Homophobes 'may be secretly attracted to people of the same sex'

[n2doc]

By EMILY ALLEN
PUBLISHED: 14:59 EST, 8 April 2012 | UPDATED: 14:59 EST, 8 April 2012

Homophobes could be attracted to people of the same sex but are not admitting it to themselves, a series of psychology studies has found.

Researchers in New York, Essex and California say they've found evidence that gays and lesbians remind homophobes of themselves - which is why they develop an intense aversion and fear of them.

They claim homophobic people tend to repress their true sexuality as they've often been brought up in families where being gay is not acceptable.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126957/Homophobes-attracted-sex-study-finds.html

[liberalmuse]

1. Nooooo? Really?

I've known a few homophobes. I'm talking hate-spewing homophobes. Get them alone with my gay friends and they're all over them. I knew this years ago.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. That's why they think homosexuality is a choice

They themselves have chosen to follow heterosexuality despite their inner longings. They assume that the rest of us need to make a similar choice, and are mad at the ones who fail the test.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. That's a very interesting point.

[Zorra]

16. +1

[Fearless]

4. Because they choose to live a lie and suffer for it

And think that we all should too because they feel some sort of guilt over being non-hetero.

[CJCRANE]

5. Religion* has a lot to answer for

when it manages to make people hate not just others but also themselves.

*Usually RW versions of religion.

[Fearless]

6. Agreed.

[hedgehog]

19. You've captured the anti-gay campaign in a nutshell!

[xchrom]

7. I don't know about women - but I don't think it's 'hard'

For men to get wood under a lot of circumstances. Doesn't mean they're gay or bi - means they get wood.

I've had 'str8' sex but I'm not bi and I was never str8.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. I think that's an oversimplification that too often lets bigots & homophobes off the hook.

May be a factor, sometimes, but there are a nest of assumptions in there that I think are problematic, not the least of which Is the easy line to take from there to "gay bashing is just a gay problem".

[provis99]

11. it's even worse than that.

Since the homophobes often bash heterosexuals for seeming "too effeminate", what this paper could argue is you've actually got closet homosexuals who are going around bashing straights for fitting their idea of how a homosexual acts.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Yeah. It contains a set of assumptions that I suspect many GLBT people would be uncomfortable with.

I'd rather just say bigotry and intolerance are unacceptable, and leave it at that. No one tries to argue that racists are secretly black.

[hedgehog]

20. "No one tries to argue that racists are secretly black."

You never met my mother! She often speculated about this or that racist politician, pointing out aspects suggesting partial black ancestry.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. Actually, after I posted that I thought of the whole "Hitler was a secret Jew" thing.

People are interesting animals, aren't we?

[Smarmie Doofus]

17. Correct. There's a cherished mythology unstated in OP, but implied:

only gay people hate gay people. Well adjusted heterosexuals couldn't care less.

And that's bullshit.

[laconicsax]

9. The Daily Mail is hardly a reputably source.

I'm frankly surprised that the article isn't overtly selling fear, anti-immigrant sentiment, or some other rabidly conservative line.

[Zorra]

14. The study will be published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Last edited Mon Apr 9, 2012, 02:27 AM - Edit history (1)

An extremely reputable publication recognized by the APA.

http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/psp/index.aspx

The Daily Mail simply reported on the study, they did not conduct the study.

[mitchtv]

13. because homophobia is a Gay problem

straits would never hate on Gays

[Behind the Aegis]

15. I second that facepalm!

Every time I see this type of syudy, I know exactly how it will be used...incorrectly.

[closeupready]

18. This shouldn't be a controversial finding.

In psychology, there are all kinds of mental dysfunctions which manifest outwardly in a way which are counter-intuitive.

For example, projection or compensation - both concepts hinge on the idea that the disturbed individual possesses the personality 'flaw' which 1) he/she sees frequently in a very high percentage of other people (when nobody else on Earth does); and 2) adopts behavior (deliberately or subconciously) intended to dispel the appearance of that flaw in themselves, or else to distance themselves a comfortable emotional distance from that mentality that they find stressful.

In the story here, those who manifest fear and or hatred of all things and people 'gay' are using that homophobia as a check on their own gay feelings and desires.

[joeybee12]

21. That's what i thought...you see someone who is perhaps short-tempered and you

don't like that person, largely because you notice the attribute in yourself.

[closeupready]

22. Right. I will say that I understand why some GLBT object

to seeing every single homophobe and bad person being labeled 'secretly gay' by the homophobic mainstream media (gee, maybe the mainstream media is secretly gay?! ). In other words, there is evidence of a direct correlation, but as to how STRONG that correlation is, it could be strong or it could be very weak, hard to say.

Cheers.

[joeybee12]

23. And that is why I loathe stunning, beautiful natural blondes...

Because they remind me of me!!!

[closeupready]

24. I'm kind of shocked at that - I always thought you were quite bright.

hehe!

[joeybee12]

25. Light Brite? Did you play with that as a kid, too?

[One_Life_To_Give]

26. Edited, slightly out of context?

Considering the source and wording of the article the actual research article will likely read a little different, IMO. Probably about people who can be diagnostically identified as homosexual but claim to be purely hetero are more probable to be blatant homophobes. But that wouldn't sell as many newspapers.

[SamG]

28. Huff-PO has another take on this...

as well as a review of the old news from a few months ago about Catholics thinking Satan is involved with being gay.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/homophobia-people-same-sex-attraction-study_n_1412306.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

[closeupready]

29. Honestly puzzled here - please, can

someone explain how this version of the study's findings is substantively different from that in the Daily Mail (which, yes, I know, as a news source is rather right-wing and homophobic)? Seems like they are saying the same thing:

Huff Po:

>>Homophobic Attitudes Likely To Be Stronger Among Those Who Have Repressed Same-Sex Attraction: Report <<

DM:

>>Homophobes 'may be secretly attracted to people of the same sex'<<

The DM pre-chews these kinds of stories to dumb them down and make them easier to understand for their target readership, but essentially, it's saying the same thing as Huff Po, isn't it?

Interestingly, if you read the comments from the neanderthals posting the best rated comments to the article, they react identically to the story ("rubbish!" "absolute tripe!" "the gay mafia strikes again - we are all homosexuals now!&quot .

consider this remark:

>>Absolute lies. Hate is hate. Homophobes don't secretly fancy men. That's ridiculous. I do not want to be gay.<<

So, unless this is a gay person playing "homophobic sock puppet", the reader is implicitly admitting he hates gay people, and it is a lie to claim HE likes men.

So I should take, at face value, claims made by someone who openly admits to hating a minority group?

[SamG]

30. These are two journals reviews of the same study.

It's just the way different journalists approach the very same social science study.

Take nothing at face value, read several journalistic sides of any issues and make up your own mind as to where the most truth lies.

[Bohunk68]

31. I don't have any cute emoticons

But, back in the early to mid-60's when I came out, I recall an older gent telling a bunch of us at a sunning spot as a carload of young men drove by issuing catcalls, "Scratch a queer beater and you scratch a queer." It was true then and I don't think times have changed at all.