An article analyses of Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal? Adams, Henry E.; Wright, Lester W.; Lohr, Bethany A. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105(3), Aug 1996, 440-445. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.105.3.440
I. Introduction
The main issue that was investigated by Henry E. Adams, Lester W. Wright, Jr., and Bethany A. Lohr was to examine how heterosexual men who self -disclosed as objectors to homosexual individuals physically responded to same-sex arousal; there was also an examination as to whether those same heterosexuals exhibited higher aggression (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). The basis for any good study is built upon the previous research that have set the groundwork to establish merit for the work being studied. …show more content…
All participants were screened beforehand using a modified version of the Kinsey Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale, used to select only participants who reported exclusively heterosexual arousal and experiences; (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Participants then took the Index of Homophobia the scale had 25 items; an example of one item asks to participants was, “I would feel nervous being in a group of homosexuals” (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Scores range between 0 to 100, participants were then divided into 4 categories based on their scores: 0-25, meant high-grade nonhomophobic men; 26-50, low-grade nonhomophobic men; 51-75, low-grade homophobic men; and 76-100, high-grade homophobic men (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). For this study the male participants where then divided into two groups based on their scores 0-50 = nonhomophobic men, n =29; 51-100 = homophobic men, n =35; this was done as there was not enough men who scored in the high-grade nonhomophobic range (0-25) (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Participants also completed 29- item scale Buss and Perry’s (1992) Aggression Questionnaire which was implemented to evaluate an general …show more content…
The authors findings agree with other general findings that illustrate homophobia as a variation of dormant homosexuality, in which the person is either utterly oblivious to or refuses to acknowledge their same-sex urges (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Possible limitation is the testing effect in the case of assessing the participant’s aggression led to awareness of their own aggression and the denial of it. Another limitation is they only looked at men, men who were young, and men that were white. They also seemed to only focused on negative homophobic feelings men feel towards gay men as opposed to including hostility that is also faced by lesbians; they didn’t address why this was done; are homophobic men less aggressive towards lesbian women, then they are towards gay men? The study only looks at homophobia through the male lens, eliminating the examination homophobia towards women by women. Do homophobic women experience the same arousal towards same-sex stimuli? If not, is heterosexual male who are homophobic simply more aroused by same-sex stimuli, because its considered more taboo? They are also viewing arousal as the major indicator of an individual’s sexual preference, sexual identity, or future sexual activity; there are
I. Introduction
The main issue that was investigated by Henry E. Adams, Lester W. Wright, Jr., and Bethany A. Lohr was to examine how heterosexual men who self -disclosed as objectors to homosexual individuals physically responded to same-sex arousal; there was also an examination as to whether those same heterosexuals exhibited higher aggression (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). The basis for any good study is built upon the previous research that have set the groundwork to establish merit for the work being studied. …show more content…
All participants were screened beforehand using a modified version of the Kinsey Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale, used to select only participants who reported exclusively heterosexual arousal and experiences; (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Participants then took the Index of Homophobia the scale had 25 items; an example of one item asks to participants was, “I would feel nervous being in a group of homosexuals” (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Scores range between 0 to 100, participants were then divided into 4 categories based on their scores: 0-25, meant high-grade nonhomophobic men; 26-50, low-grade nonhomophobic men; 51-75, low-grade homophobic men; and 76-100, high-grade homophobic men (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). For this study the male participants where then divided into two groups based on their scores 0-50 = nonhomophobic men, n =29; 51-100 = homophobic men, n =35; this was done as there was not enough men who scored in the high-grade nonhomophobic range (0-25) (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Participants also completed 29- item scale Buss and Perry’s (1992) Aggression Questionnaire which was implemented to evaluate an general …show more content…
The authors findings agree with other general findings that illustrate homophobia as a variation of dormant homosexuality, in which the person is either utterly oblivious to or refuses to acknowledge their same-sex urges (Adams, Wright, & Lohr, 1996). Possible limitation is the testing effect in the case of assessing the participant’s aggression led to awareness of their own aggression and the denial of it. Another limitation is they only looked at men, men who were young, and men that were white. They also seemed to only focused on negative homophobic feelings men feel towards gay men as opposed to including hostility that is also faced by lesbians; they didn’t address why this was done; are homophobic men less aggressive towards lesbian women, then they are towards gay men? The study only looks at homophobia through the male lens, eliminating the examination homophobia towards women by women. Do homophobic women experience the same arousal towards same-sex stimuli? If not, is heterosexual male who are homophobic simply more aroused by same-sex stimuli, because its considered more taboo? They are also viewing arousal as the major indicator of an individual’s sexual preference, sexual identity, or future sexual activity; there are