Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding Homosexuality: Moving on from Patterns to Mechanisms

  • Commentary
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

The Original Article was published on 12 June 2017

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Arnqvist, G., & Rowe, L. (2005). Sexual conflict. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, J. M., Dunne, M. P., & Martin, N. G. (2000). Genetic and environmental influences on sexual orientation and its correlates in an Australian twin sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 524–536.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, J. M., Pillard, R. C., Dawood, K., Miller, M. B., Farrer, L. A., Trivedi, S., & Murphy, R. L. (1999). A family history study of male sexual orientation using three independent samples. Behavior Genetics, 29, 79–85.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, M. A., & Parker, G. A. (2003). Sperm competition games: Sperm selection by females. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 224, 27–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barta, Z. N., Houston, A. I., McNamara, J. M., & Szekely, T. (2002). Sexual conflict about parental care: The role of reserves. American Naturalist, 159, 687–705.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bateman, A. J. (1948). Intrasexual selection in Drosophila. Heredity, 2, 349–368.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. (2004). Quantitative and theoretical analyses of the relationship between older brothers and homosexuality in men. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 230, 173–187.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R. (2017). Fraternal birth order, family size, and male homosexuality: Meta-analysis of studies spanning 25 years. Archives of Sexual Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10508-017-1007-4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., & Bogaert, A. F. (1996). Homosexuality in men and number of older brothers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 27–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., & Bogaert, A. F. (2004). Proportion of homosexual men who owe their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order: An estimate based on two national probability samples. American Journal of Human Biology, 16, 151–157.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., & Sheridan, P. M. (1992). Sibship size, sibling sex ratio, birth order, and parental age in homosexual and nonhomosexual gender dysphorics. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 40–47.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bogaert, A. F. (2004). The prevalence of male homosexuality: The effect of fraternal birth order and variations in family size. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 230, 33–37.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bogaert, A. F., & Skorska, M. (2011). Sexual orientation, fraternal birth order, and the maternal immune hypothesis: A review. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32, 247–254.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Byne, W., & Parsons, B. (1993). Human sexual orientation: The biological theories reappraised. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 228–239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. C. (1997). Reaching a stable global population: What we have learnt, and what we must do. Health Transition Review, 7, 37–42.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Camperio-Ciani, A., Battaglia, U., & Zanzotto, G. (2014). Human homosexuality: A paradigmatic arena for sexually antagonistic selection? Cold Spring Harbor Perspective in Biology, 7, a017657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camperio-Ciani, A., Cermelli, P., & Zanzotto, G. (2008). Sexually antagonistic selection in human male homosexuality. PLoS ONE, 3, e2282.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Camperio-Ciani, A., Corna, F., & Capiluppi, C. (2004). Evidence for maternally inherited factors favouring male homosexuality and promoting female fecundity. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, 271, 2217–2221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantor, J. M., Blanchard, R., Paterson, A. D., & Bogaert, A. F. (2002). How many gay men owe their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 63–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chaix, R., Cao, C., & Donnelly, P. (2008). Is mate choice in humans MHC-dependent? PLoS Genetics, 4, e1000184.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Downey, J. (1987). Sex hormones in lesbian and heterosexual women. Hormones and Behavior, 21, 347–357.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gavrilets, S. (2014). Is sexual conflict an engine of speciation? Cold Spring Harbor Perspective in Biology, 6, a017723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavrilets, S., & Rice, W. R. (2006). Genetic models of homosexuality: Generating testable predictions. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, 273, 3031–3038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haig, D. (2000). The kinship theory of genomic imprinting. Annual Reviews in Ecology and Systematics, 31, 9–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamer, D. H., Hu, S., Magnuson, V. L., Hu, N., & Pattatucci, A. M. (1993). A linkage between DNA markers on the X chromosome and male sexual orientation. Science, 261, 321–327.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hemberger, M., Dean, W., & Reik, W. (2009). Epigenetic dynamics of stem cells and cell lineage commitment: Digging Waddington’s canal. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 10, 526–537.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holland, B., & Rice, W. R. (1998). Chase-away sexual selection: Antagonistic seduction versus resistance. Evolution, 52, 1–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, S., Pattatucci, A., Patterson, C., Li, L., Fulker, D., Cherny, S., et al. (1995). Linkage between sexual orientation and chromosome Xq28 in males but not females. Nature Genetics, 11, 248–256.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffee, W. L., McCormack, M. M., & Vaitukaitis, J. L. (1980). Plasma hormones and the sexual preferences of men. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 5, 33–38.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, K. M., Bailey, J. M., Dunne, M. P., & Martin, N. G. (2000). Measurement models for sexual orientation in a community twin sample. Behavior Genetics, 30, 345–356.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Långström, N., Rahman, Q., Carlström, E., & Lichtenstein, P. (2010). Genetic and environmental effects on same-sex sexual behavior: A population study of twins in Sweden. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 75–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LeVay, S. (2016). Gay, straight, and the reason why: The science of sexual orientation (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manikkam, M., Guerrero-Bosagna, C., Tracey, R., Haque, M. M., & Skinner, M. K. (2012). Transgenerational actions of environmental compounds on reproductive disease and identification of epigenetic biomarkers of ancestral exposures. PLoS ONE, 7, e3190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L. (1984). Psychoendocrine research on sexual orientation: Current status and future options. Progress in Brain Research, 61, 375–398.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Milinski, M. (2006). The major histocompatibility complex, sexual selection, and mate choice. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 37, 159–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mustanski, B. S., DuPree, M. G., Nievergelt, C. M., Bocklandt, S., Schork, N. J., & Hamer, D. H. (2005). A genome wide scan of male sexual orientation. Human Genetics, 116, 272–278.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ngun, T. C., Ghahramani, N., Sánchez, F. J., Bocklandt, S., & Vilain, E. (2011). The genetics of sex differences in brain and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32, 227–246.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G. A. (1979). Sexual selection and sexual conflict. In M. S. Blum & N. A. Blum (Eds.), Sexual selection and reproductive competition in insects (pp. 123–166). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattatucci, A. M. L., & Hamer, D. H. (1995). Development and familiality of sexual orientation in females. Behavior Genetics, 25, 407–420.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pierik, F. H., Burdorf, A., Deddens, J. A., Juttmann, R. E., & Weber, R. F. A. (2004). Maternal and paternal risk factors for cryptorchidism and hypospadias: A case-control study in newborn boys. Environmental and Health Perspectives, 112, 1570–1576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramagopalan, S. V., Dyment, D. A., Handunneththi, L., Rice, G. P., & Ebers, G. C. (2010). A genome-wide scan of male sexual orientation. Journal of Human Genetics, 55, 131–132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, G., Anderson, C., Risch, N., & Ebers, G. (1999). Male homosexuality: Absence of linkage to microsatellite markers at Xq28. Science, 284, 665–667.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W. R. (1998). Intergenomic conflict, interlocus antagonistic coevolution, and the evolution of reproductive isolation. In D. J. Howard & S. H. Berlocher (Eds.), Endless forms: Species and speciation (pp. 261–270). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W. R., Friberg, U., & Gavrilets, S. (2012). Homosexuality as a consequence of epigenetically canalized sexual development. Quarterly Reviews in Biology, 87, 343–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W. R., Friberg, U., & Gavrilets, S. (2013). Homosexuality via canalized sexual development: A testing protocol for a new epigenetic model. BioEssays, 35, 343–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W. R., Friberg, U., & Gavrilets, S. (2016). Sexually antagonistic epigenetic marks that canalize sexually dimorphic development. Molecular Ecology, 25, 1812–1822.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W. R., & Gavrilets, S. (2014). The genetics and biology of sexual conflict. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W. R., Gavrilets, S., & Friberg, U. (2008). Sexually antagonistic ‘zygotic drive’ of the sex chromosomes. PLoS Genetics, 4, e1000313.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W. R., & Holland, B. (1997). The enemies within: Intergenomic conflict, interlocus contest evolution (ICE), and intraspecific Red Queen. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 41, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, A. R., Martin, E. R., Beecham, G. W., Guo, S., Dawood, K., Rieger, G., et al. (2015). Genome-wide scan demonstrates significant linkage for male sexual orientation. Psychological Medicine, 45, 1379–1388.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Semenyna, S. W., Petterson, L. J., VanderLaan, D. P., & Vasey, P. L. (2017). A comparison of the reproductive output among the relatives of Samoan androphilic fa’afafine and gynephilic men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 87–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, H. G., & Härdling, R. (2000). Clutch size evolution under sexual conflict enhances the stability of mating systems. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, 267, 2163–2170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of Man 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • VanderLaan, D. P., & Vasey, P. L. (2011). Male sexual orientation in Independent Samoa: Evidence for fraternal birth order and maternal fecundity effects. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 495–503.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wedekind, C., Seebeck, T., Bettens, F., & Paepke, A. J. (1995). MHC-dependent mate preferences in humans. Proceedings Biological Sciences, 22, 245–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, N. E. (2007). An antiboy antibody? Re-examination of the maternal immune hypothesis. Journal of Biological Science, 39, 905–921.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank P. L. Vasey for useful comments and suggestions. This work was partially supported by the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis through NSF Award EF-0830858, with additional support from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (SG) and the Swedish Research Council (UF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Sergey Gavrilets

  2. Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Sergey Gavrilets

  3. National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Sergey Gavrilets

  4. IFM Biology, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden

    Urban Friberg

  5. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    William R. Rice

Authors
  1. Sergey Gavrilets
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Urban Friberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. William R. Rice
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sergey Gavrilets.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gavrilets, S., Friberg, U. & Rice, W.R. Understanding Homosexuality: Moving on from Patterns to Mechanisms. Arch Sex Behav 47, 27–31 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1092-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1092-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation