Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sexual Orientation and Psychiatric Vulnerability: A Twin Study of Neuroticism and Psychoticism

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

Abstract

Recent evidence indicates that homosexuals and bisexuals are, on average, at greater risk for psychiatric problems than heterosexuals. It is assumed with some supporting evidence that prejudice often experienced by nonheterosexuals makes them more vulnerable to psychiatric disorder, but there has been no investigation of alternative explanations. Here we used Eysenck’s Neuroticism and Psychoticism scales as markers for psychiatric vulnerability and compared heterosexuals with nonheterosexuals in a community-based sample of identical and nonidentical twins aged between 19 and 52 years (N = 4904). Firstly, we tested whether apparent sexual orientation differences in psychiatric vulnerability simply mirrored sex differences—for our traits, this would predict nonheterosexual males having elevated Neuroticism scores as females do, and nonheterosexual females having elevated Psychoticism scores as males do. Our results contradicted this idea, with nonheterosexual men and women scoring significantly higher on Neuroticism and Psychoticism than their heterosexual counterparts, suggesting an overall elevation of psychiatric risk in nonheterosexuals. Secondly, we used our genetically informative sample to assess the viability of explanations invoking a common cause of both nonheterosexuality and psychiatric vulnerability. We found significant genetic correlation between sexual orientation and both Neuroticism and Psychoticism, but no corresponding environmental correlations, suggesting that if there is a common cause of both nonheterosexuality and psychiatric vulnerability it is likely to have a genetic basis rather than an environmental basis.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, G. (1996). Comorbidity and the general neurotic syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 76–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, J. M. (1999). Homosexuality and mental illness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 883–884.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Balsam, K. F., Rothblum, E. D., & Beauchaine, T. P. (2005). Victimization over the life span: A comparison of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and heterosexual siblings. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 477–487.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Banks, S. J., Eddy, K. T., Angstadt, M., Nathan, P. J., & Phan, K. L. (2007). Amygdala-frontal connectivity during emotion regulation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2, 303–312.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Birley, A. J., Gillespie, N. A., Heath, A. C., Sullivan, P. F., Boomsma, D. I., & Martin, N. G. (2006). Heritability and nineteen-year stability of long and short EPQ-R neuroticism scales. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 737–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozkurt, A., Isikli, H., Demir, F., Ozmenler, K. N., Gulcat, Z., Karlidere, T., et al. (2006). Body image and personality traits of male-to-female transsexuals and homosexuals. Social Behavior and Personality, 34, 927–937.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cale, E. M. (2006). A quantitative review of the relations between the “Big 3” higher order personality dimensions and antisocial behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 250–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, P., & Cameron, K. (1995). Does incest cause homosexuality? Psychological Reports, 76, 611–621.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cassin, S. E., & von Ranson, K. M. (2005). Personality and eating disorders: A decade in review. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 895–916.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Claridge, G. (1981). Psychoticism. In R. Lynn (Ed.), Dimensions of personality: Papers in honour of H G Eysenck (pp. 79–109). Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Claridge, G., Robinson, D. L., & Birchall, P. (1983). Characteristics of schizophrenics’ and neurotics’ relatives. Personality and Individual Differences, 4, 651–664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corliss, H. L., Cochran, S. D., & Mays, V. M. (2002). Reports of parental maltreatment during childhood in a United States population-based survey of homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual adults. Child Abuse and Neglect, 26, 1165–1178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1994). NEO PI-R Professional Manual: Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLisi, L. E., Svetina, C., Razi, K., Shields, G., Wellman, N., & Crow, T. J. (2002). Hand preference and hand skill in families with schizophrenia. Laterality, 7, 321–332.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Digman, J. M. (1990). Personality structure: Emergence of the 5-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 417–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, D. L., & Martin, N. G. (1994). Inferring the direction of causation in cross-sectional twin data: Theoretical and empirical considerations. Genetic Epidemiology, 11, 483–502.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisinger, A. J., Huntsman, R. G., Lord, J., Merry, J., Tanner, J. M., Polani, P., et al. (1972). Female homosexuality. Nature, 238, 106.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elias, L. J., Saucier, D. M., & Guylee, M. J. (2001). Handedness and depression in university students: A sex by handedness interaction. Brain and Cognition, 46, 125–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Escorial, S., & Navas, M. J. (2007). Analysis of the gender variable in the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised scales using differential item functioning techniques. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 67, 990–1001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J. (1967). Dimensions of personality. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1976). Psychoticism as a dimension of personality. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J., & Barrett, P. (1985). A revised version of the Psychoticism Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 21–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Beautrais, A. L. (1999). Is sexual orientation related to mental health problems and suicidality in young people? Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 876–880.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. S., Marshal, M. P., Stall, R., Cheong, J., & Wright, E. R. (2008). Gay-related development, early abuse and adult health outcomes among gay males. AIDS and Behavior, 12, 891–902.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad, S. W., Bailey, J. M., & Martin, N. G. (2000). Taxometric analyses of sexual orientation and gender identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 1109–1121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, J., Adams, J., Friedman, L., & East, P. (2002). Links between past abuse, suicide ideation, and sexual orientation among San Diego college students. Journal of American College Health, 51, 9–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grulich, A. E., de Visser, R. O., Smith, A. M. A., Rissel, C. E., & Richters, J. (2003). Sex in Australia: Homosexual experience and recent homosexual encounters. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 27, 155–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hicks, R. A., & Pellegrini, R. J. (1978). Handedness and anxiety. Cortex, 14, 119–121.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, T. L., Johnson, T., & Wilsnack, S. C. (2001). Sexual assault and alcohol abuse: A comparison of lesbians and heterosexual women. Journal of Substance Abuse, 13, 515–532.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • James, W. H. (2006). Two hypotheses on the causes of male homosexuality and paedophilia. Journal of Biosocial Science, 38, 745–761.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Joreskog, K. G., & Sorbom, D. (1999). LISREL 8.30 and PRELIS 2.30 for Windows. Chicago: Scientific Software.

  • Keller, M. C., Coventry, W. L., Heath, A. C., & Martin, N. G. (2005). Widespread evidence for non-additive genetic variation in Cloninger’s and Eysenck’s personality dimensions using a twin plus sibling design. Behavior Genetics, 35, 707–721.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C., & Eaves, L. J. (1993). A longitudinal twin study of personality and major depression in women. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 853–862.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., Thornton, L. M., Gilman, S. E., & Kessler, R. C. (2000). Sexual orientation in a US national sample of twin and nontwin sibling pairs. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1843–1846.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, A. A., Jacobson, K. C., Gardner, C. O., Prescott, C. A., & Kendler, K. S. (2005). Personality and comorbidity of common psychiatric disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 186, 190–196.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, M., Semlyen, J., Tai, S. S., Killaspy, H., Osborn, D., Popelyuk, D., et al. (2008). A systematic review of mental disorder, suicide, and deliberate self harm in lesbian, gay and bisexual people. BMC Psychiatry, 8, 17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., & Martin, C. E. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.

    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 

  • Laurent, A., Gilvarry, C., Russell, A., & Murray, R. (2002). Personality dimensions and neuropsychological performance in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia and affective psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 55, 239–248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leach, L. S., Christensen, H., Windsor, T. D., Butterworth, P., & Mackinnon, A. J. (2008). Gender differences in depression and anxiety across the adult lifespan: The role of psychosocial mediators. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43, 983–998.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2003). Handedness, sexual orientation, and gender-related personality traits in men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 103–114.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2005). Sexual orientation and personality. Annual Review of Sex Research, 16, 119–153.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A. (2008). Sex differences and sexual orientation differences in personality: Findings from the BBC internet survey. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 173–187.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loehlin, J. C. (1992). Genes and environment in personality development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loehlin, J. C. (1996). The Cholesky approach: A cautionary note. Behavior Genetics, 26, 65–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loehlin, J. C., & Martin, N. G. (2001). Age changes in personality traits and their heritabilities during the adult years: Evidence from Australian Twin Registry samples. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1147–1160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macaskill, G. T., Hopper, J. L., White, V., & Hill, D. J. (1994). Genetic and environmental variation in Eysenck Personality Questionnaire scales measured on Australian adolescent twins. Behavior Genetics, 24, 481–491.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mays, V. M., & Cochran, S. D. (2001). Mental health correlates of perceived discrimination among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 1869–1876.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, I. H. (1995). Minority stress and mental-health in gay men. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 38–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 674–697.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. M. (2000). Homosexuality, birth order, and evolution: Toward an equilibrium reproductive economics of homosexuality. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29, 1–34.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. D., & Lynam, D. (2001). Structural models of personality and their relation to antisocial behavior: A meta-analytic review. Criminology, 39, 765–798.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, T. C., Paul, J., Stall, R., Pollack, L., Canchola, J., Chang, Y. J., et al. (2004). Distress and depression in men who have sex with men: The urban men’s health study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 278–285.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Rutter, M., & Silva, P. A. (2001). Sex differences in antisocial behaviour: Conduct disorder, delinquency, and violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Neale, M. C., Boker, S. M., Xie, G., & Maes, H. H. (2006). Mx: Statistical modeling (7th ed.). Richmond, VA: Department of Psychiatry.

  • Neale, M. C., & Cardon, L. R. (1992). Methodology for genetic studies of twins and families. Boston: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neale, M. C., Eaves, L. J., & Kendler, K. S. (1994). The power of the classical twin study to resolve variation in threshold traits. Behavior Genetics, 24, 239–258.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nordstrom, P., Schalling, D., & Asberg, M. (1995). Temperamental vulnerability in attempted-suicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 92, 155–160.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ormel, J., Oldehinkel, A. J., & Vollebergh, W. (2004). Vulnerability before, during, and after a major depressive episode: A 3-wave population-based study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 990–996.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, E. A., & LeDoux, J. E. (2005). Contributions of the amygdala to emotion processing: From animal models to human behavior. Neuron, 48, 175–187.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piccinelli, M., & Wilkinson, G. (2000). Gender differences in depression: Critical review. British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 486–492.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pillard, R. C. (1991). Masculinity and femininity in homosexuality: “Inversion” revisited. In J. C. Gonsiorek & J. D. Weinrich (Eds.), Homosexuality: Research implications for public policy (pp. 32–43). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillard, R. C., & Bailey, J. M. (1998). Human sexual orientation has a heritable component. Human Biology, 70, 347–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posthuma, D., Beem, A. L., de Geus, E. J. C., van Baal, G. C. M., von Hjelmborg, J. B., Lachine, I., et al. (2003). Theory and practice in quantitative genetics. Twin Research, 6, 361–376.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roy, A. (2002). Childhood trauma and neuroticism as an adult: Possible implication for the development of the common psychiatric disorders and suicidal behaviour. Psychological Medicine, 32, 1471–1474.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sandfort, T. G. M., Bakker, F., Schellevis, F. G., & Vanwesenbeeck, I. (2006). Sexual orientation and mental and physical health status: Findings from a Dutch population survey. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1119–1125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sandfort, T. G. M., de Graaf, R., Bijl, R. V., & Schnabel, P. (2001). Same-sex sexual behavior and psychiatric disorders: Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS). Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 85–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Savic, I., & Lindstrom, P. (2008). PET and MRI show differences in cerebral asymmetry and functional connectivity between homo- and heterosexual subjects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 9403–9408.

  • Sell, R. L., Wells, J. A., & Wypij, D. (1995). The prevalence of homosexual behavior and attraction in the United States, the United Kingdom and France: Results of national population-based samples. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 24, 235–248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, Y. P., Zhang, B., Dong, Z. J., Yi, M. J., Sun, D. F., & Shi, S. S. (2008). Psychiatric state of college students with a history of childhood sexual abuse. World Journal of Pediatrics, 4, 285–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swaab, D. F. (2008). Sexual orientation and its basis in brain structure and function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 10273–10274.

  • Tomeo, M. E., Templer, D. I., Anderson, S., & Kotler, D. (2001). Comparative data of childhood and adolescence molestation in heterosexual and homosexual persons. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30, 535–541.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tranah, T., Harnett, P., & Yule, W. (1998). Conduct disorder and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 741–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, M. L. (1982). Neuroticism and extraversion of female homosexuals. Psychological Reports, 51, 559–562.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Young, M. S., Harford, K. L., Kinder, B., & Savell, J. K. (2007). The relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adult mental health among undergraduates: Victim gender doesn’t matter. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22, 1315–1331.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zietsch, B. P., Morley, K. I., Shekar, S. N., Verweij, K. J. H., Keller, M. C., Macgregor, S., et al. (2008). Genetic factors predisposing to homosexuality may increase mating success in heterosexuals. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29, 424–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a small grant (R03) to J.M.B. from the National Institute of Mental Health (USA) and a small Commonwealth AIDS Research Grant to N.G.M. Twins participating in this study were drawn from the Australian NHMRC Twin Registry. Thanks go to Geoffrey Miller for helpful feedback on a draft of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, QLD, 4029, Australia

    Brendan P. Zietsch, Karin J. H. Verweij, Margaret J. Wright & Nicholas G. Martin

  2. School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Brendan P. Zietsch & Karin J. H. Verweij

  3. Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    J. Michael Bailey

Authors
  1. Brendan P. Zietsch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karin J. H. Verweij
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Michael Bailey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Margaret J. Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nicholas G. Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brendan P. Zietsch.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zietsch, B.P., Verweij, K.J.H., Bailey, J.M. et al. Sexual Orientation and Psychiatric Vulnerability: A Twin Study of Neuroticism and Psychoticism. Arch Sex Behav 40, 133–142 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9508-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9508-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation