what, scientifically, makes a person attracted to the same sex?

Question

To figure this out, do we not have to first figure out what makes us attracted to the person of the opposite sex??

Has it to do with genes??

I want to do my science project on this matter cause i find it interesting.

Thanks, K, that will be useful to include in my paper!

Answer 1

There has been a lot of research about what goes on in a person's brain when they are feeling love. A few chemicals made by your brain seem to be major actors... phenylethylamine and oxytocin particularly. These aren't things made JUST for love; your brain uses them in other contexts to make you feel good too. It shouldn't actually be too difficult to find a lot of information about these guys (link 1 is a fairly good article to get you started).

Studies have shown that many homosexual people at the very least have different patterns of stimulation of these responses, if not much more. It is uncertain, however, whether this arises from irregularities during development or from a genetic basis.

What can be said with certainly is that it is not isolated to human beings. Homosexual behaviour is observed throughout the animal kingdom. And far from being an aberration, there are some who suggest that it creates certain genuine benefits to communities that possess such indivuduals. One possible example could be that homosexual individuals, freed from the burdens of instinctive child-rearing (generally) have more energy to devote to other activities which can be beneficial.

If you're doing a science project, however, you'd probably better track down scientific studies specific to exactly what you want to look into. Even this is a big topic and you probably want to narrow it down a bit.

Answer 2

I have heard that if male brains don't get enough testosterone in early development they will be more like female brains. There may be something like that going on in the early development that changes tendencies to what they would find attractive. I never saw a conclusive study on the subject.

Answer 3

I'm no scientist, but I think the reason that someone is attracted to the other sex is primal instinct. It's why our species has continued to exist and evolve. It is called procreation. Without it, we would be extinct. I don't know why someone would be attracted to the same sex. It is definitely abnormal. I'm not saying that it's wrong, but it is not natural. Nothing biologically can be gained with same sex intercouse (i.e. no babies). Homosexuality has been around for many, many generations, though. It is an interesting phenomenon. And it is one I doubt you will be able to answer with your science project.

Answer 4

I've heard references to a study done (in Britain? looking around) about ram/ewe sexual preference, and that it's found to in fact be linked to genetic factors. For males, it's less of a choice and more programmed, whereas females can be either way more easily.

Edit: Found it
"Sheep are one of the few animal models in which natural variations in male sexual preferences have been studied experimentally. Approximately 8% of rams exhibit sexual preferences for male partners (male-oriented rams) in contrast to most rams, which prefer female partners (female-oriented rams). We identified a cell group within the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus of age-matched adult sheep that was significantly larger in adult rams than in ewes. This cell group was labeled the ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus (oSDN). In addition to a sex difference, we found that the volume of the oSDN was two times greater in female-oriented rams than in male-oriented rams. The dense cluster of neurons that comprise the oSDN express cytochrome P450 aromatase. Aromatase mRNA levels in the oSDN were significantly greater in female-oriented rams than in ewes, whereas male-oriented rams exhibited intermediate levels of expression. Because the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus is known to control the expression of male sexual behaviors, these results suggest that naturally occurring variations in sexual partner preferences may be related to differences in brain anatomy and capacity for estrogen synthesis."

Answer 5

No there is no genes that attract you to the same sex. Only the opposite. Thats how all animals were created. Male and Female.

Its a choice.