Lesbians in Empirical Psychological Research: A New Perspective for the Twenty-First Century?

Abstract

Lesbians have been consistently ignored in empirical psychological research. The current research extends Lee and Crawford's (2007) comprehensive review, which used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyze the amount and kind of research on lesbians. Quantitative measures from 1975–2009 showed that the increase found in Lee and Crawford in 2001 has leveled off and the neglect of lesbians remains pronounced. Using cluster analysis of data derived from content analysis of abstracts published from 2003–2009, we identified six topic groups: Others’ Attitudes, Sexual Orientation, Intimate Relationships, Coping and Coming Out, Lesbians’ Problems, and Life in Heterosexual Society. In particular, transformative research was scarce and scattered across the identified clusters. Results are discussed in terms of what they reveal about the social construction of lesbianism in psychological research.