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To cite this article: Evelyn Hooker (1957) The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual,
Journal of Projective Techniques, 21:1, 18-31, DOI: 10.1080/08853126.1957.10380742
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The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual
HOOKER
EVELYN 1,2, 3
Department of Psychology, University of California a t Los Angeles
sumptions are made about the ran- securing the 30 matched pairs of sub-
dom selection of either group. No one jects, and the data in Table I indi-
knows what a random sample of the cate that in most instances the match-
homosexual population would be ing was unusually close.
like; and even if one knew, it would T h e homosexuals, and thus the
be extremely difficult, if not impos- heterosexuals, ranged in age from 25
sible, to obtain one. T h e project to 50, with an average age of 34.5 for
would not have been possible without the homosexual group and 36.6 for
the invaluable assistance of the Mat- the heterosexual group. T h e IQ range,
tachine Society, an organization which as measured by the Otis Self-Adminis-
I
TABLE
Homosexual Heterosexual
Matched Pairs Age IQ Ecltication Age IQ Education
Number
1.................................................. 42 105 12 41 105 12
2.. ................................................ 29 104 12 28 104 12
3. ............................................... 29 109 9 31 109 12
31 120 16 30 123 16
5 . ................................................ 44 127 18 45 126 17
6.. ................................................ 33 127 16 32 129 16
,.................................................. 40 124 16 42 123 16
8............................................ 33 124 16 36 122 16
10 98 12 42 100 12
10.................................................. 33 101 14 32 105 15
11.................................................. 30 127 14 29 127 16
12.................................................. 42 91 12 39 94 14
13.................................................. 44 98 9 44 100 12
14.................................................. 36 114 16 36 117 16
15.................................................. 33 120 14 34 120 16
16.................................................. 40 106 12 44 107 12
17.................................................. 37 116 12 34 113 14
18.................................................. 36 127 16 36 127 I6
~.
35 103 12 37 101 11
20.................................................. 26 133 18 27 133 18
21.................................................. 33 124 13 36 122 16
22.................................................. 32 123 12 39 120 12
23.................................................. 26 123 16 29 133 16
24.......................................... 26 123 16 29 133 16
41 135 16 39 119 16
26.................................................. 28 114 16 35 112 13
27.................................................. 27 118 13 48 119 13
28.................................................. 27 110 14 48 113 16
29.................................................. 57 95 14 46 100 12
30 .................................................. 26 124 14 30 129 12
20 The Adjustment of the Male Ouert Homosexual
tering Tests of Mental Ability, was beforehand about the homosexual as-
from 90 to 135, with an average for pects of the project. When an indi-
the homosexual group of 115.4 and vidual came to me, after describing
for the heterosexual group of 116.2. to him the nature of the testing and
I n education the range was from com- the interview and securing his willing-
pletion of grammar school to the ness to participate in the project, I
equivalent of a masters degree, with then described very briefly the pur-
an average for the homosexual group pose of the study, including the homo-
of 13.9 years and for the heterosexual sexual group. It was impossible to
group of 14.3. avoid this explanation. T h e commun-
I n both groups subjects were elim- ity leaders who referred these men
inated who were in therapy at the were concerned about possible reper-
time. If, in the preliminary screening, cussions ol a sex study. They re-
evidence of considerable disturbance quired that each man be informed
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appeared, the individual was elimin- that the total project involved a com-
ated (5 heterosexuals; 5 homosexuals). parison of homosexual and heterosex-
I attempted to secure homosexuals ual men. I had, therefore, to risk the
who would be pure for homosexual- effect of this information upon my
ity; that is, without heterosexual ex- subjects. So, having very briefly des-
perience. With three exceptions this cribed the project to him, I then
is so. These three subjects had not asked whether he had had any homo-
had more than three heterosexual ex- sexual inclinations or experience.
periences, and they identified them- This question was put in a matter-of-
selves as homosexual in their patterns fact way and only after a good rela-
of desire and behavior. T h e hetero- tionship of cooperation had been es-
sexual group is exclusively heterosex- tablished. If the individual seemed to
ual beyond the adolescent period, be severely disturbed by the question,
with three exceptions: these three had or responded in a bland way, or de-
had a single homosexual experience nied it vehemently, I did not include
each. I n the effort to control the pres- him in the sample of 30. I t is possible,
ence of homosexuality, latent or other- though I doubt it, that there are some
wise, in the heterosexual group, each heterosexuals in my group who have
potential subject was referred by a strong latent or concealed overt
responsible leader of a community homosexuality.
group, who described him as being a T h e materials used for the coiii-
thorough-going heterosexual and well parative study of personality struc-
adjusted. This was an attempt to take ture and adjustment of these two
precautions to eliminate as many men groups of men consisted of a battery
as possible with homosexual patterns of projective techniques, attitude
of behavior. I t did not do so, and scales, and intensive life history inter-
some individuals came who had to views. T h e material I am reporting
be eliminated because, though mar- on here is largely from an analysis of
ried and functioning in the commun- the Rorschach, T A T , and MAPS,
ity as married men, they had had ex- with some references to life histories,
tensive homosexual experience (four the detailed analysis of which has not
subjects). yet been completed.
T h e heterosexual subjects came be- I used the Rorschach because many
cause they were told that this was an clinicians believe it to be the best
opportunity to contribute to our un- method of assessing total personality
derstanding of the way in which the structure and, also, because it is one
average individual in the community of the test instruments currently used
functions, since we had little data on for the diagnosis of homosexuality.
normal men. They were told nothing T h e 60 Rorschach protocols were
HOOKER
EVELYN 21
come later and that the present task superior adjustment for the homosex-
was that of telling me as much as he ual group. By the method of grand
could about what he thought the sub- medians, chi square for Judge A
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TABLE
I11
Sumher of Subjects
Difference? Total Homosexual Heterosexual
0 (exact agreement)....................................................... I9 8 11
1 rating step.................................................................... 23 12 11
2 rating steps................................................................... 14 7 7
3 rating steps.................................................................. -4 3
- 1
60 30 SO
HOOKER
EVELYN 23
assume that the Rorschach is a valid objects elaborated with unusual de-
instrunient for determining adjust- tail; responses giving evidence of con-
ment in the way in which we have siderable sexual confusion, with cas-
defined it? If so, then clearly there is tration anxiety, and/or hostile or fear-
no inherent connection between path- ful attitudes toward women; evidence
ology and homosexuality. But caution of feminine cultural identification,
is needed. As clinicians, we are well and/or emotional involvement be-
aware, in daily practice, of the limi- tween males. When these clues ap-
tations of projective material anal- peared in neither o r in both records,
yzed blind. Nevertheless, the quan- the judge was forced to look for other
titative results are striking, and they evidence, and most frequently de-
are confirmed in part by observations pended upon peculiar verbalization,
of the judges, as well as- and I say or responses with idiosyncratic mean-
this with great caution - by life- ing, or the flavor of the total rec-
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clinic, that is, severely disturbed, there of significant differences between the
might have been greater probability adjustments of the two groups.
that they could have been correctly I n addition to the overall adjust-
identified, although this cannot be ment ratings, each judge gave sum-
said with certainty. I have now seen mary statements about each subject
about two hundred homosexual rec- in a number of categories, including
ords and would be skeptical about my methods of handling aggression, af-
ability to identify correctly records fectional and dependency needs, and
similar to many in this group. form of impulse control. When these
Although it is not pertinent to this statements were tabulated and wb-
symposium5 to present in detail the jected to statistical analysis, again
findings of the statistical compari- no clear-cut differences emerged.GFor
sons of the two groups of Rorschach example, the statements about affec-
protocols, it is relevant to point out tional and dependency needs have
in summary form that most of these been tabulated in eleven categories,
comparisons have failed to produce such as repressed or absent, ego-alien,
differences of sufficient magnitude to integrates well, controlled by (that is,
satisfy tests of significance. Several a dependent character). Four homo-
examples will suffice to make the sexuals were described as having af-
point. Although most studies of homo- fectional and dependency needs re-
sexual protocols indicate greater pro- pressed or absent, while three hetero-
ductivity on the Rorschach, the dif- sexuals were similarly described. Six
ference between the two groups in homosexuals and six heterosexuals
the present study does not reach sig- were described as integrating well
nificance, though there is a trend in these needs. It was said of one homo-
this direction (tz1.389, df= 29, p = sexual and one heterosexual that af-
>.lo). A detailed comparison of total fectional and dependency needs were
Ms and human figures was made. Of ego-alien. Chi square for differences
some 25 computations, of differences between the number of heterosexuals
between means of MYo in various cate- and homosexuals assigned to all cate-
gories (such as flexor or extensor), gories is 5.736, df=lO, insignificant.
differences in form level, variation in Let us turn now to the T A T and
form level, etc., the only ones which MAPS. These were administered as a
approached low significance were the single test, the selected MAPS items
sigma of form level (tz1.98, d f ~ 2 9 , following the T A T . Altogether, 12
p=>.O5), and 0-minus percent (t= pictures were used: SBM, 6BM, 7BM,
2.262, df=29, p= < .02). 12M, 13MF, 16, and 18GF of the
Cronbachs warning about inflation
-
- e T h e complete data will be reported in the
See Footnote 4. future publication previously referred to.
HOOKER
EVELYN 25
TABLE
1V-Adjustment Ratings on MAPS-TAT
Ratings
(Top) (Bottom)
Group 1 2 3 4 5
Homosexual .............................................................. 0 9 1:i 6 0
Heterosexual............................................................. -0 7
- 19
- 3
- - 1
Total .................................................................. 0 1F 34 9 1
T A T ; and from the MAPS, the Liv- ords, the T A T protocols were ana-
ing Room, the Street Scene, the Bath- lyzed in succession, with judgments
room, the Bedroom, and the Dream. given, and then the MAPS-the judge
It was hoped that the T A T and not knowing which MAPS protocol
MAPS would be helpful in revealing corresponded with which T A T . This
current conflicts. T h e MAPS was used was done in an effort to prevent a
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so sensitive and responsive, he cannot his early life he passed through the
give in to the submissive seduction. cruising stage, he now has highly
His dependency needs are filtered and stTble personal relationships, includ-
sublimated. He is the ethical type. In- ing a homosexual marriage. If one
tellectual introspection must be his brackets the fact that he is a homo-
major preoccupation. He is really bal- sexual, one would think of him as
anced on a razors edge. An extremely being a highly cultured, intelligent
clever person. He was correctly iden- man who, though unconventional in
tified by this judge, who gave him a his manner of living, exhibits no par-
rating of 1, and incorrectly by the tirrilai signs of pathology. He has
other judge, who placed him in Rat- ne\ er sought psychological or psychi-
ing 2. T h e latter describes him in the atric help. He has been a homosexual
following terms: He gives a n origin- frmn adolescence, with n o heterosex-
al twist to ordinary things. For him it ual experience or inclination.
is very important not to be conven- Let me describe another (Subject
tional. He avoids it like the plague. #50) of these individuals who was
H e tries to keep it cool. I get the feel- placed in adjustment categories 1 or
ing that he wants to deny dependency. 2 by both Rorschach judges and mis-
He has passive longings, but these identified as being a heterosexual. One
would not fit in with his ego-ideal of judge described this man as being so
being strong, superior, and wise. H e ordinary that its hard to say anything
would be able to be very rewarding specific about him. His impulse con-
emotionally. He does not wish t o ex- trol is very smooth. He uses channeli-
pose his aggression ordinarily, but zation rather than repression. Except
would in relation to manly intellec- for a little too much emphasis on con-
tual pursuits. I think he is heterosex- quest in heterosexual relations, he is
ual. well adjusted and smooth. His aggres-
This man is described on the sive impulses are expressed in phallic
MAPS and T A T as being the most gratification. Good fusion of tender-
heterosexual-looking homosexual I ness and aggression, though he subju-
have ever seen. Up to the last two gates tenderness to phallic gratifica-
stories on the MAPS, I would say con- tion. He must be a heterosexual. I
fidently, This is a heterosexual rec- would really have to force myself, to
ord. His attitudes to sexuality are fair- think of him as not heterosexual. By
ly moral. H e has refined, quiet rela- the second judge this man is described
tionships to people. I would give him in the following terms: He must be a
a rating of 2. T h e unconscious con- very interesting guy. H e must convey
flicts are very deep, but they are not comfort to people. H e takes essen-
disturbing clinically. N o idea of clin- tials and doesnt get lost in details.
ical label. I would not have known he A solid citizen, neatly and solidly in-
EVELYN
HOOKER 27
tegrated, with no specific defenses. father is interrupted, but this, if any-
Neither aggression nor dependency is thing, would be heterosexual. T h e
a problem. I think tiiit this man is Bedroom is as normal a heterosexual
hetei osexual. story as I have ever read. T h e judge
Man #50 is twenty-seven. He works re-reads the story: This is almost a n
in the electronics industry, in a very encapsulated homosexual. I dont
large firm in which he has a super- know if I am just being fancy, but we
visory job. He lives alone in an apart- talk about a guy sometimes who func-
ment, though in an apartment house tions fairly well until you mention
in which other homosexuals reside. Republican or Communist, then
His homosexual pattern involves you plug in a whole series of paranoid
lather a large number of homosexual and delusory material; at this point
partners. He is thoroughly immersed the guy is just crazy. Thzs guy has an
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some repression. Not an acter outer. doesnt have rich dynamics robs him
Avoids intense emotional stimuli be- of being interesting, creative, and un-
cause they are disorganizing to him. usual. I rate him as a 2 for sure. I
T h e T A T and MAPS were analyzed dont know what a 1 would be. He
separately. I n the first four stories of 112 cdles hostility and sexuality easily.
the T A T , the subject was described One shortcoming in the record-not
as being a thorough-going heterosex- pathological-is the conventionality;
ual. I n 13MF the judge comments, and I imply by that a touch of empti-
Here we have a fairly straightfor- ness. He is able to love and to dislike.
ward heterosexual story. I n the blank He is a good father and husband and
card in the T A T , the judge says, would be a steady employee. I could
Here this guy opens u p more than see him as having a better-than-aver-
on tht. others. He is a sleeper. This age job. He would not be a creative or
is one of the best-adjusted and, in a imaginative person. I dont mean a
sense, one of the most paradoxical rec- Babbitt, but he would not take the
ords I have seen. What is here is in- risk of loving deeply. He is a middle-
decision and a schizoid feeling. So of-the-roader. This is as clean a rec-
this is not in any sense a superior per- ord as I think I have seen. I dont
sonality. There is some withdrawal think he has strong dependency needs.
and some aridity. This is not an out- He is comfortable, and in that sense
going, warm, decisive person. I t is he is strong. I imply that this is a
a constricted, somewhat egocentric, hetercsexual record specifically.
somewhat schizoid, perturbed, a little This man is 31, and he works in a
guilty fellow. Even so, it is not a tor- ceramics factory doing fairly routine
mented record and is not necessarily a work. He has a homosexual mar-
homosexual record. H e talks about riage of some six years duration. He
this quite casually and has a fairly tried very hard to change his sexual
good adjustment to his homosexuality. pattern but was unsuccessful and has
This guy is a very interesting person now accepted the homosexual life.
arid quite a complicated guy. I n many H e has not had heterosexual experi-
ways he is both well adjusted to his ence.
homosexuality and the kind of guy O u t of the 30 homosexual men,
who could almost be heterosexual in there were seven who were placed by
a way that other homosexuals could one or the other judge in rating cate-
not be. I dont think he would be gories 4 or 5. Since these individuals
swishy or over-masculine. He would have what is probably the more ex-
pass. I find him very difficult to rate. pected personality picture, I should
I cant rate him as 1 or 2. To call him like to describe several. One of these
average is innocuous. H e doesnt merit is ff6. He was rated by one judge a t
5 or 4. I dont know. I will call him a 5 level and by the other judge at 2.
HOOKER
EVELYN 29
By the judge who places him at 5, he to preserve distant relations. Doesnt
is described as a pseudo-normal, near- want to see sex in people. Sex is very
psychotic, with brittle personality or- repulsive.
ganization which is fairly stabilized. Thus, there is no single pattern of
His reality testing is uncannily sharp, homosexual adjustment. This had
but he is almost autistic. His chief- de- been anticipated. T h e richness and
fenses are projection and intellectual variety of ways in which the homo-
control. There are strong castration sexual adjusts are as difficult to sum-
fears, strong orality, and the aggres- marize as to summarize 30 full, quali-
sion is projected or transformed into tative pictures of 30 individuals. If I
irony. T h e emotional needs are with- were to read pictures of heterosexuals
ered away. with the same level of adjustment, the
Man #52 is described by one judge pictures would be essentially the same,
whc places him in the 4 category, as with the exception of the bottom
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a personality which is basically path- range, where one does not find the
ological. An anal character, with a marked anal-destructive character-
strongly destructive flavor. Anal-sa- structure or the emphasis o n femin-
distic. A past-master of intellectualiza- inity (which may occur at other
tion, though superficially socializes it. levels, also).
Ju5t enough reality testing to be clin- T h a t homosexuality is determined
ically normal. Impossible to separate by a multiplicity of factors would not
the hysterical and paranoid elements. now, I think, be seriously questioned.
Lcpendency needs are repressed or T h a t the personality structure and ad-
crippled. Very narcissistic and inca- justment may also vary within a wide
pable of guilt. A cloak of righteous- range now seems quite clear. I t comes
ness over it all. T h e second judge de- as n o surprise that some homosexuals
scribes him in the following terms: are severely disturbed, and, indeed, so
There is too much unconscious much so that the hypothesis might be
breaking through. Some ideational entertained that the homosexuality
leakage. A chronic situation to which is the defense against open psychosis.
he has made a n adjustment. He is not But what is difficult to accept (for
paranoid, but obsessive in a paranoid most clinicians) is that some honio-
structure. O n the surface he operates sexuals may be very ordinary individ-
smoothly. Emotional relationships will uals, indistinguishable, except in sex-
lack in depth and warmth. Uses over- ual pattern, from ordinary individu-
ideation as a defense. His primary als who are heterosexual. Or-and I do
method is intellectualization. His de- not know whether this would be more
pendency needs will make him appear or less difficult to accept-that some
demanding. Essentially a character may be quite superior individuals, not
picture. only devoid of pathology (unless one
Of a somewhat different nature is insists that homosexuality itself is a
+28, who is placed by both judges at sign of pathology) but also function-
the bottom level of adjustment. De- ing at a superior level.
scribed by one judge as very defen- But before we accept this hypoth-
sive; every impulse ego-alien. Uses de- esis as a plausible one, we must look
nial, intellectualization, and repres- carefully at the limitations of the evi-
sion. High level of narcissism. Re- dence. We have already spoken of the
gresses easily into the infantile. T h e necessity of caution in accepting as
most unbalanced record one could valid the results of blind analyses
find. By the other judge: This looks of projective test protocols. As clin-
like a clinic record. An anxiety state, icians, we are also cautious about ac-
pre-psychotic. I s more scared of his cepting a n analysis which is not
own fantasies than the world. People blind. It may be that the primary
present too many problems; he tries psychological defect, if there is one, in
30 T h e Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual
the homosexual lies in a weakness of least in one respect the life-history
ego-function and control a n d that this data from the two groups will differ:
cannot be adequately diagnosed from namely, in the love relationships.
projective test protocols. As one psy- Comparisons between the number and
chiatrist puts it, the material pro- duration of love relationships, cruis-
duced i n the Rorschach is like that ing patterns, and degree of satisfac-
produced o n the analytic couch. Two tion with sexual pattern and the love-
men may produce very similar mate- partner will certainly show clear-cut
rial o n the couch, but the difference differences.
between them is that one-the normal A question also arises about the
-gets u p at the end of the hour and size of the sample used. I t is possible
resumes his normal functioning, while that much larger samples-for exam-
the other does not. Another way of ple, 100 in each group-would show
looking at the data from the projec- differences. But would we not, in this
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tive tests may be that the homosexual case, be dealing with a different ques-
pathology occurs only in an erotic tion, namely, How many homosexu-
situation and that the homosexual can als, as compared with heterosexuals,
function well in non-erotic situations are average or better in adjustment,
such as the Rorschach, T A T , and and how many are worse than aver-
MAPS. Thus, one could defend the age? It seems to me that for the pres-
hypothesis that homosexuality is ent investigation the question is
symptomatic of pathology, but that whether homosexuality is necessarily a
the pathology is confined to one sec- symptom of pathology. All we need is
tor of behavior, namely, the sexual. a single case in which the answer is
As I listened to each of the three negative.
judges analyze the 60 records, I was What are the psychological impli-
very much impressed with the useful- cations of the hypothesis that homo-
ness of the projective tests, when in- sexuality is not necessarily a symptom
terpreted by expert clinicians. Often, of pathology? I would very tentatively
the picture of the personality which suggest the following:
emerged bore such a striking resem-
blance to the man as I knew him from 1. Homosexuality as a clinical entity
many hours of interviewing and test- does not exist. Its forms are as
ing that it was difficult to believe that varied as are those of heterosexu-
the judge did not have detailed per- ality.
sonal knowledge as well. Of course 2. Homosexuality may be a deviation
there was great discrepancy in some in sexual pattern which is within
cases. T h e full report of the material the normal range, psychologically.
will contain all of the evidence of the This has been suggested, on a bio-
congruency or lack of congruency be- logical level, by Ford and Beach
tween the life-history materials and (2).
the projective analysis. 3. T h e role of particular forms of
When I speak of the life-history ma- sexual desire and expression in per-
terials, I am highly conscious of the sonality structure and development
fact that these have not been object- may be less important than has fre-
ively rated for adjustment. This pre- quently been assumed. Even if one
sents a problem for the future simi- assumes that homosexuality repre-
lar to that of the T A T and MAPS, sents a severe form of maladjust-
only more so because of the difficulty ment to society in the sexual sector
of controlling for theoretical bias i n of behavior, this does not neces-
judging open homosexual material. sarily mean that the homosexual
Final conclusions cannot be drawn must be severely maladjusted in
until this is done. It can now be said other sectors of his behavior. Or, if
with some certainty, however, that at one assumes that homosexuality is
EVELYNHOOKER 31
a form of Severe maladjustment in- the Advancement of Psychiatry. Report on
ternally, it may be that the disturb- homosexuality with particular emphasis on
this problem in governmental agencies. Re-
ance is limited to the sexual sector port No, 30, Jan,, 1955. pp. 7,
alone. 2. Ford, C. S., and Beach, F. A. Patterns of
sexual behavior New York: Harper, 1951.
REFERENCES lp. 307.
1 . Committee on Cooperation with Govern-
mental (Federal) Agencies of the Group for Received Octoher 20, 1956
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