Online Encyclopedia
Causes of sexual orientation
The causes of sexual orientation have been the subject of much attention and research in recent years. Usually, research on sexual orientation has been focused on the etiology of homosexuality. This tendency is largely because heterosexuality has traditionally been considered "normal" and homosexuality an aberration.
Researchers in recent years have concluded their efforts to understand sexual attraction will be more successful if the underlying processes are clarified before more specific questions are addressed. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie sexual attraction per se can be valuable in understanding what causes many people to feel sexual attraction primarily towards members of one sex or the other.
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Factors affecting sexual orientation
The causes of sexual orientation are controversial. Various factors have been advocated, including genetic factors, non-genetic biological factors, psychological and societal factors, and conscious choice. These factors are also hotly debated: see sexual morality, religion and homosexuality.
In the last quarter of the 20th century, various advocates began espousing the view that the sexual orientation of adults is impossible to change, regardless of a person's actions or decisions. A minority continues to believe that re-orientation from homosexuality to heterosexuality is possible, for those who choose to change (see reparative therapy, International Healing Foundation). This view is especially held by religious groups or groups connected to them.
Research
The last 20 years have seen an explosion in scientific research into the genetic, biological and psychological causes of homosexuality. Most research looks at human sexuality, but homosexual behavior has been observed in non-human animals as well as in humans.
Each of the following factors has been proposed as a possible contributor to one's sexual orientation. Various people accept one or a combination of these factors. The majority of researchers in the field believe orientation is probably determined not by any one single factor but by some combination of them, except that nearly all researchers reject conscious choice as a factor. Choice is believed to affect whether one externalizes one's orientation, but is not believed to be a factor in determining the orientation.
Biological factors
Research, and the experience of non-heterosexuals, suggests that sexual orientation is set in early childhood and perhaps in some individuals even earlier. Studies of homosexual identical twins suggest that when one twin is homosexual that there is a 40 to 60 percent chance that the other twin will also be homosexual. In fraternal twins the figure is 15 to 30 percent. For same sex non-twin siblings the figure is 5 to 10 percent, or roughly the background level (ranges are from a combination of [1] and a site that no longer exists).
For many, these data strongly indicate a significant biological influence on sexual orientation. For many others, including two of the three authors (Bailey and Pollard) of the studies cited above, there is a worry that recruiting subjects from readers of gay advocacy magazines may have skewed the results.
Genetic biological factors
Despite much speculation on genetic variations that could lead to homosexuality, it is unknown whether and to what extent any one's genes could compel the development of homosexuality.
Some popular reports on research, published in a Newsweek cover article entitled "Gay Gene?" had suggested that there was a genetic basis for homosexuality which make people more likely to become homosexual. These reports were later repudiated by the researchers, who said that their work had been misconstrued, and Newsweek printed a retraction on an inside page.
Non-genetic biological factors
Many other biological factors might be involved. The following topics need to be elucidated in this entry, with references to important scientific and medical journal articles, and books which summarize said articles.
Some research has also looked at non-genetic biological factors such as hormonal factors and the development of the foetus within the womb.
Psychological and sociological factors
Richard Cohen of the International Healing Foundation claims to have found a constellation of causal factors, primarily non-genetic.
Some other researchers have surveyed homosexuals to learn how social and psychological influences might have affected their sexual orientation.
In surveys of gay men and lesbians, the majority assert that they were born that way. Most of them report that they knew they were "different" from an early age, often by puberty and not uncommonly in prepubescence. Instances of individuals stating that they chose to be gay are extremely rare. This and other anecdotal evidence gives little concrete proof either way, but it is considered by many to be strongly indicative of the likelihood that orientation is not a choice. See Nature versus nurture debates.
Conscious choice
Some people, primarily Christians and most often fundamentalists, advocate the view that people's sexual orientation follows from their behavior: e.g., if they try homosexual acts, they might like them and thereby acquire a homosexual orientation. In fact some also believe that a heterosexual orientation is formed in the same way, and that the only genetic element is in the basic underlying sexual desire. Some people who share this view operate prayer ministries and 12-step programs to help people change from homosexuality to heterosexuality.
There is no independent research that validates the views or methods of these advocates. In addition, most psychologists and most major mental health groups warn of the potential harm done by attempting to "change" a person's sexual orientation.
See also
- Ascribed characteristics (for a more general look at the morality of innate vs. non-innate characteristics)
- Bisexuality
- Child sexuality
- Genetics and sexual orientation
- Environment, choice, and sexual orientation
- Heterosexuality
- Homosexuality
- Religion and homosexuality
- Sexual morality