A Psychometric Examination of Latent Homosexuality in Alcoholism

Abstract

This is an examination of the hypothesis that chronic alcoholism expresses, defends against, or in some other way develops as a result of underlying homosexual motivation. The study is predicated on the assumption that if homosexual motivation is effective in the production of alcohol addiction, then it should be effective in lending an effeminate, homosexual, or compensatorily over-masculine color to the alcoholic''s pattern of interests. The Masculinity-Femininity and Invert scales of the Terman and Miles Attitude-Interest Analysis Test and a mimeographed version of the Masculinity-Femininity scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were administered to 39 alcoholic patients. The mean Masculinity-Femininity scores were not statistically different from the mean of the normative populations employed in the standardization of the tests. A significant difference in mean Invert score between alcoholics and the normative population points to the "normality" of the alcoholics in sex-linked interest patterns. The conclusion is drawn that, in so far as the tests used measure homosexuality, latent or otherwise, homosexuality cannot be an essential factor in alcoholism, although it may play a dynamic role in individual cases.