LGBTQ+ Psych Exam 1

Herek’s (2010) Differences-as-Deficits Model

In the 1900s, homosexuality and bisexuality were deemed mental illnesses.

Cisgender

Having a gender that normatively relates to assigned sex at birth.

Transgender

Having a gender that does not confirm to assigned sex at birth.

Intersex Variations

When people have chromosomes, gonads, hormones, and/or genitalia that do not align with typically binary notions of male or female anatomy.

Cisgenderism

Ideology that assumes that sex assigned at birth defines gender and that there are only two genders.

Heteronormativity

Belief that heterosexuality is the only

Heterosexism

Systematic prejudice within societal institutions that leads to ignoring or rejecting sexual diversity, traditions, and historical events.

Countries that Criminalize LGBTQ+

▪Africa: Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini,
Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania*,
Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria*, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia*, South
Sudan, Sudan*, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda*, Zambia, Zimbabwe
▪Asia: Afghanistan*, Bangladesh, Brunei*, Iran*, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia,
Maldives, Myanmar, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar*, Saudi Arabia*,
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates*, Uzbekistan,
Yemen*
▪Caribbean: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica,
St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
▪South Pacific: Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu
▪Entities: Cook Islands, Aceh Province of Indonesia
*death penalty

Countries with Marriage Equality

▪Africa: South Africa
▪Asia: Taiwan
▪Europe: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
▪North America: Canada, Cuba, Mexico, United States
▪South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador,
Uruguay
▪Oceania: Australia, New Zealand

Right-Wing Extremism

Conservative ideologies, movements, and actions that oppose perceived threats to traditional values. (can include nationalism)

Neoliberalism

Social, economic philosophy advocating for free markets, privatization, and individual responsibility. (associated with rainbow capitalism)

Essentialism

Belief that everything has set, inherent traits that define what it is and how it functions.

Social Constructionism

Idea that concepts do not have inherent meanings and that meanings are constructed through social, cultural, and historical contexts.

Genderfluid

A person who’s gender identity is not fixed and can shift to male, female, both, or neither at different times or in different contexts.

Heteroflexible

A person who primarily identifies as heterosexual but is occasionally open to same-gender sexual attraction and/or experiences.

Critical Realism

Belief that there is an object reality, but our understanding of it is shaped by society and that we can only be known through subjective experience.

Feminism

Collection of movements and ideas aimed at recognizing and disputing power and privilege of men over other genders.

Queer Theory

Field of study that questions and challenges normative ideas of sex, gender, and sexuality.

Performativity

Idea that concepts like gender do not naturally exist but are continually produced and reproduced by how we repeatedly talk and act.

Subjectification

Process through which individuals internalize and identify with social norms, values, and identities, shaping their sense of self within society.

Quantitative Research

Research approach involving numerical data to examine differences between groups and/or relationships between variables.

Experimental Research

Research approach that allows assessment of causal relationships of variables by randomly assigning participants to 2+ groups.

Survey Research

research
Approach where participants are given questionnaires and/or standardized psychological scales on attitudes and behavior.

Positive Correlation

Variables increase or decrease together.

Negative Correlation

When one variable increases the other decreases, or when one variable decreases the other increases.

Qualitative Research

Research approach involving non-numerical data gathered from interviews, observations, and/or analysis of texts or narratives.

Experiential Qualitative Research

Focuses on understanding individuals' lived experiences, perspectives, and subjective realities.

Critical Qualitative Research

Aims to uncover underlying social, political, and cultural forces that shape individuals' experiences and perpetuate inequalities.

Considerations for Ethical Research: MSM

Men-Who-Have-Sex-With-Men

Considerations for Ethical Research: WSW

Women-Who-Have-Sex-With-Women

Considerations for Ethical Research: Access and Recruitment

LGBTQ+ people are often referred to as a hidden population. Recruitment for LGBTQ+ studies often occurs online through social media ads, community groups,
and/or researchers’ own personal or professional networks.

Considerations for Ethical Research: Reflexivity

Researchers should critically examine how their identities, biases, and experiences shape their interactions with LGBTQ+ participants.

Considerations for Ethical Research: Confidential and Privacy

All research must ensure confidentiality (protect private and sensitive participant
information) or anonymity (participants’ identities are undisclosed and untraceable),
but it is particularly important in LGBTQ+ research.

Pathologization

Psychology and medical professions have historically pathologized diversity in sex, gender, and sexuality. (anything other than male, female, heterosexual has been treated as a disease or medical condition)

Case of David Reimer

Raised as a girl after his penis was damaged after circumcision. Found out he was born male and started to identify with as a man. Proved one’s gender cannot be forced on them?

Richard von Krafft-Ebing

In 1886, psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing challenged that homosexuality was deliberate and deviant by arguing it was actually a congenital brain disorder.

Havelock Ellis

In 1897, Havelock Ellis compared homosexuality to color blindness, calling it a ‘sexual inversion’.

Sexual Inversion

Theory that gender traits were reversed at birth.

Transvestism

Historical term for wearing clothes atypical for one’s gender for personal expression. (considered a personality disorder)

Transsexualism

Historical term for having a gender identity that does not align with assigned sex at birth.

Sigmund Freud

Considered sexuality to be influenced by environment and believed that homosexuality resulted from early childhood experiences and not advancing into appropriate stages of psychosexual development (did not view homosexuality as a disease, but rather as a variation of sexual behavior.)

Homosexuality in DSM-5

In DSM-I (1952), homosexuality was categorized as a sociopathic personality disturbance.
In DSM-II (1968), it was reclassified as a sexual deviation.

Aversion Therapy

Therapeutic method of trying to change unwanted behavior by making it unpleasant through repeated exposure to adverse consequences.

Stonewall Riots

Stonewall Inn (gay bar) was raided by police (6/28/1969) and 13 were arrested. Crowd retaliated to a lesbian being beat by throwing objects at police. There were six days of protests and violent crashes with law enforcement.

Gay-Affirmative Psychology

Branch of psychological theory and research emerging in the 1970s that focuses on understanding identities and experiences of LGBTQ+ people.

Kinsey Institute

Alfred Kinsey founded Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University in 1947 to conduct, analyze, and share scientific studies on sexual behavior.

Evelyn Hooker

One of the first psychologists to dispute belief that homosexuality was a mental disorder. Study showed no significant differences in personality and psychological functioning between gay and heterosexual men.

June Hopkins

Conducted first lesbian-affirmative research in the U.K. Paper showed lesbian women tended to be more self-reliant, resilient, and dominant compared to heterosexual women.

Criticisms of Gay-Affirmative Research

Early gay-affirmative research advanced the discipline, but reinforced heterosexuality as the norm to compare to. (perpetuates ‘just the same as’ narrative)

Emergence of Psychology of Bisexuality

Research on bisexuality has been generally ignored or grouped together with studies on lesbian and gay people.

Barriers to Legitimizing Bisexuality

Historically, bisexuality was not seen as a valid social identity.

Biphobia

Prejudice directed towards individuals who identify as bisexual.

Emergence of Psychology of Asexuality

Canadian psychologist Anthony Bogaert was one of the first to study prevalence and predictors of asexuality.

Emergence of Psychology of Gender Diversity

Psychology of gender diversity did not emerge until the 2000s, and primarily focuses on lives of transgender people.

Dr. Pam Lannutti’s research on LGBTQ+ couples during 🍊’s First Term

Study focused on how Trump’s first term affected people in the LGBTQ+ community in relationships. Found assurance is best quality in relationships.

Social Norms

Expectations about acceptable behavior.

Gender Norms

Gender norms influence our perceptions of ourselves and others, roles we believe we should take on, and prejudice we might encounter.

Androgyny

Appearance, behavior, identity, and/or expression that contains both masculine and feminine traits.

Gender Roles in Cisgender Gay Women

Butch: masculine presenting

Femme: feminine presenting

Health Disparities in Cisgender Gay Women

Butch-identified women use more alcohol, cigarettes, and cannabis due to more internalized homophobia, more harassment, and its association with masculinity.

Critique of Butch and Femme

Perpetuating patriarchal ideas of masculine dominance and feminine submission.

Gender Roles in Cisgender Gay Men

Bears: larger men with rugged masculinity

Twinks: slimmer men with effeminate or androgynous presentation.

Health Disparities in Cisgender Gay Men

Twink-identified men use more alcohol, cigarettes, and cannabis due to more body dissatisfaction.

Non-binary

Can include elements of both male and female genders in their identity or exist outside the gender binary.

Agender

Identifying as having no gender.

Genderqueer

Gender identity that emphasizes fluidity and variability in gender expression.

Forms of Cisgenderism

▪Pathologizing: Treating a person’s gender(s) as dysfunctional
▪Misgendering: Addressing person by gender(s) they do not identify with
▪Marginalizing: Excluding person based on gender(s)
▪Coercive Queering: Imposing queer identities on person that they don’t identify with
▪Objectifying Biological Language: Reducing person to assumed physical traits to infer gender.

Gender Minority Stress

Social stressors due to having a gender identity that differs from norms linked to assigned sex at birth.

Beyond Gender Binary

Gender binary is widespread in Western cultures, but it is not universal across all cultures.

Muxes

Indigenous Zapotec people recognize a third gender known as Muxe, who are people assigned male at birth who take on feminine roles. Social roles: weavers, merchants, spiritual leaders, often take care of aging parents.

Two-Spirit People

Rather than being strictly male or female, Nádleehí embody both masculine and feminine spirits. Believed to be double gifted and hold important cultural roles in governance, healing, and storytelling.

Bugis’ Five Genders

Makkunrai – Cisgender women who follow traditional female roles
Oroani – Cisgender men who adhere to conventional male roles
Calalai – Individuals assigned female at birth who adopt male clothing, occupations, and behaviors, but do not fully identify as men
Calabai – Individuals assigned male at birth who take on feminine roles but are not considered women
Bissu – A sacred gender combining both masculinity and femininity, often serving as spiritual leaders