferences as separate from the asexual label.","questions":[{"text":"Has the person independently described romantic attraction or desired forms of intimacy?","id":"independent-preferences-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Does an expressed attitude concern personal sexual participation, a particular situation, or general views about other people's sexual activity?","id":"independent-preferences-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"identity-and-personal-history","name":"Identity and personal history","description":"Represent self-identification, uncertainty, and changes in descriptions without imposing a developmental narrative.","layers":[{"id":"self-description-authority","name":"Self-description authority","description":"Identify who supplied an orientation label and what the person intends it to mean.","findings":[{"id":"chosen-versus-assigned-label","name":"Chosen versus assigned label","description":"Keep voluntary identity statements distinct from observer assignments and research classifications.","questions":[{"text":"Is asexual the person's chosen description, a research classification, or someone else's attribution?","id":"chosen-versus-assigned-label-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"If the person uses no label or is questioning, how can the agent preserve that position without assigning one?","id":"chosen-versus-assigned-label-q02","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"time-and-reinterpretation","name":"Time and reinterpretation","description":"Distinguish changes in attraction, terminology, understanding, and willingness to disclose.","findings":[{"id":"dated-personal-account","name":"Dated personal account","description":"Attach time and context to accounts without assuming that different accounts invalidate each other.","questions":[{"text":"Does a reported change concern attraction, the chosen label, understanding of past experience, or disclosure?","id":"dated-personal-account-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which description does the person want used now, and is retaining earlier descriptions necessary and permitted?","id":"dated-personal-account-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"research-and-operationalisation","name":"Research and operationalisation","description":"Represent how studies turn asexuality into inclusion criteria and interpret resulting evidence.","layers":[{"id":"classification-procedure","name":"Classification procedure","description":"Capture the actual items and rules used to include participants.","findings":[{"id":"operational-definition","name":"Operational definition","description":"Record wording, response choices, timeframe, and any instrument threshold separately from identity.","questions":[{"text":"What exact questions and decision rules classify a participant as asexual or asexual-spectrum?","id":"operational-definition-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"What evidence supports interpreting this instrument in the language and population studied?","id":"operational-definition-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"sampling-and-comparability","name":"Sampling and comparability","description":"Assess what study recruitment and definition choices allow a result to describe.","findings":[{"id":"population-claim-limits","name":"Population claim limits","description":"Tie prevalence estimates and group comparisons to recruitment, eligibility, and uncertainty.","questions":[{"text":"Were participants recruited through asexual communities, a general population sample, or another route, and who could be missed?","id":"population-claim-limits-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Do the compared studies include the same attraction patterns and identity groups over comparable timeframes?","id":"population-claim-limits-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"recognition-consent-and-support","name":"Recognition, consent, and support","description":"Guide respectful action where asexuality is relevant to disclosure, relationships, or requests for help.","layers":[{"id":"disclosure-and-interpersonal-boundaries","name":"Disclosure and interpersonal boundaries","description":"Connect sensitive information handling and interpersonal actions to explicit preferences.","findings":[{"id":"permission-and-consent","name":"Permission and consent","description":"Record disclosure limits and obtain situation-specific consent independently of orientation.","questions":[{"text":"For what purpose and audience has the person permitted their asexual identity information to be used?","id":"permission-and-consent-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"What explicit preferences or consent apply to the proposed interaction, independently of the person's orientation?","id":"permission-and-consent-q02","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"support-and-clinical-boundaries","name":"Support and clinical boundaries","description":"Distinguish identity recognition from separately reported distress, unwanted changes, and requests for clinical help.","findings":[{"id":"person-defined-support-need","name":"Person-defined support need","description":"Identify the actual request for help without inferring pathology or a need to change orientation.","questions":[{"text":"Is the person seeking identity information, help with stigma or relationship pressure, or assessment of a separately reported concern?","id":"person-defined-support-need-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What assistance does the person request, and which concerns require a separate model or qualified professional?","id":"person-defined-support-need-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-confidence-notes","name":"Check these first","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these check these first hold for the sense of asexuality this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-confidence-notes-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-kinds","name":"Kinds and varieties","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of asexuality this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-kinds-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of asexuality this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-measurements","name":"Typical measurements","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of asexuality this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-measurements-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of asexuality this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-regional-variation","name":"Regional variation","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of asexuality this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-regional-variation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of asexuality this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain asexuality as a sexual orientation, citing community and research sources.","Point users to supportive community resources."],"mustNot":["Treat asexuality as an illness, disorder or phase to be cured.","Attribute an orientation to a named person without their statement.","Disclose a person's orientation without consent.","Mock asexual people or deny their experience."],"requiresHuman":["Any discussion of a person's orientation in a clinical setting."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Asexual people face disbelief, pressure and conversion attempts.","Orientation is private and sensitive personal data."],"affectedParties":["Asexual people","Partners and families"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: an orientation; each person defines their own identity.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q3043188","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q339014","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.asexuality","Wikidata: Q724351 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q724351)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Definition and attribution: Definition text linked to its author, community, publication, date, and intended context","Scope of terminology: Narrow asexuality; asexual-spectrum umbrella; another explicitly defined usage; unspecified","Voluntary identity description: Person's own wording, optionally dated; questioning; no label; not disclosed","Reported sexual attraction pattern: Absent; low; rare; conditional; another self-described pattern; uncertain; not disclosed, with timeframe","Romantic self-description: Optional self-described romantic orientation or experience, recorded independently of sexual orientation","Attitude toward personal sexual participation: Person's own description, with context and date; variable; uncertain; not disclosed","Research classification method: Self-identification; attraction question; instrument-based classification; combined rule; other documented method","Disclosure permission: Not provided; permitted for a specified purpose and audience; withdrawn"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Compare definitions while retaining their sources, intended populations, and inclusion boundaries.","Record a person's chosen terminology without requiring intimate details or inferring an identity.","Identify when a claim confuses attraction with behaviour, libido, arousal, or romantic orientation.","Evaluate whether research estimates use sufficiently comparable definitions and recruitment methods.","Offer requested terminology explanations or support resources while respecting disclosure preferences.","Ask about specific consent and relationship preferences when relevant instead of deriving them from orientation."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Treating asexuality itself as an illness can stigmatize people and encourage unwanted attempts to change their orientation.","Assuming sexual behaviour or relationship status establishes orientation can misidentify people and undermine their autonomy.","Disclosing someone's orientation without consent can expose them to harassment, discrimination or relationship conflict.","Dismissing a person's boundaries because of their orientation can contribute to coercion and distress."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, provides general protections for privacy and equality relevant to the treatment of asexual people."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Asexuality is discussed in personal identity, relationships, sexuality education and research on patterns of sexual attraction.","The concept helps distinguish sexual attraction from romantic attraction, sexual behaviour, libido and choices about relationships."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q724351: asexuality","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q724351","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Asexuality","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["How do community, reference, and research sources differ in their use of absent versus little sexual attraction, and which disagreements remain unresolved?","How consistently do sources and self-identifying people include grey-asexuality and demisexuality within the term asexuality itself?","Which measures distinguish sexual attraction from libido and behaviour across languages and cultural contexts, and where is validation insufficient?","How much do recruitment methods and inclusion rules account for differences among published prevalence estimates?","What longitudinal evidence distinguishes changes in attraction from changes in labels, self-understanding, and disclosure?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q724351/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q724351/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-07T14:05:05Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"not-applicable","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:32+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.","interaction.recognition":"Asexuality is an internal pattern of attraction or a self-described identity and cannot be determined visually."},"score":1.0}}