What Does Science Say About Sexuality?
Anthony Isenhour While sexuality is full of cultural variations and subjective definitions used for self-identification, scientists have attempted to investigate the complexity of this topic. There may be benefits and risks involved for many if science rules out specific characteristics that determine one’s sexuality, but there is no simple determining factor for sexuality because of its fluidity. To start, how do scientists study sexuality? One of the most common methods for determining sexual orientation was developed by Drs. Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, and Clyde Martin in the late 1940s. This method is known as the Kinsey Scale and determines a range of sexualities from purely heterosexual to completely homosexual.1 While this model incorporates sexualities ranging from heterosexual to homosexual, it does not address all possible sexualities. However, the reports that developed this method did lead to a change in the public’s view of sexuality. Additionally, researchers have used methods such as self-reporting, pupil dilation, genital and neural response, and association activities to study sexual orientation.2 While these all have a variety of benefits and drawbacks, self-reporting has become a more useful method for determining sexual orientation with rises in the public’s tolerance of diverse orientations and lessened reluctance of participants to report less accepted orientations. Now that we know methods scientists employ to comprehend sexual identity and orientation, we can take a look at the studies scientists have conducted regarding sexuality. While many deter-
ministic studies cannot be conducted because they would create many an ethical dilemma, there have been some significant studies that correlate certain environmental factors with an individual’s sexual orientation. A review done by an array of scientists found that childhood gender nonconformity (behaving in a manner inconsistent socially with your presented gender) has a strong correlation with adult sexual orientation.2 Scientists have found through studies that follow children to adulthood, as well as studies where adults reflect on their childhood, that for men and women in Western and non-Western cultures, that “nonheterosexual adults partook in more repetitive behaviors surrounding gender nonconformity” typically beginning around preschool age (3-4).3 This correlation potentially presents dangers to children being raised in conservative environments where their behavior may be more strictly regulated and expected to conform to their presented gender. However, this correlation varies and is not a consistent indicator of adult sexual orientation as childhood behavior does not always indicate adult sexuality. However, there is a significant correlation between childhood nonconformity and potential adult sexuality. In contrast to behavior, some other scientists have found a potential environmental/genetic factor that indicates an increased likelihood for a male to behomosexual: fraternal birth order. Specifically, these studies have found that an increase in the number of older birth-related brothers increases the likelihood that a male will be homosexual. This study found that it only correlates with birth-related brothers,
