The Psychology Behind Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture?

• A timeline of the earliest documented findings in reference to homosexuality.

However, in this article, I plan to focus on some of the “recent” happenings within the scientific community; in regards to homosexuality and the nature or nurture debate.

I hope to explain why theorists believe the way they do and what evidence they have to base those beliefs on.

Homosexuality was originally thought to be a mental disorder as recorded by the American Psychological Association (APA) in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Health (DSM). It was only after intense research and uproar that homosexuality was removed from the DSM by the APA in the year 1973.

Evelyn Hooker is better known as the woman whose research was responsible for the removal of homosexuality from the DSM.

Evelyn's' studies focused on small control groups with similar IQ's, education, and socioeconomic statuses.

Hookers' findings concluded that homosexuality was not a mental disorder but rather a choice.

The statistics of Hooker's research led to the removal of homosexuality from the DSM; again thank you Evelyn Hooker for paving the road towards the way to acceptance.

the inquisitive beings they are; MUST ask questions.

Certainly this new found personality trait has it's standing in the mental health community.

Somewhere?

If homosexuality is no longer classified as a mental disorder what is it?

What contributes to it? Are people born gay? Is it environmental? Hereditary? What's the deal?

Things are never "just because" within the scientific community.

So without further ado.....

Some of the research explained below supports the theories that homosexuality is in fact a genetic difference between human beings. Please keep in mind this is only SOME of the research.

Scientists D.F. Swaab, Laura S. Allen, and Simon LeVay focused their studies on postmortem examination of the hypothalamus (“the pleasure center”) areas of the brain. Their findings were similar; some parts of hypothalamus were larger in that of homosexual brains than in the brains of proclaimed heterosexuals.

The idea behind this theory is that sexual orientation is determined by early (prenatal) exposure to androgen's in regards to the neural structures. These tests are focused on the theory that if a fetus is exposed to higher than normal androgen's the fetus will be "masculineized” regardless of predetermined gender.If the fetus is exposed to less than "normal" levels of androgen's in utero the fetus will become "feminized".

Studies conducted on male homosexual twins seem to suggest that the more closely genetically linked a pair is, the more likely they both are to exhibit gay tendencies.

During the examination of family trees of openly gay men a maternal link was discovered. DNA samples from homosexual men were obtained and genetically examined. A correlation was made for 5 genetic markers on section of the X-Chromosome mainly on the mothers’ side.

The testing below supports the theory that homosexuality is influenced by one's environment. The research studies below suggest that homosexuality is indeed a product of one's environment (nurture). Please note only SOME of the research the nurture argument of homosexuality is represented.

This theory suggests that children begin to identify with one gender or another early on. It is argued that children are "taught" which gender to identify with. A simple explanation of this would be boys were blue, play sports etc. Girls wear pink, do ballet etc. By manipulating our children we are in essence conforming to the theory of Parental Manipulation.

This theory suggests that children born into a family where a homosexual siblings is already practicing non-conforming gender identity paves the way for other children to do the same.

This idea suggests that a weak father and strong mother may lead to a homosexual son. Mainly because the mother has too strong of an image, compared to the "weak" state of the father. However SOME do argue that the son may become more masculinised in an "attempt" to make up for the father's weak image.

This theory suggests that homosexuality is strictly confined to sexual desire and that homosexuality is nothing more than superficial tastes and preferences. Theoretically a child or young adult could choose a preference for one organ (penis or vagina) over the other. With no other factors coming into play.

• According to the American Psychological Association sexual orientation is not a choice, "it emerges for most in early adolescence (9-15) with no prior sexual experience".
• Research shows that kids with extreme gender nonconformity usually grow up to be gay.
• In 1975 the APA released a public statement that homosexuality was not a mental disorder. In 1994, the APA finally stated, "...homosexuality is neither a mental illness nor a moral depravity. It is the way a portion of the population expresses human love and sexuality".
• Most social theorists see childhood elements and/or environments as the largest contributing factors to homosexuality.
• It's estimated that 25% of the population in the United States is homosexual.