How do I share statistics that aren't politically correct?

Post Reply New Topic

I have a friend who thinks me strange for saying there may be at least a casual correlation between childhood sexual abuse and subsequent adult homosexuality.

Does anyone know how I can share with him the following statistics without upsetting him by upending the politically correct narrative that he's become convinced is undeniably true?

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics

Sexual abuse doesn't cause homosexuality, it causes victims to act out their abuse and if the abuse was homosexual then they may act out that aspect of the abuse. Sexual abuse really messes with you mind and victims tend to get confused as to what love is in a attempt to rationalize what has happened to them. So they act out darker fantasies to make them more normal and to desensitize themselves from the act.

I imagine such a negative experience with the opposite sex can effect a lot of things including who they might be attracted to which isn't some completely innate development. Environment influences almost all aspects of your life, I don't think that is politically incorrect to say unless you are putting negative moral connotations to it but that's not saying it's all environmental or choice or someones screw up when they are probably all kinds of factors. We live our entire lives until this very moment, everything has built up to it.

I agree with the above poster that sexuality is (as far as we know) likely partially controlled by environmental factors, which may include abuse. I think your friend likely does too; I know if someone said to me "I think gay people are gay because of past abuse" I'd say they were an idiot and yet I know that in some particular cases it might play a role.

But it makes absolutely no sense to say you 'feel sorry for homosexuals' because obviously not every gay person has experienced sexual abuse! I don't understand what you're trying to say there but I do know it could be interpreted as homophobic.

I don't think there's any need to share the statistics with your friend (they don't seem to make much sense anyway, the range of numbers is very large? And I know a lot of gay and bisexual people, none of whom have experienced abuse, so I don't really understand what demographic the stats are referring to because they don't hold true in my experience). I'm bisexual and I know if someone showed me those stats to prove abuse causes homosexuality I'd feel offended and angry.

You are making the classic fallacy

A correlates with B therefore A always causes B and similarly B results in A.

Correlation it not cause (and also the would pose a chicken/egg scenario in this case).

You are looking at this the wrong way round, you are finding out about abuse victims not about sexuality in general.

Also you stats cited are widely variable and vary the most in non-heterosexual groups, which calls into question the validity of them.

I think the problem is science needs to be blind, but the politics dictates it isn't.

So I agree that sexuality is not something you are just born with, it both congenital and part of your development .

It can even be somewhat fluid (that is not saying anybody can readily change it, nor should they).

However this shouldn't matter becuase it not anyone's business private life that doesn't harm anyone.

In strictly general terms (concerning sharing statistics of a sensitive nature with someone), here are some things you need to make sure you do/have first:
-Have a study that's been conducted by a reputable source that does not have a vested interest in the outcome of the study.
-Make sure the pool the numbers were derived from is large enough.
-Consider variables that might have contributed to the numbers but that weren't cited in the study.

Regarding the statistics you quoted in your original post: The large percentage ranges need further explanation. I found the article it came from (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3706505/) and it cites using a sample of only 205 women. This is not enough for a study seeking to make claims about worldwide sector of people.

I agree with what 0_equals_true said here:

I honestly feel that people frequently rely too much on statistics within a social-science context.

Like others have said: correlation doesn't equal cause.

Just because you have Asperger's, say, doesn't mean you won't have success in love.

Whenever I hear statistics being quoted within such things as "dating behavior," I just go through the roof.

It's a bunch of hooey.