Abstract:
The literature suggests there may be differences in gay and heterosexual intelligence. The purpose of this study was to determine if these differences truly exist. Thirty students at a midwestern university were given the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale -Revised (WAIS-R). The students were women and men between the ages of 18 and 30. The 30 students were divided into two equal groups consisting of 15 students each. The placement of a student in a particular group depended on the student's sexual orientation. The researcher asked the students their sexual orientation before the WAIS-R was given. The researcher relied on the students to be honest about their sexual orientation. The students were not subdivided by gender because the researcher was only interested in IQ differences between gays and heterosexuals. As well, the samples were too small to allow the researcher to explore gender differences.
A statistically significant difference was found between the Verbal IQ's of gay and heterosexual students. The heterosexuals scored higher than the gays on the Verbal Scale of the WAIS-R, but the actual difference was too small to have clinical meaning. This researcher did not find any other statistically significant differences between the gays and heterosexuals. The literature regarding this topic would lead most researchers to assume that they would find a meaningful statistically significant difference between these two groups. This study did not support the results of other studies done in this area.
