Evelyn Hooker
Psychologist whose research refuted homosexuality as mental illness.
Evelyn Hooker (née Gentry, September 2, 1907 – November 18, 1996) was an American psychologist whose groundbreaking 1956 study provided empirical evidence that homosexuality is not a mental disorder. In her experiment, she administered several psychological tests to groups of self-identified male homosexuals and heterosexuals. She then asked expert evaluators to identify which subjects were homosexual and to rate their overall mental health. The results showed no detectable difference in mental adjustment between the two groups, a finding later replicated by other researchers. Hooker argued that the false correlation between homosexuality and mental illness, which had justified its classification as a disorder, stemmed from earlier studies that relied on sample groups of homosexual men who had a history of treatment for mental illness. Her work was critical in refuting cultural heterosexism by demonstrating that homosexuality was not developmentally inferior to heterosexuality, and it paved the way for the eventual removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Hooker was born in North Platte, Nebraska, and grew up with eight siblings on the Colorado Plains. Her mother, who had only a third-grade education, urged her to pursue education as the one thing that could never be taken away. After attending a progressive high school in Sterling, Colorado, Hooker earned a scholarship to the University of Colorado Boulder, where she worked as a maid. There, her mentor Karl Munzinger encouraged her to challenge behaviorism. She earned her PhD in psychology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932, one of only eleven women in the program. After a bout with tuberculosis and a fellowship in Europe, where she witnessed the rise of Hitler and Kristallnacht, she returned to the United States. She spent 31 years at UCLA as a research associate and teacher, despite facing gender-based discrimination in hiring. Her interest in homosexuality was sparked in 1944 when a gay student, Sam From, challenged her to scientifically study people like him, urging her to investigate whether homosexuality was a disease. Hooker, moved by her own experiences with social rejection and the persecution she witnessed abroad, took up the cause.
- born
- September 2, 1907
- field
- Psychology
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- 1956 study showing homosexuality is not a mental disorder
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Evelyn Hooker was born Evelyn Gentry in North Platte, Nebraska, and grew up in the Colorado Plains. Her mother, Jessie Bethel, who had a third-grade education, urged her to pursue education. After teaching at Whittier College, she contracted tuberculosis and spent a year in a sanatorium. She later received a fellowship to the Berlin Institute of Psychotherapy, where she witnessed the rise of Hitler and Kristallnacht; the Jewish family she lived with was later killed in concentration camps. These experiences sparked her desire to overcome social injustice. From challenged her to scientifically study homosexuality. Hooker obtained a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health and gathered 30 homosexual men (via the Mattachine Society) and 30 heterosexual men, matched by IQ, age, and education. She administered psychological tests and asked experts to identify the homosexuals and rate their mental health; no detectable difference was found. Her work was published in 1956, just before Sam From died in a car accident.
Reader's Guide
Evelyn Hooker's 1956 study was critical in refuting the then-dominant view that homosexuality was a mental disorder. By using matched samples and blind expert ratings, she demonstrated that homosexual men were as well-adjusted as heterosexual men. She argued that earlier researchers had created a false correlation by studying homosexual men with a history of mental health treatment. Her findings directly challenged cultural heterosexism and the classification of homosexuality as developmentally inferior. Over the following decades, her work gained wider acceptance and was adopted by the gay rights movement. Hooker's research laid the groundwork for the eventual removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Did You Know?
- Hooker's mother, who had a third-grade education, told her to pursue an education because it was the only thing that could not be taken away.
- She was refused entry to Yale's PhD program because she was female, but earned her doctorate at Johns Hopkins University.
- While studying in Europe, she witnessed Kristallnacht and later learned the Jewish family she lived with was killed in concentration camps.
- Her groundbreaking research was published in 1956, the same year Sam From, the student who inspired her work, died in a car accident.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Evelyn Hooker's 1956 study actually find?
She administered standard psychological tests to carefully matched groups of gay and straight men and discovered no measurable difference in their overall mental adjustment. In plain terms, the data showed that being homosexual did not make a person psychologically less healthy.
Why is Evelyn Hooker considered so important in the history of psychology?
Before her work, the prevailing professional consensus treated homosexuality as a pathology, and her study was the first to challenge that view with rigorous empirical data. Her findings became a key piece of evidence that eventually led the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
How did Evelyn Hooker's research change the psychiatric field?
By demonstrating through controlled testing that gay men showed the same level of psychological adjustment as heterosexual men, she undermined the scientific basis for classifying homosexuality as an illness. This shifted the burden of proof and set the stage for the formal declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder.
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