Sat 12 Sep 2015 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
A new study has found homophobia could be linked to psychological problems. Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk refusing to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples, is the current poster girl for homophobes In a paper published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers say certain psychological traits, along with poor defence mechanisms, may create homophobic attitudes. Working under Dr Emmanuele A. Jannini, President of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine, researchers recruited 560 Italian University students between the ages of 18 and 30, and evaluated their mental health status. They found homophobia was more likely to be reported in men than women, and those who displayed it were more likely to utilise immature defence mechanisms - suggesting issues with uncomfortable social situations. They also found evidence of psychological traits among homophobic people – they were more likely to display ‘psychoticism', which, in extreme cases, could be a predictor of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, as well as personality disorders. In minor forms, psychoticism comes across as hostility and anger. Dr Jannini believes the findings show being gay is not the problem, but those who have issues with it are. "After discussing for centuries if homosexuality is to be considered a disease, for the first time we demonstrated that the real disease to be cured is homophobia, associated with potentially severe psychopathologies.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 12th September 2015 - 7:50pm