Others misrepresent their homosexual orientations because of stigma 3, 4. Some people are unaware that they are homosexual 2. Homosexual orientations, especially, may not be correctly disclosed. Past research on identical twins with discordant sexual orientations has largely depended on their self-reports, which can be inaccurate 1. Due to these unique influences, genetically identical twins can have discordant sexual orientations with one being heterosexual and the other homosexual. The non-shared environment is unique to each individual twin in an identical pair. Our study provides physiological evidence confirming twins’ discordant sexual orientations, thereby supporting the importance of the non-shared environment for the development of sexual orientation and sexual arousal.Ī recent review of twin studies indicates that although both genetic variations and the non-shared environment contribute to population-level differences in sexual orientation, the contribution of the non-shared environment is much stronger 1. These differences within pairs were similar to differences between unrelated heterosexual and homosexual males and females. Heterosexual female twins responded equally to both sexes, whereas their homosexual co-twins responded somewhat more to women than men. Their homosexual co-twins showed an opposite pattern. Across measures, heterosexual male twins responded more strongly to women than to men. We examined these responses in 6 male twin pairs and 9 female twin pairs who reported discordant sexual orientations. Measures of sexual orientation, which are free of the limitations of self-report, include genital arousal and pupil dilation while viewing sexual stimuli depicting men or women. However, whether the twins’ subjective reports reflect valid differences in their sexual orientations is unknown. Genetically identical twins can differ in their self-reported sexual orientations.
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