Environment and sexual orientation
Encyclopedia
Environment and sexual orientation is research into possible environmental influences on the development of human sexual orientation
. Some researchers distinguish environmental influences from hormonal influences while others include biological influences such as prenatal hormones
as part of environmental influences.
Research has shown that it is a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences,. Research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, but no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Research suggests it is biological in nature, determined by a complex interplay of genetic factors and the early uterine environment. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles.
Results from a 2008 twin study
were consistent with moderate, primarily genetic, familial effects, and moderate to large effects of the nonshared environment (social and biological) on same-sex sexual behavior
.
to be the largest predictor of homosexuality in adulthood. Daryl Bem
suggests that some children will prefer activities that are typical of the other sex and that this will make a gender-conforming child feel different from opposite-sex children, while gender-nonconforming children will feel different from children of their own sex, which may evoke physiological arousal when the child is near members of the sex which it considers as being "different", which will later be transformed into sexual arousal
. Researchers have suggested that this nonconformity may be a result of genetics, prenatal hormones, personality, parental care or other environmental factors. Peter Bearman
showed that males with a female twin are twice as likely to report same-sex attractions, unless there was an older brother. He says that his findings support the hypothesis that less gendered socialization in early childhood and preadolescence shapes subsequent same-sex romantic preferences. He suggests that parents of opposite-sex twins are more likely to give them unisex treatment, but that an older brother establishes gendersocializing mechanisms for the younger brother to follow.
The proportion of adolescents reporting same-sex attraction is significantly higher than the proportion reporting same-sex sexual experience.In addition to attraction, opportunity has to present itself. Since opportunity is clearly socially structured,our expectation is that social influences should be stronger for behavior than attraction.
He suggests possible socialization experiences might shape desire, but not subsequent adult sexual orientation. It is possible that genetic influence could operate on the pathway from attraction to behavior.
traits in a child. Michael Ruse
suggests that both possibilities might be true in different cases.
From their research on 275 men in the Taiwanese military, Shu and Lung concluded that "paternal protection and maternal care were determined to be the main vulnerability factors in the development of homosexual males." Key factors in the development of homosexuals were "paternal attachment, introversion, and neurotic characteristics." One study reported that homosexual males reported more positive early relationships with mothers than did homosexual females. A 2000 American twin study showed that familial factors, which may be at least partly genetic, influence sexual orientation.
Research also indicates that homosexual men have significantly more siblings than the homosexual women, who, in turn, have significantly more siblings than heterosexual men. A 2006 Danish study compared people who had a heterosexual marriage versus people who had a same-sex marriage
. Heterosexual marriage was significantly linked to having young parents, small age differences between parents, stable parental relationships, large sibships, and late birth order. Children who experience parental divorce are less likely to marry heterosexually than those growing up in intact families. For men, same-sex marriage was associated with having older mothers, divorced parents, absent fathers, and being the youngest child. For women, maternal death during adolescence and being the only or youngest child or the only girl in the family increased the likelihood of same-sex marriage.
From more research, people from different countries have different thoughts about the influence to homosexuality by parents. People from Asia think that parents affect children’s sexual orientation a lot. For example, if a child’s parents are not harmony, the child may be afraid of the marriage between a man and a woman and attempt to avoid getting marriage with a person who has the same sex with him. However, people from North American do not think so. Most of them think that environment factor has little influenced on gay and lesbians sexual orientation. They believe that homosexual are born gay and born lesbian who are caused by homosexual genes. For Asia families, for example, Chinese parents pay too much attention on their children especially after China’s one child policy. Every parent has huge expectation on their children, and this expectation becomes huge burdens for the children. For instants, because of the large population in China, the environment is very competitive. Parents hope their children would not fall behind and have more strength for the future job choices. They overstate the importance of study to their children and make them think study hard is the only way to live for future. In this long-term intensive environment, the pressure will lead children stress out and want to escape. From their point of view, study abroad is not only a way to gain more things that they cannot get in their home countries, as well as a way for relaxing.
In Denmark, people born in the capital area were significantly less likely to marry heterosexually, but more likely to marry homosexually, than their rural-born peers.
n and Graeco
-Roman
– were more tolerant of homosexuality. The behavior was practiced openly and was highly prevalent. Sexual patterns are to some extent a product of society's expectations, but it would be difficult to envisage a change in the prevalence of the genetic trait merely in response to changing cultural norms." This hypothesis had previously been enunciated by Richard Burton as the Sotadic zone
.
In the US, there has been an increase number of women developing an attraction for other women. Susan Bordo
has stated that when a taboo is lifted or diminished, it's going to leave people freer to pursue things. Binnie Klein has stated that "It's clear that a change in sexual orientation is imaginable to more people than ever before, and there's more opportunity – and acceptance – to cross over the line."
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Some researchers distinguish environmental influences from hormonal influences while others include biological influences such as prenatal hormones
Prenatal hormones and sexual orientation
The hormonal theory of sexuality holds that, just as exposure to certain hormones plays a role in fetal sex differentiation, such exposure also influences the sexual orientation that emerges later in the adult...
as part of environmental influences.
Research has shown that it is a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences,. Research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, but no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Research suggests it is biological in nature, determined by a complex interplay of genetic factors and the early uterine environment. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles.
Results from a 2008 twin study
Twin study
Twin studies help disentangle the relative importance of environmental and genetic influences on individual traits and behaviors. Twin research is considered a key tool in behavioral genetics and related fields...
were consistent with moderate, primarily genetic, familial effects, and moderate to large effects of the nonshared environment (social and biological) on same-sex sexual behavior
Same-sex relationship
A same-sex relationship is a relationship between two persons of the same sex and can take many forms, from romantic and sexual, to non-romantic close relationships. The term is mainly associated with gay and lesbian people...
.
Childhood gender non-conformity
Researchers have found childhood gender nonconformityChildhood Gender Nonconformity
Childhood gender nonconformity is a phenomenon in which pre-pubescent children do not conform to expected gender-related sociological or psychological patterns, and/or identify with the opposite gender...
to be the largest predictor of homosexuality in adulthood. Daryl Bem
Daryl Bem
Daryl J. Bem is a social psychologist and professor emeritus at Cornell University. He is the originator of the self-perception theory of attitude change, and has carried out research on psi phenomena , group decision making, handwriting analysis, sexual orientation and personality theory and...
suggests that some children will prefer activities that are typical of the other sex and that this will make a gender-conforming child feel different from opposite-sex children, while gender-nonconforming children will feel different from children of their own sex, which may evoke physiological arousal when the child is near members of the sex which it considers as being "different", which will later be transformed into sexual arousal
Sexual arousal
Sexual arousal, or sexual excitement, is the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity. Things that precipitate human sexual arousal are called erotic stimuli, or colloquially known as turn-ons. There are many potential stimuli, both physical or mental, which can cause...
. Researchers have suggested that this nonconformity may be a result of genetics, prenatal hormones, personality, parental care or other environmental factors. Peter Bearman
Peter Bearman
Peter Shawn Bearman is an American sociologist. He is Jonathan Cole Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Sociology at Columbia University....
showed that males with a female twin are twice as likely to report same-sex attractions, unless there was an older brother. He says that his findings support the hypothesis that less gendered socialization in early childhood and preadolescence shapes subsequent same-sex romantic preferences. He suggests that parents of opposite-sex twins are more likely to give them unisex treatment, but that an older brother establishes gendersocializing mechanisms for the younger brother to follow.
The proportion of adolescents reporting same-sex attraction is significantly higher than the proportion reporting same-sex sexual experience.In addition to attraction, opportunity has to present itself. Since opportunity is clearly socially structured,our expectation is that social influences should be stronger for behavior than attraction.
He suggests possible socialization experiences might shape desire, but not subsequent adult sexual orientation. It is possible that genetic influence could operate on the pathway from attraction to behavior.
Family influences
Researchers have provided evidence that gay men report having had less loving and more rejecting fathers, and closer relationships with their mothers, than non-gay men. Some researchers think this may indicate that childhood family experiences are important determinants to homosexuality, or that parents behave this way in response to gender-variantGender variance
Gender variance, or gender nonconformity, is behaviour or gender expression that does not conform to dominant gender norms of male and female...
traits in a child. Michael Ruse
Michael Ruse
Michael Ruse is a philosopher of biology at Florida State University, and is well known for his work on the creationism/evolution controversy and the demarcation problem in science...
suggests that both possibilities might be true in different cases.
From their research on 275 men in the Taiwanese military, Shu and Lung concluded that "paternal protection and maternal care were determined to be the main vulnerability factors in the development of homosexual males." Key factors in the development of homosexuals were "paternal attachment, introversion, and neurotic characteristics." One study reported that homosexual males reported more positive early relationships with mothers than did homosexual females. A 2000 American twin study showed that familial factors, which may be at least partly genetic, influence sexual orientation.
Research also indicates that homosexual men have significantly more siblings than the homosexual women, who, in turn, have significantly more siblings than heterosexual men. A 2006 Danish study compared people who had a heterosexual marriage versus people who had a same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. Heterosexual marriage was significantly linked to having young parents, small age differences between parents, stable parental relationships, large sibships, and late birth order. Children who experience parental divorce are less likely to marry heterosexually than those growing up in intact families. For men, same-sex marriage was associated with having older mothers, divorced parents, absent fathers, and being the youngest child. For women, maternal death during adolescence and being the only or youngest child or the only girl in the family increased the likelihood of same-sex marriage.
Fraternal birth order
According to several studies, each older brother increases a man's odds of developing a homosexual orientation by 28%–48%. Most researchers attribute this to prenatal environmental factors, such as prenatal hormones. McConaghy (2006) found no relationship between the strength of the effect and degree of homosexual feelings, suggesting the influence of fraternal birth order was not due to a biological, but a social process.From more research, people from different countries have different thoughts about the influence to homosexuality by parents. People from Asia think that parents affect children’s sexual orientation a lot. For example, if a child’s parents are not harmony, the child may be afraid of the marriage between a man and a woman and attempt to avoid getting marriage with a person who has the same sex with him. However, people from North American do not think so. Most of them think that environment factor has little influenced on gay and lesbians sexual orientation. They believe that homosexual are born gay and born lesbian who are caused by homosexual genes. For Asia families, for example, Chinese parents pay too much attention on their children especially after China’s one child policy. Every parent has huge expectation on their children, and this expectation becomes huge burdens for the children. For instants, because of the large population in China, the environment is very competitive. Parents hope their children would not fall behind and have more strength for the future job choices. They overstate the importance of study to their children and make them think study hard is the only way to live for future. In this long-term intensive environment, the pressure will lead children stress out and want to escape. From their point of view, study abroad is not only a way to gain more things that they cannot get in their home countries, as well as a way for relaxing.
City of origin
In the United States, the Social Organization of Sexuality found that homosexuality was positively correlated with urbanization of the place of residence at age 14. The correlation was more substantial among men than women. The authors hypothesize that "Large cities may provide a congenial environment for the development and expression of same-gender interest."In Denmark, people born in the capital area were significantly less likely to marry heterosexually, but more likely to marry homosexually, than their rural-born peers.
Cultural influences
Anthropologists had observed that relatively uncompetitive primitive cultures such as those that do not distinguish or reward the best hunters in distinction to the other men in the tribe have virtually no homosexuality. Miron Baron commented "Some cultures – for example, the AssyriaAssyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n and Graeco
Homosexuality in ancient Greece
In classical antiquity, writers such as Herodotus, Plato, Xenophon, Athenaeus and many others explored aspects of same-sex love in ancient Greece. The most widespread and socially significant form of same-sex sexual relations in ancient Greece was between adult men and pubescent or adolescent boys,...
-Roman
Homosexuality in Ancient Rome
Same-sex attitudes and behaviors in ancient Rome often differ markedly from those of the contemporary West. Latin lacks words that would precisely translate "homosexual" and "heterosexual." The primary dichotomy of ancient Roman sexuality was active/dominant/masculine and...
– were more tolerant of homosexuality. The behavior was practiced openly and was highly prevalent. Sexual patterns are to some extent a product of society's expectations, but it would be difficult to envisage a change in the prevalence of the genetic trait merely in response to changing cultural norms." This hypothesis had previously been enunciated by Richard Burton as the Sotadic zone
Sotadic zone
The existence of a Sotadic zone was a hypothesis of Richard Francis Burton. It asserted that there existed a geographic zone in which homosexuality was particularly prevalent and tolerated....
.
In the US, there has been an increase number of women developing an attraction for other women. Susan Bordo
Susan Bordo
Susan Bordo is a modern feminist philosopher known for her contributions to the field of contemporary cultural studies, particularly in the area of “body studies.”-Overview:...
has stated that when a taboo is lifted or diminished, it's going to leave people freer to pursue things. Binnie Klein has stated that "It's clear that a change in sexual orientation is imaginable to more people than ever before, and there's more opportunity – and acceptance – to cross over the line."
See also
- Biology and sexual orientationBiology and sexual orientationBiology and sexual orientation is the subject of research into the role of biology in the development of human sexual orientation. No simple, single cause for sexual orientation has been conclusively demonstrated, but research suggests that it is by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and...
- Demographics of sexual orientationDemographics of sexual orientationThe demographics of sexual orientation are difficult to establish for a variety of reasons. One of the major reasons for the difference in statistical findings regarding homosexuality and bisexuality has to do with the nature of the research questions. Major research studies on sexual orientation...
- Homosexuality and psychologyHomosexuality and psychologyPsychology was one of the first disciplines to study homosexuality as a discrete phenomenon. Prior to and throughout most of the 20th century, common standard psychology viewed homosexuality in terms of pathological models as a mental illness...
- Nature versus nurtureNature versus nurtureThe nature versus nurture debate concerns the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities versus personal experiences The nature versus nurture debate concerns the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities ("nature," i.e. nativism, or innatism) versus personal experiences...
- XenoestrogenXenoestrogenXenoestrogens are a type of xenohormone that imitates estrogen. They are widely used industrial compounds such as PCB, BPA and Phthalates, that have estrogenic effects on a living organism even though they differ chemically from the naturally occurring estrogenic substances internally produced by...