MALES’ SEXUAL PREFERENCE: IDENTIFICATION WITH FATHER
As we have noted, the extent to which a boy identifies with his father is thought to be critically important for his developing a firm sense of masculinity and, ultimately, a pattern of heterosexual preference. Failure to make such an identification, conversely, is thought to produce homosexuality, perhaps through the boy’s continuing search for an acceptable—and accepting—masculine model, or because the boy does not develop enough self-confidence to enjoy competing with his male peers in a variety of settings.
Several studies have reported that indeed homosexual males do tend to identify with their fathers less than do heterosexual males. It has been suggested that a boy’s identification with his father is based in part on whether he sees him as affectionate and rewarding, and that prehomosexual boys’ negative experiences with their fathers make the fathers poor role models. One study reported that mothers of prehomosexual boys have little respect for their husbands and that they discourage their sons from identifying with the fathers. It has been noted, however, that we should bear in mind that the child is not a passive partner in the father-son relationship and that, for example, a father may react with hostility toward a son whose behavior is in some way baffling or disappointing; thus the prehomosexual boy may simply be reciprocating his father’s disinclination to identify with him.
We tend to agree with the contention that homosexual and heterosexual males differ far more in their reports about their fathers than in what they have to say about their mothers. Nonetheless, our causal analysis convinces us that the tendency for homosexual males to perceive their fathers in a relatively negative fashion has little eventual influence on their sexual orientation. Unfavorable relationships with fathers do seem to be connected with gender nonconformity and early homosexual experiences; nonetheless, the connection to adult sexual preference is not a strong one. And Identification with Father—despite its theoretical prominence—appears even less important in the development of sexual preference. From these findings, then, we conclude that the relationship a boy has with his father cannot be said to predict very much about the sexual orientation he will develop.
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