Caitlyn Jenner Won Olympic Gold, but Her Hardest Battle Came Decades Later—The Truth Behind Her Remarkable Transformation
In 1976, Caitlyn Jenner Became an Olympic Champion and One of America’s Most Celebrated Athletes. But Behind the Gold Medal Was a Personal Struggle She Had Kept Private Since Childhood. Almost Forty Years Later, She Made an Announcement That Changed How the World Saw Her—and How She Saw Her Own Future.
On July 30, 1976, the world watched an extraordinary Olympic victory.
At the Montreal Summer Games, the American athlete then known publicly as Bruce Jenner completed the decathlon with a record-breaking performance.
Ten events.
Two exhausting days.
And years of preparation leading to one unforgettable moment.
The result was a gold medal and a world record.
For millions watching, it was the ultimate example of athletic determination.
But the person receiving that medal was carrying a deeply personal struggle that the public knew almost nothing about.
Decades later, Caitlyn Jenner would explain that winning Olympic gold had not been the hardest achievement of her life.
Her most difficult challenge, she said, involved understanding and eventually living openly as the person she knew herself to be.
That journey unfolded over decades.
It involved childhood difficulties, extraordinary fame, marriage, parenthood, personal uncertainty, and an intensely public transition.
And although many people remember the headlines of 2015, the story began long before the world first heard the name Caitlyn Jenner.
Long Before the Olympic Gold Medal
Caitlyn Marie Jenner was born on October 28, 1949, in Mount Kisco, New York.
She grew up in a family that valued sports and physical activity.
But school was not always easy.
Jenner has spoken publicly about being dyslexic.
Dyslexia affected her confidence during childhood, particularly when she struggled with academic tasks that seemed easier for other students.
In later interviews, she explained that athletics gave her another way to experience achievement.
Sports offered measurable progress.
A race could be completed.
A jump could be improved.
And hours of preparation could produce visible results.
That sense of accomplishment became particularly meaningful for a young person dealing with self-doubt.
Sports Became an Important Part of Her Identity
Jenner participated in several athletic activities while growing up.
She proved especially talented in sports requiring speed, strength, and coordination.
After high school, she attended Graceland College in Iowa on a football scholarship.
But a knee injury interrupted that direction.
The setback could have ended her ambitions in competitive sports.
Instead, it opened the door to something different.
A coach named L.D. Weldon recognized her athletic potential and encouraged her to pursue the decathlon.
The event would ultimately change her life.
What Makes the Decathlon So Difficult?
The decathlon is one of athletics’ most demanding competitions.
It combines ten events over two days.
Competitors must demonstrate speed, strength, endurance, technique, and versatility.
The events include the 100-meter sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400-meter race.
On the second day, athletes compete in the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500 meters.
Success requires far more than excelling at one skill.
A competitor must perform consistently across a remarkable range of disciplines.
Jenner dedicated years to mastering those challenges.
And the work eventually brought her to the Olympic stage.
Her First Olympics Did Not End With a Medal
Jenner competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
She finished tenth in the decathlon.
For many athletes, simply qualifying for the Olympics would have been a tremendous accomplishment.
But Jenner wanted more.
She returned to training with renewed determination.
Over the following four years, she pursued an intensive schedule designed to improve performance across all ten events.
The preparation demanded discipline.
Countless hours were spent running, jumping, throwing, and refining technique.
By 1976, the athlete who had finished tenth in Munich was ready for another opportunity.
The Montreal Olympics Changed Everything
At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Jenner delivered the performance that made her internationally famous.
Competing in the men’s decathlon under the name Bruce Jenner, she accumulated 8,618 points under the scoring system used at the time.
That total established a world record.
She won the gold medal.
Her victory attracted enormous attention in the United States.
Photographs of the celebration appeared in newspapers and magazines.
Television viewers watched her triumph.
And she quickly became a nationally recognized sports figure.
For the public, it seemed like the beginning of a perfect success story.
But Jenner later described the victory in a much more complicated way.
The Gold Medal Did Not Answer Every Question
In interviews published after her transition, Jenner explained that her athletic achievements had existed alongside a lifelong experience of gender dysphoria.
She described knowing from a young age that her gender identity did not match the public role she was expected to occupy.
For decades, she struggled with how to understand and express those feelings.
Competitive sports had provided a powerful sense of purpose.
But achieving international success did not make her private questions disappear.
The contrast between public celebration and personal uncertainty became a defining theme in her later accounts.
While millions saw a champion, Jenner was still trying to understand how to live authentically.
The Morning After Olympic Glory
In a detailed 2015 Vanity Fair profile, Jenner reflected on the period immediately following her gold-medal victory.
She recalled being in a hotel room in Montreal and seeing herself in the mirror while wearing the medal.
The moment carried a complicated emotional weight.
The sporting goal she had pursued for years was complete.
But the personal struggle she had tried to manage through achievement remained.
The victory had changed her public status.
It had not resolved her private identity.
That contrast helps explain why Jenner later described coming out publicly as an even greater challenge than becoming an Olympic champion.
Fame Opened Doors but Also Created New Expectations
After the 1976 Olympics, Jenner became a sought-after public figure.
She appeared in advertisements.
Delivered motivational speeches.
And accepted entertainment opportunities.
Her athletic image became a major part of American popular culture.
The public recognized her as a symbol of discipline and determination.
But fame also meant that more people had expectations about who she should be.
Jenner later explained that she felt increasingly divided between her private experiences and the public identity associated with her Olympic success.
The higher her profile became, the more complicated revealing that part of herself seemed.
Her Private Struggle Had Begun in Childhood
According to her own accounts, Jenner’s questions about gender identity began when she was young.
She recalled privately experimenting with clothing and presentation that reflected how she felt.
At the time, she had little understanding of the terminology that would later help her explain those experiences.
She also feared how others might react.
Those concerns continued into adulthood.
Even while pursuing athletics and building a public career, she struggled to reconcile her inner life with expectations surrounding her.
The subject remained largely private for decades.
Marriage and Family Became Important Chapters
Jenner married Chrystie Crownover in 1972.
They had two children, Burt and Cassandra.
The marriage ended in 1981.
That same year, Jenner married actress Linda Thompson.
They welcomed two sons, Brandon and Brody.
Their relationship later ended.
In 1991, Jenner married Kris Kardashian, who became widely known as Kris Jenner.
They welcomed two daughters, Kendall and Kylie.
Through her marriages and extended family, Jenner became connected to one of the most recognizable families in American entertainment.
But the history of those relationships was complicated.
She Later Acknowledged Regrets About Parenting
In her Vanity Fair interviews, Jenner discussed mistakes she believed she had made as a parent.
She acknowledged that there were periods when she was not as present for her older children as she should have been.
Those admissions added an important dimension to her story.
Her experience was not simply one of a public figure revealing a personal truth and receiving universal acceptance.
It also involved relationships shaped by years of separation, misunderstanding, and difficult decisions.
Some family members expressed support for her transition while also discussing past hurts.
Both experiences could exist at the same time.
The Kardashians Brought a New Kind of Fame
In 2007, Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered.
The reality television series followed the daily lives of the Kardashian-Jenner family.
Jenner became a familiar presence to audiences who may have been too young to remember the 1976 Olympics.
For a new generation, she was known as a parent within a famous television family.
The show introduced viewers to family celebrations, disagreements, business ventures, and personal milestones.
It also brought intense public attention to the household.
That visibility became especially important when Jenner later decided to speak openly about her gender identity.
The Spotlight Made a Private Decision Public
For most people, significant personal changes unfold primarily among family, friends, and colleagues.
Jenner faced a different situation.
Her athletic fame had already made her a nationally recognized figure.
The Kardashian-Jenner television series brought additional attention.
Her appearance and personal relationships were regularly discussed in entertainment media.
As public speculation increased, Jenner had to consider how and when she wanted to explain her own experience.
That decision involved not only public perception but also conversations with her family.
Eventually, she chose to speak directly about her identity.
The 2015 Interview That Changed Everything
In April 2015, Jenner participated in a widely watched interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC’s 20/20.
During the conversation, she publicly discussed her identity as a transgender woman.
She described her experiences growing up and the difficulties of keeping that part of her life private.
She also discussed her family and the challenges that could accompany such a public announcement.
The interview attracted substantial attention.
For many viewers, it was the first time they had heard Jenner speak openly about experiences she had carried for decades.
It was also a major moment in the broader visibility of transgender public figures.
Then the World Met Caitlyn Jenner
In June 2015, Vanity Fair introduced Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of its July issue.
The photographs were taken by acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The accompanying profile was written by Buzz Bissinger.
The article explored Jenner’s childhood, athletic career, marriages, family relationships, and transition.
It also included extensive discussion of the emotional difficulties she had experienced.
For Jenner, the cover represented a major public milestone.
She was now introducing herself to the world under the name Caitlyn.
After decades of private uncertainty, she was sharing an identity that she had struggled to express openly.
Public Reaction Was Immediate
The Vanity Fair cover attracted enormous international attention.
Some people celebrated Jenner’s decision to live openly.
Others expressed criticism or confusion.
News organizations devoted extensive coverage to her transition.
Social media discussions spread around the world.
And transgender visibility became part of mainstream entertainment conversations in ways that were especially prominent at the time.
Jenner received messages from supporters who connected with aspects of her experience.
But the attention also brought intense scrutiny.
Not every reaction was welcoming.
She Received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award
In July 2015, Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards.
The honor recognized her public decision to share her experience as a transgender woman.
During her acceptance speech, she discussed the challenges facing transgender people, particularly young people.
Her appearance drew a large audience.
It was another milestone in a year marked by unusually intense media attention.
The award also connected two defining chapters of her public life.
Her athletic career.
And her decision to speak openly about her identity.
The Family’s Response Was More Complicated Than a Headline
Jenner’s children and former partners did not all experience her transition in the same way.
Some expressed happiness that she was able to live more openly.
Others discussed unresolved issues from earlier years.
The 2015 Vanity Fair profile included interviews with family members who described both support and painful memories.
Her older children spoke about periods when their relationship with Jenner had been strained.
They also described efforts to reconnect.
The complexity of those accounts is important.
Support for a loved one’s identity does not automatically resolve every disagreement or disappointment within a family.
Some Relationships Improved Through New Conversations
In Vanity Fair, Cassandra Jenner described an important change in her relationship with Caitlyn.
She recalled meeting her during a small gathering that allowed them to spend time together in a more relaxed setting.
The experience opened opportunities for conversations they had not previously shared.
Other family members also discussed renewed efforts to build relationships.
These moments illustrated the potential for greater understanding.
But the published interviews did not claim that every family issue had been solved.
They described a process of adjustment rather than a complete and permanent resolution.
What About Her Marriage to Kris Jenner?
Caitlyn and Kris Jenner had spent more than two decades together.
Their marriage had been a major part of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
They separated before Caitlyn’s public transition.
Their divorce was finalized in 2015.
Afterward, both spoke about their relationship and the difficulties surrounding its ending.
The public conversation sometimes emphasized disagreements over what each person had known and understood during the marriage.
Those differing accounts reflected the emotional complexity of a long relationship ending while both people remained prominent public figures.
It would be inaccurate to reduce their experience to a single simple explanation.
Caitlyn’s Relationship With Her Children Continued Evolving
Jenner has six biological children.
Her relationships with them have varied over time.
Some have appeared with her publicly.
Others have chosen more private relationships.
There have been periods of closeness and periods of tension.
Public interviews provide only part of that picture.
Family relationships can change across years, particularly when they involve complicated histories and intense public attention.
For that reason, photographs of family members appearing together should not automatically be treated as proof that every past conflict has been resolved.
A Television Series Followed Her New Chapter
In July 2015, E! premiered I Am Cait.
The documentary-style reality series followed Jenner as she navigated life after coming out publicly.
It included discussions of family relationships, friendships, and transgender experiences.
The series also introduced audiences to other transgender people with perspectives and circumstances different from Jenner’s.
It ran for two seasons.
The program attracted both praise and criticism.
Some appreciated the increased visibility.
Others questioned aspects of its presentation.
For Jenner, it was another highly public stage in an already intensely discussed personal journey.
Her Life Did Not Become Effortless After 2015
The public announcement was an important turning point.
But it did not eliminate all the challenges in Jenner’s life.
She continued navigating relationships.
Public criticism.
And the demands of being a recognizable public figure.
Her views and public statements also became subjects of debate.
She has participated in discussions about social issues, gender, sports, and politics.
Those debates have sometimes produced disagreements with people who supported her coming out.
Her public identity as a transgender woman does not mean that everyone shares her views on other matters.
Those aspects of her public life are distinct and should be described accurately.
The Olympic Champion Reflected on Her Hardest Achievement
In a 2019 interview with BBC Sport, Jenner revisited her Olympic victory and the experience of transitioning publicly.
She explained that embracing her identity had been more difficult than winning the gold medal.
Preparing for the Olympics had required years of discipline and physical training.
But her personal journey had involved a much longer period of uncertainty and fear about how people might respond.
She emphasized that Olympic success brought celebration.
Her transition brought a mixture of support and hostility.
The comparison revealed how differently she understood the two major events in her life.
Why Dyslexia Was Part of Her Story
Jenner has repeatedly discussed the role dyslexia played in her childhood.
She described academic struggles that affected her confidence.
Sports became an area where she could demonstrate skill and improvement.
In later interviews, she connected those early challenges to the determination that shaped her athletic training.
But it would be misleading to suggest that dyslexia automatically produces athletic success or explains someone’s gender identity.
These were separate aspects of Jenner’s experience.
What connected them in her own account was how she responded to personal difficulties.
She invested enormous effort in the area where she found purpose and achievement.
The Public Image Never Told the Whole Story
For many years, Jenner was known primarily through an athletic image.
The gold medal.
The famous photographs.
The motivational speeches.
And the reputation of a champion.
Later, reality television created another familiar public image.
Viewers knew her as a member of the Kardashian-Jenner household.
But neither image captured every part of her private life.
The interviews in 2015 revealed how much of her experience had remained outside public view.
They also showed how carefully celebrity identities can be shaped by the expectations of audiences.
Identity and Family Are Not Always Simple Questions
One of the central themes of Jenner’s story is the relationship between personal identity and family connections.
Her transition created opportunities for greater openness.
But it also required difficult conversations.
Children had questions.
Former partners had their own perspectives.
And long-standing disagreements sometimes became part of the public discussion.
There was no single response shared by every family member.
Some relationships improved in certain periods.
Others remained complicated.
The most accurate picture is one of an evolving family rather than a dramatic transformation that settled every problem overnight.
What the Public Learned From Her Decision
Jenner’s coming out in 2015 brought transgender identity into the attention of audiences who may not previously have followed the subject closely.
Her celebrity ensured that millions encountered her story.
Some people found it relatable.
Others learned about experiences they had not previously understood.
And some reacted critically.
The event became part of a wider period of increasing transgender visibility in media.
Jenner was not the first transgender public figure.
Nor did her experience represent every transgender person’s life.
But the visibility of her announcement made it a significant moment in popular culture.
Why Her Experience Was Not Typical of Everyone Else’s
Jenner entered her public transition with substantial financial resources and a globally recognizable name.
She had access to professional support.
She was already accustomed to media attention.
And she had decades of experience managing a public career.
Many transgender people do not share those circumstances.
Their experiences may involve very different practical challenges.
Financial limitations.
Access to healthcare.
Employment.
Housing.
And family support can all vary.
Jenner’s story offers one example of a personal journey, not a universal description of transgender life.
She Became a Symbol—and a Subject of Debate
After 2015, Jenner occupied an unusual position in public life.
She remained an Olympic champion.
A television personality.
And a prominent transgender public figure.
Her public statements attracted attention across entertainment and political media.
Some people praised particular aspects of her story.
Others criticized her views or actions.
Those differing reactions became part of her public reputation.
Her life could no longer be described solely through the Olympic gold medal or the magazine cover that introduced her as Caitlyn.
The 1976 Victory Still Matters
Jenner’s personal journey did not erase her athletic accomplishments.
She remains part of Olympic history.
Her 1976 performance was a major decathlon achievement.
It followed years of training and a previous Olympic appearance.
The gold medal reflected genuine sporting excellence.
Jenner has spoken with pride about that achievement.
But she has also explained that the medal represents only one part of her life.
That distinction is important.
A person’s achievements and personal identity can both be meaningful without one needing to invalidate the other.
Two Different Moments Changed How the World Knew Her
In 1976, Jenner became internationally famous because of athletic achievement.
In 2015, she became the subject of worldwide attention for a very different reason.
The two moments were separated by almost four decades.
Both involved public scrutiny.
Both changed her place in popular culture.
And both shaped how millions understood her life.
But Jenner herself has described the second experience as more personally demanding.
Winning an Olympic medal required extraordinary physical preparation.
Coming out publicly involved revealing a deeply personal experience after decades of uncertainty.
The Story Behind Her Family Relationships Is More Nuanced Than It Appears
One of the most common ways celebrity stories are simplified is through their endings.
Some portray complete reconciliation.
Others focus exclusively on conflict.
Jenner’s family history does not fit neatly into either category.
There have been public expressions of support.
There have been disagreements.
There have been efforts to rebuild relationships.
And there have been periods when certain family members preferred more distance.
Those experiences have unfolded over years.
It is more accurate to acknowledge the complexity than to claim that every relationship reached a perfect resolution.
Why the 2015 Vanity Fair Cover Remains Important
The magazine cover was not merely another celebrity photo shoot.
It marked Jenner’s public introduction under her chosen name.
The accompanying profile allowed her to discuss decades of personal experiences in detail.
It also included perspectives from relatives whose memories and feelings were not always identical to hers.
That combination made the story particularly revealing.
Readers saw the personal significance of the announcement.
They also saw the complicated family history surrounding it.
For that reason, the profile remains one of the most important sources for understanding Jenner’s transition and its public impact.
The Hardest Challenge Was Not Measured in Points
The decathlon has an objective scoring system.
Competitors complete events.
Performances are measured.
And the athlete with the highest total wins.
Jenner’s 1976 victory was clear.
Her personal journey was not.
There was no finish line.
No official time.
And no medal waiting to confirm that every difficult decision had been correct.
Instead, she faced years of uncertainty about how to live openly.
That difference helps explain why she later described embracing her identity as the greater challenge.
What Makes Her Life Story So Remarkable?
Caitlyn Jenner’s life spans several distinct eras of American culture.
She became an Olympic champion in the 1970s.
She developed a career through television appearances and public speaking.
She became part of one of the country’s most recognizable reality television families.
And in 2015, she publicly shared her experience as a transgender woman.
Each chapter brought different expectations.
Each attracted different audiences.
And each contributed to the complicated story of a person who lived much of her life in public view.
Her Most Personal Decision Became a Worldwide Conversation
When Jenner spoke with Diane Sawyer in April 2015, she was sharing something she had kept largely private for decades.
Within weeks, her Vanity Fair cover became international news.
The response brought both encouragement and scrutiny.
Her family relationships attracted renewed attention.
And conversations about transgender identity reached millions of viewers.
That public impact was unusually large because Jenner was already famous.
But the underlying decision remained personal.
It concerned how she wanted to live her own life.
Fame Could Not Make the Difficult Conversations Disappear
Public recognition can open opportunities.
It can provide access to influential platforms.
And it can allow someone to speak to an enormous audience.
But it cannot automatically resolve personal conflicts.
Jenner’s family history illustrates that reality.
Her public transition created opportunities for honesty.
It also brought earlier difficulties into sharper focus.
Some loved ones had questions about the present.
Others wanted to discuss the past.
And not every disagreement could be settled through a single conversation.
What Her Story Says About Change
There is a tendency to imagine life-changing announcements as the end of a long struggle.
For Jenner, 2015 was not simply an ending.
It was also a beginning.
She was publicly living under a new name.
Her relationships were adjusting.
Her public role was changing.
And the attention surrounding her remained intense.
The following years brought new experiences and controversies.
Her story continued evolving.
That is one reason her life cannot be captured accurately by a single inspirational headline.
The Gold Medal and the Woman Behind It
For decades, photographs of Jenner’s Olympic triumph represented athletic greatness.
They showed a competitor who trained intensely and delivered a record-breaking performance.
That achievement remains part of history.
But later interviews revealed a more complicated story behind those images.
Jenner was experiencing a private struggle that fame and success did not resolve.
Her eventual decision to speak openly changed how she understood and presented her life.
It also changed how many people interpreted the familiar photographs from 1976.
They were no longer simply images of sporting glory.
They became part of a much longer personal history.
Her Journey Has Never Been Only About One Moment
Jenner’s life cannot be reduced to an Olympic victory.
Or a magazine cover.
Or a reality television series.
It includes childhood struggles with dyslexia.
Years of intense athletic preparation.
Multiple marriages.
Six children.
Long periods of public recognition.
And a personal journey she described as difficult to share openly.
It also includes the complicated process of maintaining and rebuilding relationships.
These experiences are connected, but none alone explains the entirety of her life.
What Happened After She Told the World?
After publicly coming out in 2015, Jenner continued living as Caitlyn.
She participated in television projects.
Spoke about transgender experiences.
And remained active in public discussions.
Some family relationships improved during certain periods.
Others continued facing difficulties.
Her comments and political positions also became subjects of debate.
The reality was neither a perfect transformation nor an unbroken series of conflicts.
It was an ongoing life with new experiences, responsibilities, and challenges.
The Truth Behind Caitlyn Jenner’s Most Difficult Race
At the 1976 Olympics, Caitlyn Jenner completed ten events and won a gold medal.
It was the result of years of preparation and extraordinary athletic discipline.
The victory made her famous around the world.
But as she later explained, the challenge she considered hardest was not one that could be measured through athletic points.
It was the personal journey that eventually led her to speak openly about her gender identity.
For decades, she had struggled with expectations surrounding her public image.
She had built a career and raised a family while keeping a significant part of her experience private.
Then in 2015, she chose to share that experience with the world.
The announcement attracted enormous attention.
It brought support.
Criticism.
And difficult conversations within her family and the broader public.
But it also allowed Jenner to present herself openly as Caitlyn.
The Victory That Came Almost Forty Years After Olympic Gold
There is an extraordinary contrast between two moments in Jenner’s life.
In 1976, she stood before the world as an Olympic champion.
In 2015, she appeared before the world under the name Caitlyn Jenner.
Both moments changed her public identity.
But they represented very different kinds of achievement.
One was the result of measurable athletic performance.
The other involved decades of personal reflection and the decision to speak openly about her experience.
Jenner has said that the latter required greater personal courage.
It also involved consequences that could not be predicted or controlled.
Her family’s responses were complicated.
Her public reception was mixed.
And her life continued changing after the announcement.
Yet the moment remains one of the defining chapters in her biography.
Why Her Story Continues to Capture Attention
Caitlyn Jenner is associated with several different kinds of fame.
Olympic athletics.
Reality television.
Celebrity family life.
And transgender visibility.
Each part of that history attracts a different audience.
Some people remember the Montreal Olympics.
Others know her primarily from Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
And others first encountered her through the 2015 interviews.
But understanding her life requires looking beyond any single headline.
Her story involves achievement.
Uncertainty.
Relationships.
Regrets.
And major personal changes.
It is a reminder that the public image of a famous person rarely tells every part of the story.
Caitlyn Jenner’s Greatest Challenge Was Not Winning Gold
Almost fifty years after her Olympic triumph, Jenner’s career remains part of sporting history.
Her 1976 decathlon performance was remarkable.
It established a world record.
And it brought her international recognition.
But when reflecting on her life, Jenner has emphasized that the more difficult journey was the one that unfolded away from competition.
She spent decades trying to understand and express her gender identity.
She experienced the challenges of dyslexia.
She built a family and professional career.
And she eventually made the decision to come out publicly in 2015.
The announcement did not resolve every difficulty.
It did not erase mistakes from the past.
And it did not guarantee universal understanding.
But it marked a defining change in how Jenner chose to live.
That is why the story behind her Olympic medal continues to interest people decades later.
The world celebrated her athletic victory in Montreal.
But the journey she later described as harder took much longer.
There were no stadium cheers to guide her through it.
No official score to measure success.
And no way to know in advance how every person in her life would respond.
What remained was the decision to speak openly about who she was.
And for Jenner, that became one of the most consequential moments of her life.
Editor’s note: This article is based on Caitlyn Jenner’s documented public interviews, including her 2015 Vanity Fair profile and 2019 BBC Sport interview. It uses her current name and pronouns while referring accurately to the historical name under which she competed in the 1976 Olympic decathlon. Family relationships and public responses are described as complex rather than uniformly positive or negative.