Richard C. Pillard

A family history study of male sexual orientation using three independent samples

Available evidence suggests that male homosexuality is both familial and somewhat heritable and that some cases may be caused by an X-linked gene. However, most studies have recruited subjects in a relatively unsystematic manner, typically via advertisements, and hence suffer from the potential methodological flaw of ascertainment bias due to volunteer self-selection. In the present study we assessed the familiality of male homosexuality using two carefully ascertained samples and attempted to replicate findings consistent with X-linkage in three samples. The percentage of siblings of the probands rated as either homosexual or bisexual, with a high degree of certainty, ranged from 7 to 10% for brothers and 3 to 4% for sisters. These estimates are higher than recent comparable population-based estimates of homosexuality, supporting the importance of familial factors for male homosexuality. Estimates of λs for male homosexuality ranged from 3.0 to 4.0. None of the samples showed a significantly greater proportion of maternal than paternal homosexual uncles or homosexual male maternal first cousins. Although our results differed significantly with those of some prior studies, they do not exclude the possibility of moderate X-linkage for male sexual orientation.

A factor analysis of the Klein sexual orientation grid in two disparate samples

Many researchers interested in sexual orientation can be separated into two camps: The “lumpers,” who try to reduce sexual classifications to as small a number of categories as possible, and the “splitters,” who try to show differences among groups and individuals that make classification schemes increasingly difficult and/or intricate. We report factor analyses of the Klein Grid (a questionnaire with 21 sexual orientation items) to see how many factors emerge in two samples of strikingly different origins. In both samples, the first factor to emerge loaded substantially on all of the Klein Grids 21 items. This factor accounted for a majority of the variance. In both samples, a second, correlated factor emerged which indexed a separation between most of the items and those having to do with social and/or emotional preferences. In both samples, a third correlated factor also emerged, but this factor differed between the two populations: one refined the social/emotional distinction and the other distinguished ideal behavior from past and current behavior. We conclude on the basis of our analysis that both the lumpers and the splitters are correct.

Is homosexuality familial? A review, some data, and a suggestion

This report summarizes evidence that sexual orientation is familial. Family studies report that homosexual subjects have more homosexual siblings than do heterosexual subjects and more than would be expected given population frequencies. Twin studies find in general a higher concordance in sexual orientation among monozygotic than among dizygotic twins. Evidence for associated psychopathology in homosexual subjects or their relatives is inconclusive. Possible sources of bias in these reports are discussed and a suggestion is offered that family studies should be undertaken in which the sexual orientation of relatives would be directly ascertained by interview.

Sexual orientation and cognitive abilities

We asked whether homosexual and heterosexual men and women differ on standard measures of cognitive ability. Subjects were adults recruited for a family study of sexual orientation. They completed the Fy Scale of the California Psychological Inventory, a self-administered measure of psychological “femininity,” and were given subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Primary Mental Abilities test which had been previously shown to discriminate between the sexes. We predicted that homosexual subjects would score significantly in the gender-atypical direction on the Fy scale. We also predicted that they would achieve scores on the tests of cognitive abilities significantly in the direction of the other gender. Comparisons were made between homosexual and heterosexual individuals within gender. Also, comparisons were made between heterosexual men and women to see if our results replicate differences typically found between the genders. As predicted, both homosexual men and women were strongly gender-atypical on the Fy scale relative to their heterosexual counterparts. However, neither differed from heterosexuals on any of the measures of cognitive abilities. Heterosexual men did better than women on the Primary Mental Abilities spatial relations test. We conclude that sexual orientation is not related to specific cognitive abilities.

A family study of sexual orientation.

Unmarried men aged 25–35 were recruited through newspaper and radio advertisements for a family studyof sexual orientation.Fifty predominantly homosexual and 50 predominantly heterosexual men comprised the index subjects. The test, questionnaire, and interview battery is described. Subjects were asked about the sexual orientations of their relatives. The homosexual index men report a significant excess of homosexual brothers and more distant male relatives but not of homosexual sisters or female relatives. Moreover, the percentage of homosexual brothers increases with the Kinsey rating of the index subjects. Overall, about 25% of brothers of homosexual men are reported also to be homosexual.

Does marijuana enhance experimentally induced anxiety

Two experiments tested whether laboratory stressors induce greater or more variable anxiety in marijuana-intoxicated subjects. In experiment 1, marijuana and placebo subjects were shown a motion picture film depicting dental procedures. In experiment 2, they were subjected to the stress of giving a short videotaped speach. We found no significant difference between marijuana and placebo subjects in anxiety response to these two stressors, as measured by a mood adjective rating scale.

Plasma testosterone levels in homosexual men

Plasma testosterone levels were measured in 28 homosexual men and correlated with psychological variables. The overall mean testosterone level for the homosexuals was somewhat lower than for a group of heterosexual controls, but the range of values for the two groups showed considerable overlap. Among the homosexuals, the 13 with some heterosexual experience had higher testosterone levels than the 15 with none. Testosterone level was not related to relative masculinity or femininity or to any other psychological variable measured.

Personality and Lipid Level Differences Associated with Homosexual and Bisexual Identity in Men

Self-identified homosexual (n =30), bisexual (n =29), and heterosexual (n =31) men were compared on measures of gender-typical behavior, sex role, ego strength, and lipid levels. Homosexual men differed significantly from the heterosexual men on the gender-typical behavior and feminine sex-role measure (both in adulthood and in childhood), and several trends and significant differences were found on the biochemical measures of lipid levels (especially when 7 obese men were removed from the analyses). As a rule, the bisexual men were different from the heterosexual men on the above measures, but were indistinguishable from the homosexual men. Bisexuals differed from both of the other two groups, however, by scoring lower on the ego strength scale and by reporting themselves to be more often troubled, lonely, and depressed. We caution that the lipid analyses were made on single blood samples and require an extended replication; however, we report the data because of their possible theoretical interest and because they replicate work of 20 years ago.

From Disorder to Dystonia: DSM-II and DSM-III

The author describes events leading to the removal of homosexuality from the psychiatric diagnostic manual. This brought American psychiatry to a point where homosexuality was no longer considered a mental illness, but gay and lesbian individuals continued to be pathologized through related diagnoses remaining in the manual. The author puts events in organized psychiatry into a wider context and gives thoughts about the future.

CASE I: TRANSVESTITE ROLE-PLAYING A LESBIAN

Abstract A 38 year old woman has been in therapy for six months complaining of marital difficulties. Therapy has revolved around issues of communication, assertiveness, and sharing of the household work load. Almost offhandedly, the patient mentions in a session that her husband insists on dressing up as a woman when they have sexual relations. He also insists that she dress in provocative feminine clothes. She has always felt queasy about the whole scene. She has been unsuccessful in negotiations with her husband to engage in some love making in which the costumes are excluded. She notes that her husband was sexually abused by an uncle when he was 11 and 12. Their love making seldom entails insertive intercourse. Instead it usually involves masturbatory activity, with her husband aroused by playing a role as part of a lesbian couple. The couple have no children and have been married for six years. This is the second marriage for both. Her husband is unwilling to participate in the patients therapy or in...