Psychology of homosexuality

Sexual orientation refers to an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes.

Throughout much of the 20th century in the United States, homosexuality was considered a mental illness by the medical establishment. This view created a cruel set of circumstances for gay people, as a lack of serious research into homosexuality allowed social institutions to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and medical institutions could subject gay people to psychologically and physically damaging therapies. This brief video essay explores the legacy of the late US psychologist Evelyn Hooker , whose groundbreaking studies of homosexuality would help lay the groundwork for the modern gay rights movement.

Explore the biological, psychological, and social aspects of homosexuality, including identity development, mental health, and societal impacts on LGBTQ+ individuals.

Homosexuality was considered a mental illness when Richard Pillard was in medical school. It was the s 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 treat it.

Since , APA has called on psychologists to take the lead in removing the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated with lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations. The discipline of psychology is concerned with the well-being of people and groups and therefore with threats to that well-being.

Updated June 24, Reviewed by Kaja Perina. In the s and s, many therapists offered aversion therapy of the kind featured in A Clockwork Orange to "cure" male homosexuality. This typically involved showing patients pictures of naked men while giving them electric shocks or drugs to make them vomit, and, once they could no longer bear it, showing them pictures of naked women or sending them out on a "date" with a young nurse.

Explore the biological, psychological, and social aspects of homosexuality, including identity development, mental health, and societal impacts on LGBTQ+ individuals.

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff. Sexual orientation describes patterns of sexual, romantic, and emotional attraction —and one's sense of identity based on those attractions. Sexual orientation is distinct from gender identity , the internal sense of being male, female, or non-binary.