Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to measure the levels
of self-actualization as determined by the Personal
Orientation Inventory in a group of lesbians and a group
of heterosexual women to find whether there were any
significant differences.
Both groups of women were administered the
inventory and the results were statistically analyzed.
For each of the twelve scales, t-values were computed to
determine whether there were any significant differences
between the means of the two groups. Confidence limits
were also computed to determine whether the lesbian group
came from the same population as the heterosexual group.
The results of the statistical data indicated
that lesbians and heterosexual women did not differ
significantly on any of the twelve scales of the Personal
Orientation Inventory and that essentially, the lesbian
women carne from the same population as the heterosexual
women.
On the basis of these results, all twelve of the
research assertions were confirmed. It was concluded that
same-sex preference does not have an inhibiting effect on
the process toward self-actualization for these women.
