Gay nature or nurture
Nature vs. Nurture: The Biology of Sexuality
MED prof speaks tonight on whether sexual orientation has genetic basis
Homosexuality was considered a mental illness when Richard Pillard was in medical school. It was the 1950s and the School of Medicine professor of psychiatry was at the University of Rochester. At the time, the American Psychological Association still listed homosexuality as a disorder and psychologists and psychiatrists were trained on ways to manage it.
The first psychological test undertaken to determine whether there was a physiological explanation for homosexuality was in 1957. With a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Karen Hooker studied the affair between homosexuality and psychological development and illness. Hooker studied both homosexuals and heterosexuals—matched for age, intelligence, and learning level. The subjects were then given three psychological tests: the Rorschach, the Thematic Apperception Evaluate (TAT), and the Make-a-Picture-Story Test (MAPS). Hooker found no major differences in the answers given by the two groups. Because of the similar scores, she concluded that sexuality is not based on environmental factors.
More Say 'Nature' Than 'Nurture' Explains Sexual Orientation
Story Highlights
- 50% of U.S. adults say people are born gay or lesbian
- 30% attribute creature gay to upbringing and environment
- Support for "nature" view still lags among conservative-oriented groups
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Half of Americans in Gallup's 2018 Values and Beliefs poll say that being gay or lesbian is a trait from birth, easily eclipsing the 30% who believe it is a product of upbringing and environment. This is consistent with findings over the past few years. Another 10% say both explanations play a role, while 4% attribute being gay to something else and 6% are unsure.
When Gallup first asked this "nature vs. nurture" question in 1977, a majority of U.S. adults (56%) said being gay or lesbian was due to people's upbringing and environment, and only 13% saw it as a birth trait. Attitudes didn't move markedly until after 1989. Between 1989 and Gallup's next update in 1996, the percentage believing sexual orientation is determined at birth jumped from 19% to 31%, and reached 40% by 2001. Opinion remained steady for the next 12 years, as Americans were roughly split
No single gene related with being gay
A genetic study of almost half a million people has concluded there is no available "gay gene".
The examine, published in Science, used data from the UK Biobank and 23andMe, and found some genetic variants associated with same-sex relationships.
But genetic factors accounted for, at most, 25% of same-sex behaviour.
Advocacy group GLAAD said the study confirmed "no conclusive degree to which essence or nurture influenced how a queer or lesbian person behaves."
The researchers scanned the genomes - the entire genetic make-up - of 409,000 people signed up to the UK Biobank venture, and 68,500 registered with the genetics company 23andMe.
Participants were also asked whether they had queer partners exclusively, or as well as opposite-sex partners.
The Harvard and MIT researchers concluded genetics could account for between 8-25% of queer behaviour across the population, when the whole genome is considered.
Five specific genetic variants were start to be particularly associated with homosexual behaviour, including one linked to the biological pathway for smell, and others to those
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Hi, my label is Lori. I am a parent of three kids with three alternative expressions of gender and sexuality. And I possess been a registered nurse since 1997, my preferred specialty being pediatrics. My kids have the identical father and were raised in the same residence, with the same ethics, in a safe environment. Incidentally, they have an aunt who identifies as gay on their father’s side. So why accomplish my children identify separately as heterosexual, homosexual, and transgender?
Parent-child relationships (“nurture”) significantly impact how children progress and identify themselves (Mills-Koonce et al., 2018). Considering that, how much of a role does genetics (“nature”) play? What ultimately determines whether a infant identifies as straight or gay?
Nature Versus Nurture
The innateness versus nurture debate has been around for centuries, and it is still one of the most controversial topics in medicine. Nature refers to the innate characteristics we are born with; for example, eye color. In contrast, nurture refers to the effect of personal experiences, often referred to as “environment,” such as how others treat us during our lifet