LGBTIA-related articles within British Psychological Society Journals: A review of the literature from 1941-2017

Abstract

This article identifies the quantity and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and asexual (LGBTIA) related journal articles published within the official British Psychological Society (BPS) journals. A systematic search of BPS journals was conducted using the BPS/Wiley search engine PsychSource. The search was conducted on 1 January 2018 and no timeframe was set for the search. Sixty-nine articles were identified across the BPS journals between 1941–2017. Until the end of the 1970s content focused almost exclusively on assessment and treatment of homosexuality (and to a lesser extent transsexuality), and was published primarily in the British Journal of Medical Psychology (n = 20; 1941–2000). From 1980 onwards, the content of articles mainly focused on anti-gay prejudice and have been published primarily in the British Journal of Social Psychology (n = 31; 1986–2017). The findings demonstrate a shift from a medical model of homosexuality prior to the 1980s, to focusing on homophobia as a social psychological problem. The review highlights a paucity of content relating to LGBTIA issues within the 11 official BPS journals. Within four BPS journals no relevant articles were identified. The range of LGBTIA topics published within these journals are also found to be extremely narrow.