psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...
and
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
. She is a professor of
developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
. Her research focuses on
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
development,
sexual identity
Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically and/or sexually attracted. ''Sex ...
, and Human bonding, bonding.
She is best known for her 2008 book, ''Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire''. In this book, she discusses the fluidity of
female sexuality
Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious aspects of sexual ac ...
, based on her study of 100 non-heterosexual women over a period of 10 years. She concluded that the term ''
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
'' did not truly express the versatile nature of many of her subjects. Therefore, she calls "for an expanded understanding of same-sex sexuality".
Early life
Diamond became interested in
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
after
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
gave a talk at her high school. She studied feminist theory at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
and joined the board of the Chicago National Organization for Women. During this time, she came out as a lesbian and decided to pursue research into same-sex sexuality instead of activism.
In 1993, she received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Chicago. She then started graduate work with Ritch Savin-Williams at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, where she earned her M.A. in 1996, and her Ph.D. in 1999, both in Human Development.
Work
At the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
, Diamond was an assistant professor from 1999 to 2005, and an associate professor from 2005 to 2012. She became a professor of psychology and gender studies in 2012. She serves on the editorial boards of ''
Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...
'', '' Archives of Sexual Behavior'', and various other journals. Her research focuses on same-sex sexuality, adolescent females, and
human bonding
Human bonding is the process of development of a close, interpersonal relationship between two or more people. It most commonly takes place between family members or friends, but can also develop among groups, such as sporting teams and whenever ...
.
In her studies of sexual fluidity, she has found that some women report variability in their
sexual orientation identity
Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romance (love), romantically and/or Sexual attraction, sexually attracted. The sexually fluid women she studied did not "experience those changes as willful", and some even resist them. Diamond says that
conversion therapy
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
cannot remove same-sex attraction.
Describing herself as a feminist scientist, Diamond says "there are a lot of scientists who just cling to the scientific method and believe they are totally objective and I think they are full of bunk. But, I have met a lot of feminists who say there is not a way to collect data without being oppressive, that data has no meaning, the world is socially constructed and I think that is bunk too." Diamond has also researched attachment theory as the basis for love and sexual orientation, and the association between relationships and psychobiological health.
Diamond was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns in 2011; the Distinguished Book Award by the International Association of Relationship Research (IARR) in 2010; and the Distinguished Book Award for her book ''Sexual Fluidity'' by the American Psychological Association, Division 44 in 2009. ''Sexual Fluidity'' was also a finalist for the
Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Literature
The Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Literature is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, that awards books with bisexual content. The award can be separated into three categories: bisexual fiction, bisexual nonf ...
.
Publications
*Diamond, L. M., Hicks, A. M., and Otter-Henderson, K. D. (2008). Every time you go away: Changes in affect, behavior, and physiology associated with travel-related separations from romantic partners. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 95, 385–403.
*Diamond, L. M., & Dickenson, J. (2012). The neuroimaging of love and desire: Review and future directions. ''Clinical Neuropsychiatry'', 9, 39–46.
*Diamond, L. M. (2008). Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: Results from a 10-year longitudinal study. ''Developmental Psychology'', 44, 5–14.
*Diamond, L.M., Fagundes, C. P., & Cribbet, M. R. (2012). Individual differences in adolescent sympathetic and parasympathetic functioning moderate associations between family environment and psychosocial adjustment. ''Developmental Psychology''.
*Diamond, L. M. & Wallen, K. (2011). Sexual-minority women's sexual motivation around the time of ovulation. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 40, 237–246.
*Diamond, L. M., Hicks, A. M., & Otter-Henderson, K. D. (2011). Individual differences in vagal regulation moderate associations between daily affect and daily couple interactions. ''Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin'', 37, 731–744.
*Diamond, L. M. (2012). The desire disorder in research on sexual orientation in women: Contributions of dynamical systems theory. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 41, 73–83.
*Diamond, L.M. (2013). Concepts of female sexual orientation. In C. Patterson & A. R. D'Augelli (Eds.), The psychology of sexual orientation (pp. 3–17). New York: Cambridge University Press.
*Diamond, L.M. (2013). Sexuality in relationships. In J. Simpson & L. Campell (Eds.), Handbook of close relationships (pp. 589–614). New York: Oxford University Press.
*Diamond, L.M. (2013). Sexual-minority, gender-nonconforming, and transgender youths. In D. Bromberg & W. O. Donohue (Eds.) Handbook of child and adolescent sexuality: Developmental and forensic psychology (pp. 275–300). Oxford: Elsevier Press.
*Diamond, L.M. (2013). Links and distinctions between love and desire. In C. Hazan and M. Campa (Eds.), Human bonding: The science of affectional ties (pp. 226–250). New York: Guilford.
*Diamond, L.M. (2014). The biobehavioral legacy of early attachment relationships for adult physiological, emotional, and interpersonal functioning. In V. Zayas & C. Hazan (Eds.), Bases of adult attachment: Linking brain, mind, and behavior (pp. 79–105). New York: Springer.
*Farr, R.H., Diamond, L.M., & Boker, S.M. (2014). Female same-sex sexuality from a dynamical systems perspective: Sexual desire, motivation, and behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 1477–1490.
*Diamond, L.M. (2014). Sexuality and same-sex sexuality in relationships. In J. Simpson & J. Davidio (Eds.), Handbook of personality and social psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 523–553). Washington, DC: APA.
*Diamond, L.M. (2016). Female sexual orientation. In A. Goldberg (Ed.), The Sage encyclopedia of LGBTQ lives in context (pp. 551–556). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
*Mansfield, C.D., & Diamond, L.M. (2016). Does stress-related growth really matter for adolescents' day-to-day adaptive functioning? Journal of Early Adolescence.
*Bailey, J.M., Vasey, P., Diamond, L.M., Breedlove, M., Vilain, E., & Epprecht, M. (2016). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17, 45–101.
*Diamond, L.M., & Rosky, C. (2016). Scrutinizing "immutability": Research on sexual orientation and its role in legal advoacacy for the rights of sexual minorities rights? Journal of Sex Research, 53, 363–391.
*Diamond, L.M. (2016). Three critical questions for future research on lesbian relationships. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 21, 1–14.
*Diamond, L.M. (2016). Sexual fluidity in males and females. Current Sexual Health Reports, 8, 249–256.
*Diamond, L.M., Dickenson, J., & Blair, K. (2017). Stability of sexual attractions across different time scales: The roles of bisexuality and gender. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 193–204.
*Diamond, L.M. (2018). Contemporary theory in the study of intimacy, desire, gender, and sexuality. In N. Dess, J. Marecek, D. Best, & L. Bell (Eds.), Gender, sex, and sexualities: Psychological perspectives (pp. 271–294). New York: Oxford University Press.
*Spivey, L.A., Huebner, D.M., & Diamond, L.M. (2018). Parent responses to childhood gender nonconformity: Effects of parent and child characteristics. Journal of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 5, 360–370.
*Diamond, L.M. (2018). The dynamic expression of sexual-minority and gender-minority experience during childhood and adolescence. In S. Lamb & D. Gilbert (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of sexuality: Childhood and adolescence (pp. 92–110). New York: Cambridge University Press.