"In a predominately heterosexual society, 'know thyself' can be a challenge for many gay individuals," lead author Netta Weinstein, a lecturer at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom,said in a statement. "But in controlling and homophobic homes, embracing a minority sexual orientation can be terrifying." [5 Ways to Foster Self-Compassion in Your Child]
Those participants who reported their heterosexuality despite having hidden same-sex desires were also the most likely to show hostility toward gay individuals, including self-reported anti-gay attitudes, endorsement of anti-gay policies and discrimination such as supporting harsher punishments for homosexuals.
The research may help to explain the underpinnings of anti-gay bullying and hate crimes, the researchers note. People in denial about their own sexual orientation, perhaps a denial fostered by authoritarian and homophobic parents, may feel a threat from other gay and lesbian individuals. Lashing out may ultimately be an indicator of the person's own internal conflict with sexual orientation.
This inner conflict can be seen in some high-profile cases in which anti-gay public figures are caught engaging in same-sex acts, the researchers say. For instance, evangelical preacher and anti-gay-marriage advocate Ted Haggard was caught in a gay sex scandal in 2006. And in 2010, prominent anti-gay activist and co-founder of conservative Family Research Council George Rekers was reportedly spotted in 2010 with a male escort rented from Rentboy.com. According to news reports, the escort confirmed Rekers is gay.
"We laugh at or make fun of such blatant hypocrisy, but in a real way, these people may often themselves be victims of repression and experience exaggerated feelings of threat," Ryan said. "Homophobia is not a laughing matter. It can sometimes have tragic consequences," as was the case in the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man.
- 5 Myths About Gay People Debunked
- Understanding the 10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors
- 10 Scientific Tips For Raising Happy Kids
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41 Comments
Add CommentAre you trying to rile em religious folk up again? You know they hain't gonna take kindly to that, and they are gonna go out air and find em one of em gay abomination folk to bash.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDuh?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll I could think of.
The "research" supposedly proving this is pure junk science and self-fulfilling prophecy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInstead of just offering a personal view on this the "psychologist" tries to buttress his own prejudices and subjective conclusions with faked up nonsense that is ever so typical of those whit ha political motive behind their faux-science.
This is right up there with creationism when it comes to being science.
It grows ever so tiresome to read this kind of insult to science.
If you figure anti-homosexual behaviors might be strong in those who are hiding or resisting their own tendencies.... you may well be right.
But to pretend such poet's/novelist's speculations on human nature are founded in science.... is a sad joke.
We see another clod who took the short bus to the easy side of the campus.. as all of us who have been to real college know is the case... and another short-bus-rider is trying to pass off unfounded subjective opinions as objective facts... except they are not.
Go write a novel.. write speculative essays ...but don't waste the world's time pretending you are engaged in science.... you aren't.
Pretty good sleuthing there Captain Obvious.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOld news. I think most people in and around the queer community have known this for a long time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's too bad that so many narrow-minded people out there just have knee-jerk reactions to any sort of research around homosexuality. I guess that in America the idea that people should be able to live their lives however they want (as long as they aren't hurting anyone else) only applies to people who want to live a stereotypical straight white christians lifestyle. In American and not trying to live an anglosaxon christian lifestyle? Be prepared to deal with perpetual ignorance and bigotry - it's America's chief industry these days, now that the economy has been flushed down the toilet.
Please don't try to use "short bus rider" as an insult, it is mean and dismissive of people who are or have been riders on a short bus
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt the risk of being inflammatory, note that the most virulently anti-gay folks tend to be male. Why?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOne reason may be simple: the fear of rape. Rape is something all women fear at some level, just as men fear every other form of violent crime, at some level. But since rape is perpetrated almost exclusively by men, and since heterosexual men have little to fear from heterosexual rapists, the threat of rape barely crosses most men's minds...except when it comes to gay men. The idea of possibly being the object of a violent sexual predator is terrifying; and unlike women, that fear is not otherwise a part of men's daily lives. The mere existence of gay men makes rape a theoretical risk to heterosexual men, who otherwise would face no such risk at all.
So while I definitely think latent homosexuality partly explains some men's virulent anti-gay feelings, I don't think it's the entire story. Until heterosexual men come to know gay men personally, and understand on a visceral level that gay men are no more likely to be rapists than anyone else is, fear of rape may help power an anti-gay bias.
People can read anything ino everything. Homophobia like most 'anti' whatever is cultural. There was nothing inate in Germans to hate Jews or in Muslims to hate gays. It's cultural upbringing and socialization.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile you may have a point here, male homophobia fueled even in part by fear of rape is essentially the same as a woman vilifying all men because some men rape women. Actually, considering the incidence of men being raped by men, it's more like hating/fearing children because children sometimes kill their parents. I mean, seriously - what are the odds?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile this irrational fear may help to explain some homophobia, it certainly doesn't justify it (and you don't seem to be suggesting that it does). At the end of the day, we are all responsible for our own prejudices. Anyone who can't pull their head far enough out of their own anus to realize that hating or fearing people because of who they're attracted to(or their gender, or the color of their skin, or their particular conception of god, etc) is a bigot.
And "bigot" is about as positive a title as "rapist". Frankly, the world would wold be better off with less of both.
Stop the hate. Don't let them win, or we all lose.
When I went to "real college" the line quoted from Hamlet referred to Ophelia's reaction of Hamlet's public sexual innuendo and had nothing to do with Ophelia's sexual orientation. I do wonder why you are so hopped up about this article. The author of the experiment clearly states that this could be only one of many reasons behind homophobic expression.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA biological view; Coincidentally our hypothalamus controls of fear and our sex functions. It's not uncommon that phobias can also translate into paraphilias.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA biological view; Coincidentally our hypothalamus controls our basic needs of hunger, thirst, sex and fear. Its not uncommon that our phobias can easy turn into our paraphilia's. Linking homophobia to homosexuality.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Might" be? You mean someone spent research time and money on this?? And it's being discussed in Scientific American?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is a fact. Always has been, always will be. Not a gay or lesbian person alive that hasn't known it for years.
Or, to be more succinct....Duh.
Derick, totally agree with you. But when people behave irrationally on a wide-scale basis, it's important to figure out why, if possible. We can all just tell each other to wake up and smell the coffee, but figuring out what's keeping someone asleep is potentially more useful.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs they say, Homophobia is men's fear of other men treating them the way THEY treat women.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisExactly!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisreinzig #13
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou hit the nail on the head: this research was set up to provide scientific backing for the old taunt against anti-gays, that they are closet homosexuals.
Let's hope this fact didn't affect the protocol, the researchers, the actual carrying out of the experiments, or the interpretation of the results. Otherwise people might start coming along and arguing that it's a tendentious piece of pseudo-science.
"Actually, considering the incidence of men being raped by men, it's more like hating/fearing children because children sometimes kill their parents. I mean, seriously - what are the odds?"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHigher than you may think. Males represent about one in ten reported rape victims, but are even less likely than females to report being raped, and female rape is already estimated to be under-reported by at least half.
Lack of reporting is probably primarily due to social stigma of both weakness and homosexuality, as well as the better-known issues such as shame, not wanting to relive the experience, fear of blame, and fear of retaliation. I don't know if I would have the courage to admit something like that were it to happen to me even though I might know objectively that all blame is on the attacker.
Tucker, you're right of course, and I don't mean to imply that understanding the causes isn't going to help solve the problem. However, I really think that another key part of the solution is to apply social pressure - making the behavior socially unacceptable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's like the whole drinking and driving issue - there are lots of things that prompt people to do it, and understanding those reasons helps devise strategies to reduce the problem. But you don't need to understand why someone thinks drinking and driving is OK to tell them you won't go drinking with them anymore if they keep doing it. When none of your friends will go drinking with you anymore (well, not you in particular...) you might reevaluate and modify your behavior. Just look at what's happened to drinking and driving rates since government, the media and MADD started their charm offensive to vilify drunk drivers.
It's the same with bigotry. If we don't tolerate bigotry in our friends, family, coworkers and neighbors, it will help them start to change their minds. On the other hand, if their bigotry carries no social cost, they have little incentive to examine their attitudes or change them. Personally, I haven't heard anyone I know make a homophobic comment in a long time, though I certainly know plenty of people who think homosexuality is wrong. Anyone who knows me knows about the earful they'll get from me if they spout that crap in my presence. They've learned that there's a social cost to their behavior - it might not always change how they think, but if it changes how they act it's a step in the right direction.
Jesus Christ!!! I hate Nazis, pehraps im one? :(
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese dudes who write articles to bash Christians... They are hidden Christians!
It was known for a long time that some of the reactions of people against homosexuals are not really against them, but against their unconscious homosexual drives becoming too strong and approaching the conscience level, and thus reinforcing this kind of drive. They don't dislike homosexuals, but fear homoseuality growing or showing inside themselves, this is called sometimes latent homosexuality, and is in the origin of things such as paranoid jealousy, some fear somebody making him horny, but really, they just would like other man having a relation with his woman. Some psychologists say for not homosexual people feeling an homosexual excitation or erotism is common, but homosexual discharge is a different thing, and an step qualitatively different. If some claim that care must be taken not to emit TV broadcasting inducing seizures in some, others may have a perfect right not to be forced to watch homosexual acts, that can made them upset and anxious. Having a psychoanalysis done is not mandatory, and sometimes this kind of digging into one's mind may be harmful, specially in the hands of some practitioners in the field. You better stay as you were...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDerick, very well put, and I agree 100%.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs for those who question the scientific validity of this study, well, ask yourself whether it's really the methodology you're criticizing, or the results. The study struck me as an earnest attempt to quantify something many have long suspected. It may have flaws not revealed by the article, or even some that are (though I didn't notice any). But you have to give the study authors credit for tackling an intuition in a quantitative way, rather than sitting around pontificating.
Nice effort; would love to see follow-ups or independent studies of the same.
That's just what I was thinking.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's all a touch Freudian for me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSensitivity to an issue so vilified could easily be a factor in quick reflex to "gay", while quick response to "me" is perhaps less directly related to other responses than presumed. Those of you who recognize the possible conflation as Tucker suggests are more analytic.
Humans also can come to conclusions using intuition, which is an evolved method of evaluation, considering that language is exclusively a social phenomenon, and may be quite separate in process.
Dreams (hope I don't fall into Freudian traps here!)appear to collate and synthesize information. This cognitive action (dreaming-like processing) may be as strongly indulged in while in waking states as is analytic thought. Dreams, as well as their language-dependent interpretation, synthesize as much as does the reported experiment.
Humans have extreme dislike to what they perceive as deception. We know that role modeling and early learning can be strong factors in violence. These two attributes when applied to male heterosexual perceptions of male homosexuals can lead to further testable hypotheses.
Since violent males might feel or even be emotionally distant from females, further distancing through perceptions of homosexuals as being emotionally closer to females might increase rationales for violence.
Remembering teenage years, I lean toward the deception/ vulnerability implications. While not studying this area of psychology (homosexuality) in depth, I do know that hypotheses are constructed from intuitive sources as well as evidence gained from related conclusions.
Commentors may not always keep in mind that science is quantitatively assessing statistical likelihood from the largest available and most valid sampling. It's ongoing, and difficult to predict conclusion.
Conclusions themselves may be deeply affected by the bias in any culture.
I had no idea this kind of stuff was still going on. It takes me back to the good old days of the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis scrounging volunteers for studies to get gayness out of the DMS back in the 50's-80's(oh the bad old days when I could wind up in a rubber room). Homophobia has always been at least partly the pot calling the kettle black. I don't know if I should laugh, cry, or make the next 'phobe I meet read it. At least today I can forget about the room.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this... and Islamophobes may be closet Moslems?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIll remain unconvinced. Thanks again for another sensationalist article with little to no real science value though.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo people that hate terrorists are also terrorists, right?
People that hate other races actually want to be that race, right?
People that dont like clowns actually want to be clowns... ?
This kind of logic goes nowhere.
Grow a spine. The touchy feely thing is getting old with this generation. There is NOT a larger percentage of bullies in the world, just a larger percentage of entitled people whining about anything that may upset their narrow vision of the world. FWI. I am as moderate as can be, but this is rediculous.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGeekstatus;
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this100% agreed
I spent 10 months in Saudi Arabia and saw no indication that the 95% of the male population who would string up their own brother if he was found to be gay, were latent closet homosexuals.
Homophobia is for the most part a cultural and social phenomenin.
It's too bad the study didn't mention upbringing or socialization as a cause for anti-gay sentiment. Unless it did. I don't believe the scope of this study was intended to dismiss upbringing or cultural norms. On the contrary, it re-enforced this concept. It merely looked to find a potential correlation between extreme anti-gay sentiment and repressed homosexual tendencies in combination with an authoritarian upbringing. The study re-enforces what has long been suspected. The problem is that homophobic people of all types feel threatened with guilt by association, and the somewhat ridiculous notion that if you hate gays, you must be one. Again, that was not the scope of the study.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe would all rather ride the short bus (with undoubtedly kinder people), than have to read your "stupid" "eight" "paragraph" invective. Where is the study confirming your hypothesis of biased, poetical, faux-science? Did you take the time to review the study and it's methodology? Are you a psychologist? Have you ever actively participated in, or run a scientific study? Is it possible that "you" are in fact biased against results that do not support your "worldview"?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree. The rape angle is a remote possibility at best, and much closer to being bigoted. Any anti-gay sentiment I may have harbored stemmed from my religion, my parents attitude, and that of my peers. Completing the loop; guilt by association.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf this is true it might also be the case that homosexuals are also hidden homophobes, acting out the very thing that they detest most. On the other hand, this sounds like an old slur. I remember hearing that men who were womanizers were also secret homosexuals trying to avoid awareness. Could it be when you're looking for legitimacy for a lifestyle that you're really pretty uneasy about you might try to find all kinds of "hidden" people like yourself?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso, if humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys? It's easy to ignore well established psychological tenets, and corresponding data, when you can simply ignore the evidence. There are valid reasons for certain individuals to suppress their nature and rebound in the opposite direction. If you believed that your very nature would ruin any chance of happiness in your life, it stands to reason that you might both fear and resent others who embody what you explicitly cannot. I do agree that most homophobic people are simply drifting with the cultural tide, however, the most virulent among them may(in tragic irony)be cementing their own prison walls. I know it sounds ridiculous. If only there were data to back it up.....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn my years in the navy I found that many of the most vociferous homophobes ("Lets go beat up some queers."), ended up being discharged under the policy against homosexual behavior (theirs, after investigation) which was then in effect. Officers would be assigned to a station in an enlisted billet (undercover). After reporting suspected homosexuals, the officers would return to duty at another station.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with e_caroline(whom I hope is a woman, and an attractive one at that). Hormone balance influences sexual orientation exclusively, and hormone levels change in accordance with circumstance, age, environment, pathology, even direct chemical interference. Some of the most racially prejudiced people I have ever met were from South Africa. Familiarity breeds contempt - for instance, I hate all of humanity. I guess that's the result of a scientific education - despise anything that poses a threat.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisgay is very commmon among the artistic students..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisso i guess all you heterophobes could actually be closet heterosexuals then ha? it goes both ways. just sayin! homosexuality is disgusting and thats the bottom line cuz GOD SAYS SO!!! you will all believe it when youre screaming in the lake of fire 24/7 forever!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is true, but it definitely does not apply to everyone. We all know most of the world's problems emerge because of religion. Why do people let themselves be guided so much? Are they that blind? Religion is the root of corruption, aside from the government. I think both are on the same level of evil. We have seen so many children victimized, people robbed, etc. and yet people still blindly follow religion. Why is it that in our present day we continue to spew hate. Does it affect you personally that homosexuals exist? No. Does it affect your annual income? No. Is it a threat to your family? No. So, what's the big deal?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"OH NO!!!!!!! BUT GOD SAYS SO!!! U R GOING TO HELL HA HA HA!!!!!!!!11!1" Oh really? Wake up from your fantasies you bigot. I thought God loved everyone, if he does, he would never even attempt to put his own creations (us) in such eternal suffering. Wake up already! First it was racism, now it's homophobia. What's next? Our eye color? Humans can be so pathetic. It's sad, and I know we won't last for much longer. If we want this hate to end, we have to crush it—starting from the root.
Wake up people. Stop being so blind. If you want to keep on getting robbed, continue to follow a false religious headquarter. If you want to be a part of that, so be it. Just don't blast your hate, because that makes you hypocritical.
I just love it when people ramble on with big words to try and make themselves sound awesome. Why does this study bother you so much?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI "grow ever so tiresome" of reading crap comments that waste my time.
Why couldn't you just say "I don't like this because I think the evidence is unfounded" instead of going on to jumble words together? I mean, half the "facts" you stated are unfounded or have no "proof", so I guess you're a hypocrite, right? The only thing you accomplished with that comment was making yourself look like a close-minded tyrant, to be honest. So if you were trying to get people to understand your view you failed.
Whatever.
I want my 5 minutes back...
I've often suspected that these things are true. The "doth protest too much" thing is certainly conventional wisdom. The authoritarian parenting connection corroborates well with the way some very religious people (the kind most likely to use religion as an excuse for bigotry) raise their kids. People who are in constant fear of punishment often empower themselves by punishing others.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnother thing I've encountered in some homophobic men is the fear that gay men are lurking in the shadows, waiting to rape them, or at least aggressively "hit" on them. This is entirely subjective, but I've noticed that these men seem to be projecting their own attitudes about and behavior towards women onto gay males (as in assuming gay men will treat them the same way they've always treated women).