A 1996 study done by the Psychology department at the University of Georgia and subsequently published in the prestigious Journal of Abnormal Psychology concluded with some very interesting findings. The title of the study was Is Homophobia Associated with Homosexual Arousal. While we have all heard anecdotal just-so stories explaining outward homophobia as some sort of denial or projection, this study gathers empirical data to support these types of hypotheses. This is not good news for the ego of the hondo-macho type.

The basics of the study

The researchers gathered 64 male University of Georgia students to participate in the study. They were all fully informed about the nature of the study and were told they could stop at any time. Once they showed up for the study, they were given a few surveys that have been historically demonstrated to be valid assessment devices. The survey that is probably of most interest here is a survey designed to measure the level of homophobic tendencies or homonegativity. After the surveys were administered, the participants were instructed how to fit the apparatus taken to a private room. Once in the private room, baseline measurements were taken before a display randomly showed three types of sexually explicit videos: heterosexual, homosexual-females, and homosexual-males.

The apparatus

The apparatus was basically a band that the participants wore around their penis. The band contains technology that measures the circumference of the participant's junk. Any increased blood flow due to arousal is measured by the increase in penile circumference. While this may be kind of funny, it is a time tested measure that has been used in numerous studies.

In the analysis of the data, two groups were compared. High score homophobic males and low score homophobic males. These categories were determined by the scores obtained from the before mentioned survey.

The interesting part

Both groups showed an overall increase in penis circumference while watching all three categories of sexually explicit material. But the only instance where there was a significant difference in engorgement between the homophobes and non-homophobes was during the homosexual-male porn. The homophobic males showed significantly more engorgement while watching two men go at it than the non-homophobic males.

Wow.

While this may not be too surprising to those that have suspect such all along, it is interesting to have empirical data to back up those suspicions. It goes a long way to support all the jokes that are told about prominent people like Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, and the scores of rapist Catholic priests.


Adams, H.E., Lester, Wright, L.W., and Lohr, B.A. (1996) Is homophobia associated with sexual arousal? Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 105(3) 440-445. [PDF]