Homosexual study finds new patterns

"New York. Times

NEW YORK A major new study of homosexuality concludes that many homosexual men and women lead stable lives without frenetic sexual activity and that some are considerably happier and better adjusted than heterosexuals as a whole.

According to one of its authors, Dr. Alan P. Bell of the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, the study's findings contradict stereotypes about homosexuals. He said the study shows that "homosexuality is not ipso facto pathological and that all homosexuals cannot be lumped together."

Rather, Bell and his coauthor, Dr. Martin S. Weisberg, found that there were at least five types of homosexuals, each with a different set of behavioral patterns. While some resemble the popular stereotype of unhappy, unstable and highly promiscuous people, the authors said, others are more like ordinary married heterosexuals.

The authors interviewed 979 homosexual men and women living in the San Francisco Bay area. Those interviewed included people recruited in homosexual bars and steam baths, at public and private places where homosexual "pick-ups" were often made and through homosexual organizations, personal contacts, mailing lists and public advertising.

The authors listed homosexuals as these types:

• Closed couples, those living in quasimarriages characterized by self-acceptance, contentment and a high degree of sexual fidelity. Those relationships tended to be long-standing and to reflect a strong emotional commitment and a stable sharing of household responsibilities. As a group, the closed couples scored higher on hoppiness measures than the, heterosexuals, the researchers said.

• Open couples, those living as partners int with a fair amount of outside sexual activity. These couples tended to be less emotionally attached and dependent on each other, according to the study.

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• Functionals, those who were sexually highly active and free-wheeling, comparable in behavior to "swinging singles" among heterosexuals. They were more likely to report feelings of exuberance than the heterosexuals interviewed, the research.ers said.

• Dysfunctionals, those who were also highly active sexually but who reported regrets about being homosexual and said they had sexual problems.

• Asexuals, those who were more secretive and had more regrets about their homosexuality, were less sexually active and less exclusively homosexual. Together with the dysfunctional group, the researchers said, asexuals reported less self-acceptance and more loneliness than other homosexuals and than heterosexuals.