4.2 Sexual Orientation Beliefs

Question 1

Define sexual orientation

Answer 1

“An enduring pattern of sexual and/or romantic attraction to men, women, or both, to varying degrees”

Question 2

Define sexual identity

Answer 2

self-identification as an LGB+ person

Question 3

Define sexual behaviour

Answer 3

With whom one has sexual encounters and/or romantic relationships

Question 4

How is sexual orientation distinct from people’s social identity?

Answer 4

Social identity is the socially constructed label for people’s social orientation

Social identity is socially constructed and culturally specific

Question 5

What is sexual orientation (SO) essentialism?

Answer 5

Underlying essence to a social group - this gives rise to the characteristic features of the group

When it comes to SO and looking at it with genetic theory, view it as innate

Question 6

What are the key principles of SO essentialism?

Answer 6

Innate
Immutable
Universal across culture and time
Exists in discrete categories

Question 7

Discuss SO essentialism and immutability

Answer 7

Believes SO to never change - once it emerges in life, it never changes

In contrast, changeable is that people can experience diff SO through diff stages in their life - not talking about change in identity
Eg. When people come out after a while

Question 8

Discuss SO essentialism and universality

Answer 8

The way SO manifests across culture and time is universally the same in the genetic view

Question 9

Discuss SO essentialism and SO existing in discrete categories

Answer 9

Genetic view primes us to think of SO as existing in discrete categories
Carved in the basis of nature and not socially constructed

Question 10

Discuss SO as continuous

Answer 10

Exclusively straight and gay at one end with a mixture in the middle
Usually talked about in the context of LGBTQ politics

Late 90s - opponents of gay rights argued that it didn’t make sense because being gay wasn’t an essential characteristic, it was a life style choice

Ads for conversion therapy centre = “no one is born gay”
“being gay is absolutely a choice”

Question 11

Discuss Bailey’s study on twins and homosexuality

Answer 11

1st study to show biological indication of homosexuality

MZ twins who were homosexual had 52% concordance compared to 22% in DS twins
Increased concordance between MZ twins = indication of biological influence

Question 12

What did the Bailey study lead onto?

Answer 12

The “gay gene” study:
Molecular genetic study - took blood samples
Gay men more likely to have a polymorphism of the X chromosome
Replicated by Bailey’s lab

Question 13

Discuss the “gay brain” study

Answer 13

“gay brain” - their brains are different
Has been disputed by sciences

Post mortem dissections of gay men, straight men and straight women brains and looked at a part of the hypothalamus INH3:
Women have larger INH3
Men have smaller INH3
Interestingly gay men had larger INH3, similar to straight women, compared to straight men

Question 14

What reaction did these biological studies have on stigma attitudes towards homosexuality?

Answer 14

Has a reduction on stigma attitudes and can have +ve effect on attitudes towards gay people

Question 15

How do essentialist beliefs argue for extending gay rights?

Answer 15

“born this way”

If something is inborn, we should extend legal rights to protect it

Question 16

Why do theories on SO result in +ve effect?

Answer 16

Attribution theory:
Idea that when people judge other’s behaviour, we try to analyse the causes of that behaviour
When it is attributed to stigmatised statuses, if the person is thought to have caused their stigma, they are judged more harshly
If the stigma is out of their control results in more benign attitudes towards the individual

Question 17

What did Weiner, Perry & Magnusson’s study show?

Answer 17

Illustrated attribution theory:
Looked at psychological and physical diseases

Some of the traits perceived more out of individual’s control elicited more +ve response
Eg. Don’t blame the person for having cancer etc

People do blame people for things like obesity, perpetrators of child abuse etc
Evidence that people tend to punish individuals who we think have caused their stigma

Question 18

What is the key argument surrounding LGB people and attribution theory?

Answer 18

LGB people will be viewed as less blame-worthy when their stigmatised status is perceived to be beyond their control (i.e. due to a gay gene) than when perceived to be controllable (i.e. due to learning, environmental factors, choice).

Question 19

What perceptions do people have when they perceive homosexuality as essentialist view?

Answer 19

Less homonegativity
More supportive of constitution amendment to legalise same sex marriage
Morally acceptable lifestyle
Support equal legal rights for cohabiting same-sex couples
Equal employment rights

Question 20

What are the public acceptance levels like of homosexuality?

Answer 20

There has been a general increase of public acceptance of homosexuality: 10% in early 80s of homosexuality being inborn -> mid 00s 40%

Question 21

Do essentialist accounts of SO really cause pro-LBG+ attitudes?

Answer 21

Experimental findings have been inconsistent:

Improved attitudes, null effect and more -ve attitudes

Question 22

What did Boysen & Vogel investigate?

Answer 22

Biased assimilation and attitude polarisation

Question 23

Define biased assimilation

Answer 23

The tendency to evaluate belief consistent info more +vly than belief inconsistent info
When we challenge people’s strong beliefs on an issue makes uncomfortable and results in people becoming more attached to their original belief and attitude

Question 24

Define attitude polarisation

Answer 24

When people become more strongly attached to their original beliefs

Question 25

What did Ps in Boysen & Vogel’s study do?

Answer 25

200 undergrad students =Ps
Rated their attitudes towards homosexuality
Then received the intervention - read 1.5 pages of SO that described it as the result of biology
Asked how persuasive the reading was and how persuasive it was in showing that homosexuality is a legitimate SO
Compare their current attitude to the previous one

Question 26

What did Boysen & Vogel find?

Answer 26

There was evidence of biased assimilation and attitude polarisation
Concerning as people who started with v -ve attitudes rated reading as unconvincing and became even more -ve towards LGBTQ
This sort of intervention, therefore, is not the most useful to change attitudes

Question 27

How do genetic explanations become problematic?

Answer 27

Becomes problematic because discreteness beliefs are strongly correlated with more -ve attitudes towards homosexuality
Discreteness beliefs determine an outgroup
When we see an outgroup more likely to stereotype that group
Perceive their behaviours as part of their underlying disposition

Question 28

What was the strongest predictor found of anti-homosexuality attitudes?

Answer 28

Discreteness beliefs

Primes the genetic view to have 2 potential effects: +ve and -ve

Question 29

What had no prediction power towards attitudes regarding bisexuals?

Answer 29

Immutability has no prediction power on +ve attitudes towards bisexuals

Question 30

Describe evidence against immutability

Answer 30

Some women experience shifts in sexual identity, attraction and behaviour overtime
Shifts can be bidirectional
Same-sex attraction may emerge unexpectedly later in life after successful heterosexual functioning (and without prior awareness of same-sex attractiveness) or vice versa

Question 31

What isn’t necessarily incompatible with essentialism?

Answer 31

Fluidity:
Genetic thing could open someone up over their life course to experience diff things
Doesn’t have to be immutable to be genetic

Question 32

What is an environmental epigenetic explanation of homosexuality?

Answer 32

Antibody in mother’s of gay men that is more prevalent - epigenetic study
This can influence the developing brain of the foetus

Question 33

What do exclusive same-sex and non-exclusive same-sex SO feel about theories?

Answer 33

Exclusively same sex SO preferred essentialist explanations
Non-exclusive same sex SO rejected essentialist theories
Gay and lesbian preferred discrete categories
Non-exclusive preferred continuous approach = accommodates all the potential sexual identities