SEXUAL ORIENTATION

1. SEXUAL ORIENTATION © John B. Pryor, 2005 Illinois State University

2. Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals Use the following scale to rate each statement: • 1=Strongly Agree • 2=Agree • 3=Neither Agree Nor Disagree • 4=Disagree • 5=Strongly Disagree

3. 1. I would feel comfortable working with a male homosexual. 2. I would enjoy attending social functions at which homosexuals were present. 3. I would feel uncomfortable if I learned that my neighbor was homosexual. 4. If a member of my gender made a sexual advance toward me I would feel angry. 5. I would feel comfortable knowing that I was attractive to members of my gender. 6. I would feel uncomfortable being seen at a gay bar.

4. 7. I would feel comfortable if a member of my gender made an advance toward me. 8. I would feel comfortable if I found myself attracted toward a member of my gender. 9. I would feel disappointed if I learned my child was a homosexual. 10. I would feel nervous being in a group of homosexuals. 11. I would feel comfortable knowing that my clergyman was a homosexual.

5. 12. I would feel upset if I learned my brother or sister was homosexual. 13. I would feel that I failed as a parent if I learned my child was gay. 14. If I saw two men holding hands in public, I would feel disgusted. 15. If a member of my gender made an advance toward me I would feel offended. 16. I would feel comfortable if I learned my daughter’s teacher was a lesbian.

6. 17. I would feel uncomfortable if I learned that my spouse or partner was attracted to members of his or her own gender. 18. I would feel at ease talking with a homosexual person at a party. 19. I would feel uncomfortable if I learned that my boss was homosexual. 20. It would not bother me to walk through a predominantly gay section of town. 21. It would disturb me to find out that my doctor was a homosexual.

7. 22. I would feel comfortable if I found out that my best friend of my gender was homosexual. 23. If a member of my gender made an advance toward me I would feel flattered. 24. I would feel uncomfortable knowing that my son’s male teacher was homosexual. 25. I would feel comfortable working closely with a female homosexual.

8. 1 Reverse score these items:3,4,6,9,10,12,13,14,15,17,21,24 • 1=5 • 2=4 • 3=3 • 4=2 • 5=1 Then add up your score. 2 3 And subtract 25 from the sum....

9. Higher Numbers=More Anti-homosexual Introductory Psychology Courses • Men M=76.79 • Women M=68.66 Senior Level Psychology Courses • Men M=66.94 • Women M=60.29

10. Those with anti-gay attitudes are more likely than others: • to have limited contact with lesbians and gay men • to regard homosexuality as a “choice” and to fear its spread • to be male • to have a lower level of education • to be older or adolescent

11. Those with anti-gay attitudes are more likely than others: • to be highly religious, particularly evangelical Christian • to report a history of exclusively heterosexual sexual behaviors • to live in rural areas of Midwestern and Southern regions of the U.S. • to perceive that one’s peers hold similarly anti-gay attitudes

12. Those with anti-gay attitudes are more likely than others: • to believe in traditional restrictive gender roles and to perceive homosexuals as violating such roles • to be less permissive or more negative about sexuality in general • to exhibit authoritarian personality traits (from Herek & Cogan, 1996)

13. Adams, Wright, & Lohr (1996): Homophobia and homosexual arousal • Studied 64 exclusively heterosexual male college students • 29 were non-homophobic (scored 0 - 50) • 35 were homophobic (scored 51 - 100) • Penile tumescence was measured during exposure to 3 erotic videos (heterosexual, male homosexual, female homosexual) • Homophobic and non-homophobic men were equally aroused by heterosexual and female homosexual videos • Homophobic men were more aroused than non-homophobic men by male homosexual video

14. Reactions to homosexualityvary across cultures

15. Attitudes toward homosexuality in 42 cultures around the world Attitudes% Cultures • Homosexuality is accepted or ignored 21 • No concept of homosexuality 12 • Homosexuality is ridiculed & scorned, but not punished 14 • Homosexuality is mildly disapproved & considered undesirable, but not punished 12 • Homosexuality is strongly disapproved & punished 40

16. State Laws before 2003

19. U.S. Public Opinion Polls in Recent History

29. June 2003U.S. Supreme Court strikes down all state sodomy laws

30. LAWRENCE et al. v. TEXASU.S. Supreme Court Decision - Decided June 26, 2003 Responding to a reported weapons disturbance in a private residence, Houston police entered petitioner Lawrence's apartment and saw him and another adult man, petitioner Garner, engaging in a private, consensual sexual act. Petitioners were arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. Held: The Texas statute making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause. The liberty protected by the Constitution allows homosexual persons the right to choose to enter upon relationships in the confines of their homes and their own private lives and still retain their dignity as free persons.

32. Sexual Orientation and Mental Health

33. Homosexuality and Mental Health • Evelyn Hooker (1957) compared matched groups of homosexual and heterosexual men on scores of standard psychological and found no difference in mental and emotional well-being • Comprehensive review by Gronsiorek (1991) supported Hooker’s conclusions • Since 1973, both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association have considered homosexuality a normal variation of human sexuality

34. Recent Research on GLBT mental health • Being the targets of discrimination may have a negative impact of GLBT mental health - stress reactions • Higher rates of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, substance abuse in lesbian & gay youth • Higher rates of major depression among gay men • Suicidal thoughts • Use of mental health services (Source: Cochran, 2001, American Psychologist)

35. “Conversion therapy” from Haldeman (1999) • Conversion therapy is based on faulty assumptions - homosexuality is not a mental disorder. • Internalized homophobia leads some individuals to seek sexual orientation change. • The mental health professions generally oppose conversion therapy. • According to David Satcher, Surgeon General of the US, no reliable evidence supports the effectiveness of conversion treatments. • Conversion therapy can be harmful--it can perpetuate self-hatred. • Conversion therapy adversely affects the public’s views of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

36. Conceptions of Homosexuality • Two category typology: Heterosexual v. homosexual • Kinsey’s continuum: based upon mixes of homosexual and heterosexual behavior • Storms’ (1980) 2 dimensional scheme: based upon two continua of sexual attraction

37. Kinsey’s Behavioral Continuum • Exclusively heterosexual • Mostly heterosexual with incidental homosexual experience • Heterosexual with substantial homosexual experience • Equal heterosexual and homosexual experience • Homosexual with substantial heterosexual experience • Homosexual with incidental heterosexual experience • Exclusively homosexual

38. Storms’ (1980) Two-dimensional Model Homoeroticism HIGH Homosexuals Bisexuals Hetero- eroticism HIGH LOW Asexuals Heterosexuals LOW

39. Typology of homosexuality in men (Hewitt, 1998)

40. How many people are homosexual? • University of Chicago survey in 1992 of a random probability sample of 3,432 men and women in the U.S. between the ages of 18-59. • 9% of men and 4% of women reported having engaged in at least one same-gender sexual activity since puberty. • Given the identity category choices of heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or something else, 2.8% of men and 1.4% of women surveyed reported "some level of homosexual identity." Laumann, E., Gagnon, J.H., Michael, R.T., and Michaels, S. (1994).

41. Developing a homosexual identity in our culture is a multi-step process

42. Cass (1979) - stages of homosexual identity development 1. identity confusion- “Who am I?” 2. identity comparison- “I may be homosexual” 3. identity tolerance- “I probably am homosexual” 4. identity acceptance- “I am homosexual” 5. identity pride- strong group identification 6. identity synthesis- no us vs. them

43. Are some people “born gay?”

44. Biological Origins of Homosexuality- focus on concordance rate - the likelihood that, if one twin is gay, his or her co-twin will be gay too. Bailey & Pillard (1991) - genetic links to male homosexuality % gay Identical twins 52% Fraternal twins 22% Adopted brothers 11% Non-twin biological brother 9% Bailey, Pillard, Neal & Agyei (1993) - genetic links to female homosexuality % lesbian Identical twins 48% Fraternal twins 16% Adopted sisters 6%

45. Feminine boys "The most consistent finding about male homosexuality is that as children gay men were feminine boys, as judged by such factors as lack of interest in sports or rough play, reputation as a ‘sissy,’ or a desire to be a girl. Perhaps 75 percent of feminine boys grow up to be gay men, which is a huge increase over expected rates. That's generally consistent with a biological hypothesis because you have these boys playing atypically at a very early age-three to five-in a way they haven't been socialized to behave. In fact, they're often punished for behaving that way" (J.M. Bailey, K.J. Zucker, Developmental Psychology, 31[1]:43-55, 1995).

46. Neurological studies of brain activation patterns show that gay men and heterosexual women respond similarly to male pheromones. Both gay men and heterosexual women display a brain activation pattern distinct from that of heterosexual men (Savic, Berglund, & Lindstrom, 2005).

47. Responses to male and female pheromones-positron emission tomography images heterosexual women homosexual men heterosexual men androgen derivative estrogen derivative

48. Heterosexual men Heterosexual women Area in common for homosexual men & heterosexual women

49. Biological Origins of Homosexuality Ward & Reed (1985) •Rat Study Prenatal stress in 2nd month-> lower testosterone production-> hypothalamic differentiation-> homosexual behavior • 2/3 mothers of gay men recall stress episodes compared to 1/3 of heterosexuals

50. Biological Origins of Homosexuality- brain structures LeVay (1993). Hypothalamic cells of gay men were more similar to those of women than heterosexual men Allen & Gorski (1992). The anterior commissure, a relatively small bundle of axons connecting the two brain hemispheres, is larger in women than in men, and larger in gay men than in heterosexual men.