ISSN:
1573-2800
Keywords:
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
;
FAMILY HISTORY METHOD
;
RELIABILITY
;
SIBLINGS
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
,
Psychology
Notes:
Abstract Previous studies investigating the familialnature of sexual orientation have often relied on thereports of siblings. They have generally obtainedextremely high accuracy rates for proband rating of the sexual orientation of siblings. However,participants in these studies have probably beenunusually open about their sexual orientation, and thusit is uncertain if more representative participantswould have as accurate knowledge about theirfamilies. An unselected sample of twins from theAustralian Twin Registry rated their own, theircotwins', and their siblings' sexual orientations. Weexamined accuracy of heterosexual and homosexual probands'assessments of their twins' sexual orientations, as wellas cotwins' agreement about other siblings'orientations. Concordance between twins' ratings oftheir cotwins' orientations with the cotwins' self-ratedorientations was considerably lower than that found inprevious studies, as was the level of agreement betweenmembers of a twin pair in the assessment of other siblings' sexual orientations. Marital historyas a proxy variable for determining the sexualorientation of older subjects did not support its usewith women, though its use for older men received some weak support.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1018715821801
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