Testing the Affiliation Hypothesis of
Homoerotic Behaviour in Humans:
The Effects
of Progesterone and
Priming
The Effects
of Progesterone
and
Priming
University of Portsmouth
University of California, Los Angeles
•To date, the affiliation explanation of human
homoerotic behaviour has not been
adequately tested experimentally.
California State University, Fullerton
We hypothesize that homoerotic motivation
is adaptively modulated by the costs and
benefits of affiliation weighed against those
of reproductive opportunities.
•Homoerotic behaviour occurs most
frequently among those who do not identify as
exclusively homosexual
Reproductive sexual
opportunity
•Affiliation, broadly defined, is one of the main
drivers of homoerotic behaviour in nonhuman
primates and has been implicated in social
bonding in humans
Photo credit : Zanna Clay
Benefit of same sex
affiliation
•Progesterone has been associated with
affiliatory motivation and sensitivity to
rejection
Study 3- testing the relationship between
progesterone and cues of affiliation and sexual
opportunity on homoerotic motivation in men
Study 1- questionnaire development
n=960
The idea of kissing a (wo)man seems
sexually arousing to me.
0.90
I have fantasized recently about having
sexual contact with a (wo)man.
0.84
I could not imagine the touch of a
(wo)man being sexually arousing.
0.81
(Wo)men’s bodies are erotic.
0.80
If a (wo)man made a pass at me I would
feel disgusted. –reverse scored
Factor
analysis
loadings
for each
question
and total
alpha
Method
Heterosexual men only (Kinsey 1 or 2 only, randomly associated
with condition)
Participants filled in the blanks for two lists of 20 words in one of
three categories.
Significant increase in percentage correct from puzzle 1 to 2
suggests the concepts were activated.
Saliva sample collected before the surveys were administered.
Examples of priming stimuli
0.75
Alphas for total scale
0.87
Intended prime
Puzzle stimuli
Affiliative
Cooperate
Co_pe_ _te
Sexual
Fornicate
For_ _ _a_e
Neutral
Sunlight
Sun_ _ _ht
Results
progesterone and homoerotic motivation in women
Log transformed
salivary
progesterone and
homoerotic
motivation were
significantly
correlated
Significant
r(92) = .27, p < .01
interaction of
priming condition
and log
transformed
Factor analysis and loadings forprogesterone
each question
and total alpha
F(2,53)= 3.22,
p<.05
5.50
Average homoerotic motivation
Women submitted
saliva and filled out
a series of
questionnaires.
Significant ANOVA for condition alone (F(2,57)=3.85, p=.03
t-test affiliative versus sexual condition t(40)=2.61, p=.01
t-test affiliative and neutral conditions t(37)=1.64, p=.06.
5.00
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
0.25
0.75
1.25
1.75
2.25
2.75
Correlation for
affiliative condition
alone r(21)=.41
p=.06
Average Homoerotic Motivation
Study 2- testing he relationship between
2.4
Affiliative
2.2
Sexual
Neutral
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
Log transformed progesterone
High progesterone
Low progesterone
Progesterone (mean split) and experimental
condition on homoerotic motivation in men (n=59)
nn
Discussion
•O u r r e s u l t s p r o v i d e t h e f i r s t e x p e r i m e n t a l e v i d e n c e s u p p o r t i n g t h e
hypothesis that human homoerotic behaviour serves the ultimate function of
e n h a n c i n g a ff i l i a t i o n .
•I n w o m e n , w e f i n d a s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n h o m o e r o t i c m o t i v a t i o n
a n d p r o g e s t e r o n e , a h o r m o n e l i n k e d t o a ff i l i a t i o n .
•I n m e n , p r i m i n g w i t h c u e s o f a ff i l i a t i o n i n c r e a s e s h o m o e r o t i c m o t i v a t i o n , a n d
t h i s e ff e c t i s e n h a n c e d i n m e n w i t h h i g h b a s e l i n e p r o g e s t e r o n e .
* Corresponding author:
[email protected]
Research was supported by a
UCLA Council on Research
grant to D.M.T.F.