Origins & Early Life

Evelyn Hooker (; née Gentry, September 2, 1907 – November 18, 1996) was an American psychologist known for her 1956 paper "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" in which she administered several psychological tests to groups of self-identified male homosexuals and heterosexuals and asked experts to identify the homosexuals and rate their mental health. The experiment, which other researchers subsequently repeated, found that homosexuality was not a mental disorder, as there was no detectable difference between homosexual and heterosexual men in terms of mental adjustment. Hooker argued that a false correlation between homosexuality and mental illness had formed the basis of classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder. The correlation was the result of earlier researchers studying sample groups that contained homosexual men with a history of treatment for mental illness.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Hooker's work was of critical importance in refuting cultural heterosexism because it found that homosexuality was not developmentally inferior to heterosexuality. Her work led the way to the eventual removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

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