Predictors of Partner Numbers in Homosexual Men: Psychosocial Factors in Four Societies

Six hundred four homosexual men in four countries (Sweden, Finland, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland) were investigated with regard to their number of sexual partners over the past year and a number of psychological variables including masculinity and femininity, number of infections with sexually trans-mitted agents, relationships with parents, attitudes toward homosexuality, degree of homosexuality, sex-role conservatism, and a number of demographic variables. By use of multiple linear regression on partner numbers for each sample, it was found that between 15% and 28% of the variance of number of partners was accounted for by psychosocial factors, and that the great majority of these were significant in more than one country. Predictors included masculine and feminine personality traits, relationships with mother, degree of homosexuality, perceived societal attitudes toward homosexuality, age, and edu-cation. The data strongly suggest that psychosocial factors are significant predictors of numbers of partners of homosexual men, and that psychological approaches to treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases may be warranted.