A study involving hormones and sexuality published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior shows that human beings had several contributions to their evolution with homosexuality.
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The researcher Diana Fleischman and his team, from the University of Portsmouth, understands that same-sex attraction helps people form bonds with each other.
All because people with high levels of progesterone – a hormone that is produced in men and women – tend to be more open to the idea of homosexual contact. And it is exactly this hormone that is known to contribute to social relationships
The result initially came from a survey of 244 people, who answered a questionnaire with questions such as "does the idea of kissing someone of the same sex make you excited?", "if someone of the same sex hit on you, would you be disgusted?" .
Afterwards, everyone involved underwent an assessment to find out their progesterone levels. And also by analyzing a puzzle with words linked to "friendship", neutral terms or words linked to "sex".
It was found that the men who put together the puzzle with words referring to "friendship" had 26% more homoerotic motivation than the others. And those who had the highest progesterone level had 41% greater homoerotic motivation.
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It was also discovered that women who had a high level of progesterone were more sympathetic to the idea of having sex with other women. And the same occurred with men who had a high level of the hormone, and who showed that they gave more importance to friendship and who had a more positive attitude towards homosexual contact.
The study assumes that not everyone who has a homosexual relationship considers themselves homosexual.
But what does this have to do with evolution? Studies with primates indicate that homosexual behavior is adopted by animals as a way of maintaining and having new friendships. And that, despite sexual behavior being associated with reproduction, several species of animals have sex because it brings pleasure and because it promotes intimacy.
The researcher states that she will continue studies to analyze the influence of hormones that can increase homoerotic motivation in men and women.
