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A new Kinsey Institute report to be published this month concludes that neither parental nor societal influences have much effect on whether a person will become a homosexual ? U?l ? 1 "11 - - ui u iicieiust-xuai. 1 ne repori points instead lo deeply ingrained patterns and possibly a biological basis for sexual preference. . , "Sexual Preference: Its Development Among Men and Women" (Indiana University Press) is the final and perhaps most controversial volume of the Kinsey Institute's decadelong study of homosexuality. Like the highly acclaimed, earlier volume "Homosexualities" (Simon & Schuster, 1978). this book originated in research funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health in 1968. Psychotherapist Alan P. Bell and sociologists Martin S. Weinberg and Sue Kiefer Hammersmith rigorously analyzed the data obtained from face-to-face interviews with approximately 1500 individuals ? male and female, white and I 1 I--' - * * uiav.iv, iiuiuuacAuai unu iienjioscxuai, 1 ney esiaonsnea in detail the relationships respondents had with their parents ^ and siblings while they were growing up, how their parents got along with each other, the degree to which the respondents conformed during childhood to stereotypical notions of what it means to be male or female, the relationships they had with their peers and with others outside the home, and {ho natnrp nf Ihpir chilrlhnnH anH oHnlocnnni ?*> ...-.i ?? ? UI1V4 UUV/1V/OV.C111 OCAUUI CA" periences. OTHER STUDIES of the causes of sexual preference have relied on relatively small samples, and have interviewed only homosexuals undergoing therapy. This study is unique not Olllv for* itc lardo rvnllinrt comnln k..( "! <? ? ?>..j iv> iw iui (,v. pvuiiig oaiupic, uui aiau UCtdUSU llldliy of its informants have never undergone psychiatric counseling. Focusing on the respondents' recollection of their formative years, the study will be relevant so long as prejudices and misconceptions pervade the media, schools, churches, political institutions, and health organizations ? in short, wherever young people learn of the larger society's attitudes toward sexualitv ' ^ ?n'y ??? ?? || The Jewlery Warehouse j.j xyop Piatt Springs Rd. I 9 til 6 Mon.-Sat. h "It's more than just another jewelry store." j * BBIB luiiengea Some of the intriguing findings refute long-accepted theories about how sexual preference develops. For example, the authors report that parents have little influence on whether their children develop a homosexual orientation. "For the benefit of readers who are concerned about what parents may do to influence (or whether they are responsible for) their children's sexual preference, we would restate our ~??i " * .uiiiiuga uiiuiuui way. ino particular pnenomenon ot iamily life can be singled out, on the basis of our findings, as especially consequential for either homosexual or heterosexual development. You may supply your sons with footballs and your daughters with dolls, but no one can guarantee that they will enjoy them. What we seem to have identified ? given that our model applies only to extant ii ? meories ana aoes not create new ones ? is a pattern of feelings and reactions within the child that cannot be traced back to a single social or psychological root; indeed, homosexuality may arise from a biological precursor (as do left-handedness and allergies, for example) that parents cannot control. In short, to concerned parents we cannot itv-wiiiiiicuu ctiiyiiiiiig ueyona me care, sympainy, and devotion that good parents presumably lavish on all their children anyway." Other findings are: A boy s mother seems to have only a limited influence on his sexual orientation in adulthood. This studv calls into V question the theory that homosexuality may derive from either a seductive mother-son relationship or a negative one, either of which might elicit in the son a fear or mistrust of females. The authors also dispute the argument that male homosexuality may result from too strong an identification with the mother. The homosexual and heterosexual respondents did not differ in this respect. PKKLIMINAKY comparisons tend to confirm that nATr miL ' B&. At Granger Owings, we earn clothing. From serious parti interview, we can help you k ? m - i ana selection combined in. are traditions with us. Com* dSrattirpr* 1307 Ma ? Myths homosexual and heterosexual males differ far more in their reports about their fathers than in what they have to say about their mothers. Nevertheless, the authors' causal analysis reveals that the tendency for homosexual males to nnxnnlwo f-tU l-?- 1 ' ' ?" 1 ' 1 ja:i tcivu men tamers in a reianveiy negative lasnion nas little eventual influence on their sexual orientation. Homosexual women tended to report relatively negative relationships with their mothers, to describe their mothers more unfavorably, and to have identified with them less than did the heterosexual women. In the path analysis, however, none of these variables appear to have had much effect on the daughters' emerging sexual prefernce. Contrary to expectation, the authors did not find that the homosexual women identified with their fathers any more than the heterosexual women did. In fact, the homosexual women in the study were less likely to have identified with their fathers. No evidence was found that homosexuality in females results from an overly close father-daughter rftlaf innohin hn iv* o*? * 4*1 ? 1 > Viuuuuoiup uiai niajr lliaav:uillll/.c lilt' UtlU^llltM ur CISC keep her involved with her father to the exclusion of interest in males her own age. Paternal relationships, traits, or identification should not be construed as critical factors in the development of female homosexuality. For both males and females, childhood gender non eumui iniiy appears 10 nave Deen very much involved in the process by which some respondents come to be homosexual and others came to be heterosexual. At the same time, gender nonconformity does not appear to have been especially important in the way proposed by psychoanalytic theory. The study reveals instead that gender nonconformity is directly related to experiencing homosexual activities and arousal before age 19 as well as an adult homosexual preference. f<'>'//y'^ Bb? 1 *-> - x* > Tt&" \ j&^i HUHfc ' > ' x'. . . 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