Dr. Robert W. Mitchell
2005 Roark Lecture Recipient
Department of Psychology

ABSTRACT

"The Science of Sexual Orientation: Ideas, Theories and Evidence"
by Robert W. Mitchell, Department of Psychology

Why someone has particular sexual desires is a fascinating yet difficult-to-answer question. Numerous attempts to explain people's sexual orientation (what they desire sexually) have been presented, with biologists, psychologists, philosophers, historians, anthropologists, and sociologists all offering explanations for particular sexual desires. Yet, in every case the explanation has yet to be supported by evidence, and many are not at all supported by evidence. Contrary to what is presented in the media, the evidence for biological explanations for sexual orientation is just as inadequate as that for other explanations.

I plan to provide a lecture (using PowerPoint) that will provide a general audience with a dispassionate and thoughtful presentation and assessment of some of the main theories purporting to explain sexual orientation. In part, this lecture derives from teaching a readings-based course at EKU entitled "Theories of sexual desire," which I created and have taught on five semesters over the past six years. In the lecture I propose, I will initially discuss what sexual orientation is and how it is measured. Although it may sound tedious, this is actually an engaging part of the lecture, as often it is unclear what an explanation is intending to explain—is it sexual behaviors, desires, fantasies, or feelings, or some or all of these? I will then elaborate some of the main theories of sexual orientation in turn (for example, explanations based on genes, hormones, evolution, neurology, family constellations, learning, choice, and psychodynamic influences) and present the scientific methods used to evaluate these theories, the problems (if any) with these methods, and the evidence available to evaluate the theories. In this way, I will acquaint the audiences with how scientists have approached the phenomenon of sexual orientation and their findings. This part of the lecture will, I think, actually be surprising to audience members, as the scientific enterprise has been very slipshod and inadequate—typically heavy on theory and light on evidence. Overall, I will show that a careful examination of the evidence for the different theories of sexual orientation indicates that, contrary to current beliefs among many scientists, all of the current theories provide unsatisfactory explanations for sexual orientation. At present, there is no satisfactory general explanation for why people sexually desire what they sexually desire, based on available evidence. Following the discussion of extant theories, I will discuss what we know about the development of having a sexual orientation at all, which suggests that there is not likely to be a general theory for explaining sexual orientations per se. Finally, I will discuss American society’s fascination with explaining sexual orientation, what our concerns about sexual orientation seem to be, and why it may be a good thing that there is no satisfactory explanation of sexual orientation.

In this lecture, I hope to provide a means by which audience members can easily understand the theories that have been promulgated in the scientific literature and examine the available evidence in relation to each theory. It will be presented in a style that will be both understandable and engaging to fellow scientists and a general audience.