Defeminization and adult psychological well-being among male homosexuals.

Whitam's hypothesis that a majority of gay men exhibit a cross-gender role preference during childhood but that most defeminize by adulthood was tested and supported by data on 1556 gay men. Gay and heterosexual males were found to differ strongly in cross-gender characteristics during childhood but considerably less so during adulthood. By categorizing gay respondents simultaneously by both childhood and adult cross-gendering, sizable differences were found in measures of psychological well-being. No or minimal differences were found between homosexual and heterosexual males on these measures. It was suggested that these two groups may differ not at all or minimally on purely psychological measures but that major differences may be found in cultural variables and particularly in gender culture.