| Summary: | M.A. === The aim of this study was to make an attempt to differentiate between certain etiological factors which could contribute to lesbian behaviour. Because of the fact that only a relatively small amount of research bas been done on female homosexuality, it was considered to be an important subject for further study. Because of the small amount of research on female homosexuality it is often found that generalizations are made about female homosexuality on the basis of findings on male homosexuality. This is an additional motivation for research on female homosexuality as a seperate entity. Initially, the general developement of sexuality in the female was examined without emphasizing hetero- or homosexuality. The importance of this approach was that important deductions could be made with regard to etiological factors. Secondly, attention was given to the theoretical approaches to female homosexuality, on the basis of previous research, as well as theoretical speculations. The approaches which were examined, were the psychoanalytical model, the biological model and the social model. Thirdly, the personality traits of the lesbian were considered in particular. This section was based on previous research relevant to this theme, for example specific factors like aggression, depression, sexual identity, social adaptation and feelings of dependency were considered. Although there was no agreement in the studies, it appeared that there were no obvious differences between lesbian and heterosexual women. The experimental section of this study contains the analysis of biographical data, which was obtained by means of a biographical questionnaire, and the analysis of data collected by means of administration of the Rorschach technique. The biographical data were collected to elicit etiological factors while the Rorschach aimed at finding personality characteristics typically encountered in lesbianism.
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