Henry E. Adams

Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal

The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.

Development and Validation of the Homophobia Scale

This study describes the development and validation of the Homophobia Scale. The scale was developed to assess the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of homophobia. The participants (n=321 for the field trials and n=122 for test–retest reliability) were college students from a large Midwestern university. Results yielded a 25-item questionnaire consisting of three factors: a factor that assesses mainly negative cognitions regarding homosexuality, a factor that assess primarily negative affect and avoidance of homosexual individuals, and a factor that assesses negative affect and aggression toward homosexual individuals. Concurrent validity was established using The Index of Homophobia (Hudson & Ricketts, 1980). The phases of scale development and implications of the results are discussed.

Homophobia and Physical Aggression Toward Homosexual and Heterosexual Individuals

This study examined the relationship between homophobia (defined as self-reported negative affect, avoidance, and aggression toward homosexuals) and homosexual aggression. Self-identified heterosexual college men were assigned to homophobic (n = 26) and nonhomophobic (n = 26) groups on the basis of their scores on the Homophobia Scale (HS; L. W. Wright, H. E. Adams, & J. A. Bernat, 1999). Physical aggression was examined by having participants administer shocks to a fictitious opponent during a competitive reaction time (RT) task under the impression that the study was examining the relationship between sexually explicit material and RT. Participants were exposed to a male homosexual erotic videotape, their affective reactions were assessed, and they then competed in the RT task against either a heterosexual or a homosexual opponent. The homophobic group reported significantly more negative affect, anxiety, and anger-hostility after watching the homosexual erotic videotape than did the nonhomophobic group. Additionally, the homophobic group was significantly more aggressive toward the homosexual opponent, but the groups did not differ in aggression toward the heterosexual opponent.

Homophobia: personality and attitudinal correlates

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether homophobia reflects a specific negative sentiment towards gay men or whether it incorporates a broader anti-feminine disposition. As such, convergent validity (i.e. masculinity, anti-feminine attitudes) and discriminant validity (i.e. alcoholism, sexual coercion, depression, and trait anxiety) were investigated. Participants were 385 heterosexual males who completed a questionnaire battery. Results offer information relative to convergent and discriminant validity of homophobia. Findings suggest that homophobia is related to heightened levels of masculinity and may develop in men who feel threatened by individuals whom they perceive to have feminine characteristics (e.g. women, gay men). Consequently, it is possible that such a threat-driven homophobic constitution may explain the increased likelihood of anti-gay and anti-women aggression.

Assessment of Sexual Preference Using a Choice Reaction Time Task

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a choice reaction time task, during which slides of sexually explicit and neutral stimuli were used as an interference task, to differentiate between groups of individuals on the basis of their sexual preference. Twenty subjects, in each of the four groups (heterosexual males, heterosexual females, homosexual males, and homosexual females), participated in this study. Sexual orientation was determined by self-report. Subjects were given a choice reaction time with interference task, followed by a recall incidental learning task. A significant higher-order interaction was found among gender, orientation, and stimulus type for all four groups. This interaction indicated a longer reaction time to slides depicting preferred sexual partners than to nonpreferred sexual partners or neutral scenes. These results indicate that sexual arousal does interfere with cognitive processing. A main effect for gender was found for the incidental learning task, with males having the fewest errors.

The effects of stimuli that vary in erotic content on cognitive processes

This study investigated the effects of stimuli that vary in erotic content on performance during a choice reaction time (CRT) task. Eighty subjects, 20 from each of four groups—heterosexual men, heterosexual women, gay men, and lesbian women—completed the study. Participants were required to locate the position of a dot on slides of nude and clothed men and women as well as neutral stimuli as rapidly as possible. It was hypothesized that sexual interest would influence cognitive processes and cause longer latencies to preferred‐gender stimuli. Subjects also completed an incidental learning task to determine if a relationship existed between stated sexual orientation and memory for stimuli. Results indicate that reaction times were longest with nude stimuli of the preferred gender for each group. The nude stimuli had the highest accuracy rate for correctly classifying groups based on sexual orientation with the possible exception of heterosexual women. Results for clothed stimuli on the CRT task were simil...

Alcohol effects on the orgasmic‐ejaculatory response in human males

Abstract Increasing levels of alcohol intoxication, as measured by blood‐alcohol concentration, produced significant degradation in male masturbatory effectiveness. Employing psychophysiological indices of orgasm and several subjective criteria, a progressive and systematic effect of alcohol on the orgasmic‐ejaculatory response was found. Results are discussed with implications for the etiology, treatment, and prevention of alcohol‐induced sexual dysfunction in males.

A comparison of four instructional techniques for teaching parents to use time-out

Forty-eight parents of young children were instructed in a time-out procedure and received one of four instructional techniques: written presentation, lecture presentation, videotaped modeling presentation, and role-playing presentation. A no-treatment control group was also included. All treatment groups were superior to the control group on questionnaire-assessed knowledge of the time-out procedure but not different among themselves. However, in applying the instructed skill, methods of training varied in efficacy. Audiotape analog assessment indicated that all instructed groups performed significantly better than the control group and that role playing was superior to the lecture presentation group. An examination of the parents ability to apply time-out in the home with their own children revealed that the modeling instruction was more effective than the written presentation and the control condition.

Electroconvulsive shock, brain acetylcholinesterase activity and memory

Abstract The hypothesis that electroconvulsive shock (ECS) causes disinhibition and decrement in retention by altering the activity of cholinergic neurons was investigated. In the first study rats were given a series of 4 ECS treatments in a 20-min period. One group was sacrificed immediately, another group after 4 hr, another group after 24 hr, and a fourth group after 96 hr. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity for the whole brains was determined for these groups and a control group. ECS increases AChE levels which return to pre-ECS level within 96 hr. A second study attempted to eliminate or augment the retention deficit caused by ECS through the use of scopolamine (anticholinergic) and eserine (anticholinesterase). Results indicate that scopolamine partially eliminates the decrement in retention while eserine in association with ECS creates an even greater decrement.

Sexual arousal to erotic and aggressive stimuli in sexually coercive and noncoercive men.

Sexual arousal to erotic stimuli depicting various levels of force were examined among college men. Study 1 used phallometric indices to measure penile circumferential change during combined audio-tape and slide presentations varying in degree of force. The results indicated that the sexually coercive group exhibited more penile tumescence than controls to scenes involving verbal pressure and verbal threats. Analyses across time blocks suggested that control participants inhibited sexual arousal with the introduction of force cues but that the sexually coercive group did not. Study 2 was a replication of Study 1 without slides. Both groups showed increases in penile tumescence in response to the consent scenario. Only the sexually coercive men demonstrated significant tumescence in response to force scenarios. The results indicated that the sexually coercive males had a lower threshold for arousal to sexual cues and did not inhibit sexual arousal when force cues were introduced.