Cogprints

Homosexual Orientation in Males: Evolutionary and Ethological Aspects

Muscarella, Frank and Fink, Bernhard and Grammer, Karl and Kirk-Smith, Michael (2001) Homosexual Orientation in Males: Evolutionary and Ethological Aspects. [Journal (Paginated)]

Warning

There is a more recent version of this eprint available. Click here to view it.

Full text available as:

[img] PDF
103Kb

Abstract

Evolutionary theory proposes that adaptive traits are reproduced more successfully than maladaptive traits. Accordingly, natural selection should favour heterosexuality as it facilitates reproduction and the propagation of genes. However, the question becomes, what has maintained homosexuality in a small but consistent percentage of the human population? Research into the evolutionary and hormonal factors associated with a homosexual orientation have yielded provocative but inconsistent results. It also suggests that human sexual orientation, and in particular homosexual orientation, is too complex to be described by one simple model or a single research discipline. The current paper treads a new path and emphasises an integrative approach for the understanding of homosexuality. The authors examine the combined effects of evolutionary factors and neurohormonal processes on the development of a homosexual orientation. It is suggested that research into the topic could benefit from an examination of and change in some of the assumptions upon which much past research has been based.

Item Type:Journal (Paginated)
Keywords:sexual orientation, homosexuality, evolution, adaptedness, kin-selection, sexual behavior, exaptation
Subjects:Biology > Ethology
Biology > Evolution
Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Neuroscience > Neuroendocrinology
ID Code:2163
Deposited By: Fink, Bernhard
Deposited On:05 Apr 2002
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:54

Available Versions of this Item

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

Bullough VL. Science in the bedroom: A history of sex research. New York: Basic Books; 1994.

Young WC, Goy RW, Phoenix CH. Hormones and sexual behavior. Science 1964; 143: 212-218.

Cruz DB. Controlling desires: Sexual orientation conversion and the limits of knowledge and law. Southern Calif Law R 1999; 72: 1297-1400.

Nesse RM. How is Darwinian medicine useful? West J Med 2001; 174(5): 358-360.

Kirkpatrick RC. The evolution of human homosexual behavior. Curr Anthropol 2000; 41: 385-414.

Muscarella F. The homoerotic behavior that never evolved. J Homosexual 1999; 37: 1-18.

Gonsiorek JC & Weinrich JD. The definition and scope of sexual orientation. In: JC Gonsiorek, JD Weinrich, editors. Homosexuality: Research implications for public policy. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 1991. pp. 1-12.

Shively MG, Jones C, DeCecco, JP. Research on sexual orientation: Definitions and methods. J Homosexual 1984; 9: 127-136.

Muehlenhard CL. Categories and sexuality. J Sex Res 2000; 37: 101-107.

Ellis AL, Mitchell RW. Sexual orientation. In: LT Szuchman, F Muscarella, editors. Psychological perspectives on human sexuality. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2000. pp. 196-231.

Wilson EO. Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Belknap; 1975.

Wilson EO. On human nature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1978.

Dickemann M. Wilson’s panchreston: The inclusive fitness hypothesis of sociobiology re-examined. In: JP DeCecco, DA Parker, editors. Sex, cells, and same-sex desire: The biology of sexual preference. New York: Haworth Press; 1995. pp. 147-183.

Greenberg DF. The construction of homosexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1988.

Bobrow D & Bailey JM. Is male homosexuality maintained via kin selection? Evol Hum Behav 2001; 22: 361-368.

Buss DM. The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. New York: Basic Books; 1994.

Small MF. What’s love got to do with it? The evolution of human mating. New York: Doubleday; 1995.

Wright R. The moral animal: Why we are the way we are: The new science of evolutionary psychology. New York: Pantheon Books; 1994.

Archer J. Attitudes toward homosexuals: An alternative Darwinian view. Ethol Sociobiol 1996; 17: 281-284.

Gallup GG Jr. Have attitudes toward homosexuals been shaped by natural selection? Ethol Sociobiol 1995; 16: 53-70.

Gallup GG, Suarez SD. Homosexuality as a byproduct of selection for optimal heterosexual strategies. Perspect Biol Med 1983; 26: 315-321.

Stevens A, Price J. Evolutionary psychiatry: A new beginning. New York: Routledge; 1996.

McKnight J. Straight science? Homosexuality, evolution, and adaptation. New York: Routledge; 1997.

Thiessen D. Bitter-sweet destiny: The stormy evolution of human behavior. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction; 1996.

Miller EM. Homosexuality, birth order, and evolution: Toward an equilibrium reproductive economics of homosexuality. Arch Sex Behav 2000; 29: 1-34.

Ross MW, Wells AL. The modernist fallacy in homosexual selection theories: Homosexual and homosocial exaptation in South Asian society. Psychology, Evolution & Gender 2000; 2/3: 253-262.

Vasey P. Homosexual behavior in primates: A review of evidence and theory. International J Primatol 1995; 16(2): 173-203.

Khan S. Culture, Sexualities, and Identities: Men who have sex with men in India. J Homosexual 2001; 40: 99-115.

Muscarella F. The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans. J Homosexual 2000; 40: 51-77.

Dorner G. Hormones and sexual differentiation of the brain. Ciba Found Symp 1978; Mar 14-16; 62: 81-112.

Newmark SR, Rose LI, Todd R, Birk L, Naftolin F. Gonadotropin, estradiol, and testosterone profiles in homosexual men. Am J Psychiatry 1979; 136(6): 767-71.

Dorner G. Sex hormone dependent brain differentiation and sexual behavior. Exp Brain Res 1981; Suppl.3: 238-4.

Gladue BA, Green R, Hellman RE. Neuroendocrine response to estrogen and sexual orientation. Science 1984; 225(4669): 1496-9.

Elias AN, Valenta LJ. Are all males equal? Anatomic and functional basis for sexual orientation in males. Med Hypotheses 1992; 39(1): 85-7.

Meyer-Bahlburg HFL. Psychoneuroendocrinology and Sexual Pleasure: The Aspect of Sexual Orientation. In: PR Abramson, SD Pinkerton, editors. Sexual nature / Sexual culture; 1995. pp. 135-153.

Gorski RA, Gordon JH, Shryne JE, Southam AM. Evidence for a morphological sex difference in the medial preoptic area of the rat brain. Brain Res 1978; 148: 333-346.

Blaffer Hrdy S, Whiten PL. Patterning of sexual activity. In:. BB Smuts, DL Cheney, RM Seyfarth, RW Wrangham, TT Strusaker, editors. Primate Societies. Chicago: Chicago University Press; 1987.

Kimura D. Sex and Cognition. Cambridge Massachusetts: The MIT Press; 1999.

Bancroft J. Human sexuality and its problems (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. 1989.

Roper WG. The etiology of male homosexuality. Med Hypotheses 1996; 46(2): 85-8.

Dabbs JM. Heroes, rogues, and lovers. NY: McGraw-Hill; 2000.

Robinson SJ, Manning JT. The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length and male homosexuality. Evol Hum Behav 2000; 21: 333-345.

Manning JT, Barley L, Walton J, Lewis-Jones DI, Trivers RL, Singh D, et al. The 2nd:4th digit ratio, sexual dimorphism, population differences, and reproductive success. Evidence for sexually antagonistic genes? Evol Hum Behav 2000; 21(3): 163-183.

Rahman Q, Wilson GD. The psychobiology of human sexual orientation. Manuscript under review.

Ellis L, Ames MA. Neurohormonal functioning and sexual orientation: A theory of homosexuality-heterosexuality. Psychol Bull 1987; 101: 233-258.

Pillard RC, Weinrich JD. The periodic table model of the gender transpositions: Part I. A theory based on masculinization and defeminization of the brain. J Sex Res 1987; 23: 425-454.

Feierman JR. A biosocial overview of adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents. In: JR Feierman, editor. Pedophilia: Biosocial dimensions. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1990. pp. 8-68.

Mealey L. Bulking up: The roles of sex and sexual orientation on attempts to manipulate physical attractiveness. J Sex Res 1997; 34: 223-228.

Muscarella, F. An empirical test of an evolutionary based theory of male homosexual attraction. Manuscript submitted for publication; 2001.

Diamond J. The third chimpanzee. New York: Harper Collins; 1992.

Wrangham RW. The significance of African apes for reconstructing human social evolution. In: WG Kinzey, editor. The evolution of human behavior: Primate models. Albany: State University of New York; 1987. pp. 51-71.

Grober MS. Neuroendocrine foundations of diverse sexual phenotypes in fish. In: L Ellis, L Ebertz, editors. Sexual orientation: Toward biological understanding. WestPort, CT: Praeger Press. 1997.

Grober MS, Jackson IM, Bass AH. Gonadal steroids affect LHRH preoptic cell number in a sex/role changing fish. J Neurobiol 1991; 22(7): 734-41.

Grober MS, Sunobe T. Serial adult sex change involves rapid and reversible changes in forebrain neurochemistry. Neuroreport 1996; 7(18): 2945-9.

Laumann EO, Gagnon JH, Michael RT, Michaels S. The social organization of sexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1994.

Buss DM. Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind. Boston: Allyn and Bacon; 1999.

Pillard RC, Weinrich JD. The periodic table model of the gender transpositions: Part I. A theory based on masculinization and defeminization of the brain. J Sex Res 1987; 23: 425-454.

Barash DP. Sociobiology and behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Elsevier. 1982.

Bagemihl B. Biological exuberance: Animal homosexuality and natural diversity. New York: St. Martin’s Press; 1999.

Lewontin R. Human diversity. New York: Scientific American Books; 1982.

Bancroft J. Human sexuality and its problems. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1989.

Davison GC, Neale JM. Abnormal psychology (8th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2001.

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page