Ritch C Savin-Williams
Biographic Data
| ID | 3805000 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ritch C Savin-Williams |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ritch C |
| FAMILY NAME | Savin-Williams |
| SIGNATURE | SAVIN-WILLIAMS R C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cornell University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 51 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 815 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 51 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 16 |
Gender Nonconformity of Bisexual Men and Women
An exploratory study of exclusively heterosexual, primarily heterosexual, and mostly heterosexual young men
Kinsey argued that sexuality exists along a continuum from exclusive attraction to one sex or the other, with degrees of gradations of nonexclusivity in-between. Other than bisexuality and, recently, mostly heterosexuality, possibilities within the nonexclusive spectrum are seldom investigated, especially among men. In two studies presented here, an additional point, primarily heterosexual, in-between exclusively heterosexual and mostly heterosex…
Pupil Dilation to Explicit and Non-Explicit Sexual Stimuli
Gay, Mostly Gay, or Bisexual Leaning Gay? An Exploratory Study Distinguishing Gay Sexual Orientations Among Young Men
Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth
Sexual arousal and masculinity-femininity of women
Studies with volunteers in sexual arousal experiments suggest that women are, on average, physiologically sexually aroused to both male and female sexual stimuli. Lesbians are the exception because they tend to be more aroused to their preferred sex than the other sex, a pattern typically seen in men. A separate research line suggests that lesbians are, on average, more masculine than straight women in their nonsexual behaviors and characteristic…
Psychological and Physical Health of Mostly Heterosexuals
An Exploratory Study of the Categorical Versus Spectrum Nature of Sexual Orientation
This exploratory study investigated the nature of sexual orientation (categorical or spectrum) by assessing the relative ability of sexual and romantic indicators to be predicted by sexual orientation labels. Young adults from a variety of community and college venues (N =292) reported their sexual orientation label on a 9-point scale; from a 10-item list, their sexual identity; and the percentage of their sexual attraction, fantasy, genital cont…
The Politicization of Gay Youth Health
The Dubious Assessment of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Adolescents of Add Health
Mostly heterosexual as a distinct sexual orientation group
Physiological Evidence for a Mostly Heterosexual Orientation Among Men
The Eyes Have It
Recent research suggests profound sex and sexual orientation differences in sexual response. These results, however, are based on measures of genital arousal, which have potential limitations such as volunteer bias and differential measures for the sexes. The present study introduces a measure less affected by these limitations. We assessed the pupil dilation of 325 men and women of various sexual orientations to male and female erotic stimuli. R…
Gender Nonconformity, Sexual Orientation, and Psychological Well-Being
Mostly Heterosexual and Mostly Gay/Lesbian
Prevalence and Stability of Self-Reported Sexual Orientation Identity During Young Adulthood
Identity Development Among Sexual-Minority Youth
Adolescent Sexuality and Positive Well-Being
Depressive Symptoms Among Same-Sex Oriented Young Men
Correlates of Same-Sex Sexuality in Heterosexually Identified Young Adults
Currently, little is known about heterosexually identified individuals who nonetheless acknowledge same-sex interests. To address this shortcoming, the prevalence of same-sex attractions, fantasies, and experiences among heterosexually identified college students was examined, as well as differences between those who are exclusively heterosexual in their interests and those who are nonexclusive because they report some same-sex attractions or fan…
Then and now
It is not my intent to critique individual contributions in this special issue but to assess scholarly progress since the last special issue devoted to sexual orientation in Developmental Psychology (Patterson, 1995). Because not all steps forward can be catalogued in this limited forum, I focus on several long-standing challenges faced by developmental scientists as they investigate same-sex sexuality: recruitment and definition of same-sex popu…
Prevalence and Stability of Sexual Orientation Components During Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Who's Gay? Does It Matter?
To answer the question “Who's gay?”—and its logical follow-up, “Does it matter?”—researchers usually define homosexuality with reference to one of three components or expressions of sexual orientation: sexual/romantic attraction or arousal, sexual behavior, and sexual identity. Yet, the three components are imperfectly correlated and inconsistently predictive of each other, resulting in dissimilar conclusions regarding the number and nature of ho…
Pubertal Onset and Sexual Orientation in an Adolescent National Probability Sample
The New Gay Teenager
In this down-to-earth book, filled with the voices of young people speaking for themselves, Savin-Williams argues that the standard image of gay youth presented by mental health researchers—as depressed, isolated, drug-dependent, even suicidal—may have been exaggerated even twenty years ago, and is far from accurate today.
Sexual identity development among ethnic sexual-minority male youths
The current research explores how ethnicity influences sexual identity development. Among 139 sexual-minority male youths, measures of sexual identity development assessed the timing and sequencing of developmental milestones, disclosure of sexual identity to others, internalized homophobia, and same- and opposite-sex relationship histories. Findings demonstrated that participants, regardless of ethnicity, experienced most identity milestones at …
Sexual Identity Trajectories Among Sexual-Minority Youths
Prevalence and Stability of Sexual Orientation Components During Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Coming Out to Parents and Self-Esteem Among Gay and Lesbian Youths
The significance of the parents for the coming out process and for the self-evaluation of 317 gay and lesbian youths between the ages of 14 and 23 years was assessed in the current study. Responses from a 10-page questionnaire are analyzed, and these findings are discussed in the context of sex differences for both adolescents and parents, the importance of the parents for the self-esteem of gay and lesbian youth, and limitations of the current i…
Mostly Heterosexual and Mostly Gay/Lesbian
Prevalence and Stability of Self-Reported Sexual Orientation Identity During Young Adulthood
The Disclosure to Families of Same-Sex Attractions by Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youths
Developmental psychologists generally have ignored the processes by which sexual-minority adolescents come to recognize themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual and to disclose that information to others. One of the most critical events for sexual-minority adolescents is disclosing their sexual identity to family members. In this article, empirical research is addressed that documents the percentage of youths who disclose to their families, the ti…
Correlates of Same-Sex Sexuality in Heterosexually Identified Young Adults
Currently, little is known about heterosexually identified individuals who nonetheless acknowledge same-sex interests. To address this shortcoming, the prevalence of same-sex attractions, fantasies, and experiences among heterosexually identified college students was examined, as well as differences between those who are exclusively heterosexual in their interests and those who are nonexclusive because they report some same-sex attractions or fan…
Gender Nonconformity, Sexual Orientation, and Psychological Well-Being
The Dubious Assessment of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Adolescents of Add Health
Family Relations and the Self-Esteem of Adolescents and Their Parents
Previous research, especially that of Gecas and Schwalbe (1986), relating adolescent self- esteem to parental support, control, and participation is extended in the present investigation, which examines the effects of parent-adolescent communication and investigates dimensions of parent-adolescent interaction that predict parents' self-esteem. The findings suggest that (a) adolescents and their parents have similar but distinct perceptions of the…
Then and now
It is not my intent to critique individual contributions in this special issue but to assess scholarly progress since the last special issue devoted to sexual orientation in Developmental Psychology (Patterson, 1995). Because not all steps forward can be catalogued in this limited forum, I focus on several long-standing challenges faced by developmental scientists as they investigate same-sex sexuality: recruitment and definition of same-sex popu…
An Exploratory Study of the Categorical Versus Spectrum Nature of Sexual Orientation
This exploratory study investigated the nature of sexual orientation (categorical or spectrum) by assessing the relative ability of sexual and romantic indicators to be predicted by sexual orientation labels. Young adults from a variety of community and college venues (N =292) reported their sexual orientation label on a 9-point scale; from a 10-item list, their sexual identity; and the percentage of their sexual attraction, fantasy, genital cont…
The timing of puberty and its relationship to adolescent and parent perceptions of family interactions
Developmental change and stability in adolescent self-concept
This research challenges the traditional conception of adolescence as a time of stress and instability in selfconcept.Using multiple measures of self-concept with a longitudinal sample, three components of self-concept are distinguished: the experienced self, the presented self, and self-feelings Feelings about the self are relatively stable from moment to moment and from year to year.There are apparently three routes through the adolescent years…
Parental Influences on the Self-Esteem of Gay and Lesbian Youths
Based on a population of 317 gay and lesbian youths, the current investigation explores the appropriateness of a reflected appraisals perspective in predicting the degree to which parental attitudes, as perceived by youth, affects their self-esteem and comfortableness being gay. A lesbian was most comfortable with her sexual orientation if she also reported that her parents accepted her homosexuality; these variables did not, however, predict her…
An exploratory study of pubertal maturation timing and self-esteem among gay and bisexual male youths
Eighty-three gay and bisexual male youths (17-23 years old) completed questionnaires and a structured interview. Pubertal maturation was associated with self-reported age of first orgasm and ho mosexual activity and frequency of orgasms during junior high school. Unrelated were age of first same-sex attractions, sexual orientation, age of first heterosexual activity, frequency of orgasms dur ing high school, number of lifetime male and female sex…
Sexual arousal and masculinity-femininity of women
Studies with volunteers in sexual arousal experiments suggest that women are, on average, physiologically sexually aroused to both male and female sexual stimuli. Lesbians are the exception because they tend to be more aroused to their preferred sex than the other sex, a pattern typically seen in men. A separate research line suggests that lesbians are, on average, more masculine than straight women in their nonsexual behaviors and characteristic…
Early Adolescent Self-Esteem as a Function of Social Class
Self-esteem is postulated to be a function of social class in accordance with four theoretical principles-reflected appraisals, self-perception, social comparison, and psychological centrality. It is argued that the ascribed nature of social class among young adolescents makes it a weak determinat of their self-esteem, but that with increasing age socioeconomic position becomes more meaningful and thus more consequential for self-esteem.Data are …
Physiological Evidence for a Mostly Heterosexual Orientation Among Men
The Politicization of Gay Youth Health
Adolescent Sexuality and Positive Well-Being
Situational and transituational determinants of adolescent self-feelings
Employing a new self-report technique (paging devices), the self-feelings of 35 adolescents were assessed in various naturalistic contexts. Regression analysis was used to assess the stability of self-feelings. Individuals fell into three groups: stable, oscillating, and unpredictable (the largest). For the sample as a whole, self-feelings were not influenced by the immediate context, although specific settings, activities, and others present wit…
Pubertal Onset and Sexual Orientation in an Adolescent National Probability Sample
Gay, Mostly Gay, or Bisexual Leaning Gay? An Exploratory Study Distinguishing Gay Sexual Orientations Among Young Men
Dominance Hierarchies in Groups of Early Adolescents
SAVIN-WILLIAMS, RITCH C. Dominance Hierarchies in Groups of Early Adolescents. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1979, 50, 923-935. By using behavioral observations and sociometric methods, a stable dominance hierarchy was found in 8 groups of 12to 14-year-old male and female adolescents at a summer camp. Status position was relatively stable over time and across behavior settings. For both sexes the dominance hierarchy correlated significantly with the rank or…
Dominance hierarchies in groups of middle to late adolescent males
Biological and ecological factors in the expression of adolescent self-esteem
Conceiving or Misconceiving the Self
Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction is authorized without written permission from SAGE Publications. This version of the document is not the version of record. Figures and/or pictures may be missing from this format of the document.*** Article: An individual cannot touch, smell, taste, hear, or see self-esteem. The self is not a "natural " phenomenon and is thus not accessible to the same kinds of scientific inquiry and measurement…
An exploratory study of dominance interactions among adolescent females at a summer camp
Situational and transituational determinants of adolescent self-feelings
Employing a new self-report technique (paging devices), the self-feelings of 35 adolescents were assessed in various naturalistic contexts. Regression analysis was used to assess the stability of self-feelings. Individuals fell into three groups: stable, oscillating, and unpredictable (the largest). For the sample as a whole, self-feelings were not influenced by the immediate context, although specific settings, activities, and others present wit…
Early Adolescent Self-Esteem as a Function of Social Class
Self-esteem is postulated to be a function of social class in accordance with four theoretical principles-reflected appraisals, self-perception, social comparison, and psychological centrality. It is argued that the ascribed nature of social class among young adolescents makes it a weak determinat of their self-esteem, but that with increasing age socioeconomic position becomes more meaningful and thus more consequential for self-esteem.Data are …
Developmental change and stability in adolescent self-concept
This research challenges the traditional conception of adolescence as a time of stress and instability in selfconcept.Using multiple measures of self-concept with a longitudinal sample, three components of self-concept are distinguished: the experienced self, the presented self, and self-feelings Feelings about the self are relatively stable from moment to moment and from year to year.There are apparently three routes through the adolescent years…
Social Interactions of Adolescent Girls During Sports Activity
Few researchers have observed the social interactions of adolescent girls during sports activity. In this study we ascertained whether the nature of this interpersonal behavior varied between early and middle adolescence. Are middle adolescent girls less involved in sports activities than early adolescents, as theories of gender role socialization would lead us to expect? Furthermore, we sought to explain age effects in terms of differences in me…
The timing of puberty and its relationship to adolescent and parent perceptions of family interactions
An Ethological Perspective on Homosexuality during Adolescence
An ethological perspective is presented as an alternative to traditional developmental approaches to adolescence. From an evolutionary point of view, the onset of reproductive capability during adolescence marks the significance of this time during the life course. Thus, the apparent anomaly of male and female youth "preferring" not to engage in heterosexual activities that have the potential to maximize genetic fitness but to participate in homo…
Family Relations and the Self-Esteem of Adolescents and Their Parents
Previous research, especially that of Gecas and Schwalbe (1986), relating adolescent self- esteem to parental support, control, and participation is extended in the present investigation, which examines the effects of parent-adolescent communication and investigates dimensions of parent-adolescent interaction that predict parents' self-esteem. The findings suggest that (a) adolescents and their parents have similar but distinct perceptions of the…
Gay and Lesbian Adolescents
No abstract available for this article
Coming Out to Parents and Self-Esteem Among Gay and Lesbian Youths
The significance of the parents for the coming out process and for the self-evaluation of 317 gay and lesbian youths between the ages of 14 and 23 years was assessed in the current study. Responses from a 10-page questionnaire are analyzed, and these findings are discussed in the context of sex differences for both adolescents and parents, the importance of the parents for the self-esteem of gay and lesbian youth, and limitations of the current i…
Parental Influences on the Self-Esteem of Gay and Lesbian Youths
Based on a population of 317 gay and lesbian youths, the current investigation explores the appropriateness of a reflected appraisals perspective in predicting the degree to which parental attitudes, as perceived by youth, affects their self-esteem and comfortableness being gay. A lesbian was most comfortable with her sexual orientation if she also reported that her parents accepted her homosexuality; these variables did not, however, predict her…
Verbal and physical abuse as stressors in the lives of lesbian, gay male, and bisexual youths
An exploratory study of pubertal maturation timing and self-esteem among gay and bisexual male youths
Eighty-three gay and bisexual male youths (17-23 years old) completed questionnaires and a structured interview. Pubertal maturation was associated with self-reported age of first orgasm and ho mosexual activity and frequency of orgasms during junior high school. Unrelated were age of first same-sex attractions, sexual orientation, age of first heterosexual activity, frequency of orgasms dur ing high school, number of lifetime male and female sex…
Parental Reactions to Their Child's Disclosure of a Gay/Lesbian Identity
Parental Reactions to Their Child's Disclosure of a Gay/Lesbian Identity* Ritch C. Savin-Williams** and Eric M. Dube Popular culture writers have proposed a developmental sequence of stages that parents face upon first learning of their child's homosexuality. Empirical investigations of these purported and loss stages are few and generally cast doubt on the inevitability and normative sequencing of parental reactions. We present this empirical ev…
The Disclosure to Families of Same-Sex Attractions by Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youths
Developmental psychologists generally have ignored the processes by which sexual-minority adolescents come to recognize themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual and to disclose that information to others. One of the most critical events for sexual-minority adolescents is disclosing their sexual identity to family members. In this article, empirical research is addressed that documents the percentage of youths who disclose to their families, the ti…
Matthew Shepard's Death
Sexual identity development among ethnic sexual-minority male youths
The current research explores how ethnicity influences sexual identity development. Among 139 sexual-minority male youths, measures of sexual identity development assessed the timing and sequencing of developmental milestones, disclosure of sexual identity to others, internalized homophobia, and same- and opposite-sex relationship histories. Findings demonstrated that participants, regardless of ethnicity, experienced most identity milestones at …
Sexual Identity Trajectories Among Sexual-Minority Youths
Mom, dad. I'm gay. How families negotiate coming out.
"Drawing from over 150 original interviews with teenagers, psychologist Ritch C. Savin-Williams separates fact from fiction in this survey of coming out experiences. Drawing from existing developmental research, he illustrates the wide range of family reactions and discusses the factors that determine how parents come to terms with the disclosure over time. Dr. Savin-Williams reveals that the coming out experience is greatly influenced by gender,…
Suicide attempts among sexual-minority youths
Two questions were addressed regarding suicide attempts among sexual-minority youths: Who should be classified as a sexual minority, and what constitutes a suicide attempt? Results from 2 studies indicated that sexual-minority youths, broadly defined in terms of sexual orientation and recruitment venue, were slightly more likely than heterosexual youths to report a suicide attempt. To afford a more accurate assessment of suicide attempts, a detai…
A critique of research on sexual-minority youths
Psychology (49 works) · Developmental psychology (44 works) · Social Psychology (39 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (32 works) · Sexual orientation (23 works) · Gender Studies (22 works) · Homosexuality (21 works) · Sexual behavior (19 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Human sexuality (18 works)