Heterosexual bias in psychological research on lesbianism and male homosexuality

Heterosexual bias is here defined as a belief system that values heterosexuality as superior to and/or more "natural" than homosexuality. It is argued that the reconceptualization of homosexuality as a valid option for an adult life-style would suggest changes in the questions formulated, the data collected, and the interpretations made in research on lesbianism and male homosexuality. A taxonomy of research questions in this area was generated from English-language journal articles listed in Psychological Abstracts from 1967 through 1974. Case histories, treatment articles, theories, reviews of literature, books, dissertations, and unpublished papers read at conventions were not included. The 139 remaining studies were assessed and reviewed in terms of the extent to which they reflect a change in the social values of the behavior under study. Suggestions are made for priorities in future research. (59 ref)