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Based on his work with therapy patients, Weinberg concluded that anti-homosexual attitudes are often a real phobia, based upon a repressed fear that one is unconsciously homosexual. The term “homophobia,” was introduced by Weinberg (1972). Anti-homosexual prejudiceĪ third major way that psychology has advanced the rights of homosexual persons is by turning the lens on those with strong anti-homosexual attitudes. The percentage who believe homosexuality is something one is “born with” was just 13 percent in 1977 (Gallup, 2007), but in 2015, 51 percent believed that gays and lesbians are born as such (Gallup, 2015). There are perhaps multiple biological origins of homosexuality (Ngun & Vilain, 2014).įar more Americans now accept that homosexuality is not just a choice. A network of genes, variations in maternal hormones during pregnancy, and their interactions may all play a part. Later studies concurred, although the percentage was sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Their findings showed that about 70 percent of homosexuality may be directly attributed to heredity.
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They reasoned that if homosexuality is shaped by genetics, more closely related people should be more alike in their sexual orientation. Bailey and Pillard (1991) compared the sexual orientation of male identical twins, fraternal twins and adopted brothers. In the 1990s, evidence for the inheritance of homosexuality grew rapidly. Most gay men and lesbians believe they have “no choice at all” in their sexual orientation (Herek, Norton, Allen & Sims, 2010). This discovery is important, as support for the rights of homosexual persons is strongly linked to the belief that it is something individuals are “born with” (Gallup, 2007).
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Inheritance of homosexualityĪ second contribution by psychology is the discovery that homosexuality is largely determined by heredity, not just a free choice. This recognition that homosexuality is not associated with any pathology has helped foster its acceptance. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental diseases. Many later studies with other measures led to the conclusion that homosexuality had no related pathology, and that gays and lesbians function equally well in work and in loving relationships. Three Rorschach experts tried to distinguish the responses of the two groups but could not (Hooker, 1957). Hooker gave the Rorschach test to thirty homosexual and thirty heterosexual males. Neither government nor businesses would hire homosexual persons. If she did, their “occupations and very lives were at risk” (Hooker, 1993, p. Gay males she wanted to test feared she would betray their confidentiality. When she told the psychiatry department chair she wanted to study normal homosexuals, he replied, "There is no such person!" (Hooker, 1993, p. A gay former student told her, "Evelyn, it is your scientific duty to study men like me." Hooker agreed, "He's right - we know nothing about them." (cited in Burr, 1993). Until the 1950's, most homosexual persons studied by psychologists and others were prisoners or mental patients, so it was easy to conclude that these were linked.Įvelyn Hooker, a brave psychologist at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), began undoing this belief in the early 1950s. Through the 1970sįirst, psychological studies disproved the belief that homosexuality is related to mental illness and criminality.
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Why have these attitudes changed? For many reasons, but psychological science has contributed in three important ways. In 1996, just 27 percent favored same-sex marriage. In 1977, 41 percent of Americans thought that gay or lesbian relations should be legal.