Ritch C. Savin-Williams (born 1949) is professor ''emeritus'' of

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the 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 development ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

who specializes in gay,

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

research involving adolescents.

Education

Savin-Williams earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

in 1971. He later earned an MA in

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

in 1973 and a Ph.D. in human development in 1977 from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. Savin-Williams retrained in

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

from 1989 to 1993 before completing his residency at Children's Hospital of Michigan.

Research and activities

Savin-Williams's research focuses on

adolescent Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated w ...

and

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

sexual identity development and

sexual minority Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) comprise individuals whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or gender identity differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Sexual minorities include lesbians, gay men, bisexual peo ...

populations. He also operates a small private practice. Savin-Williams has appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' and served as a consultant for '' 20/20'' and ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

''. He has served as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in court cases about gay adoption,

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, sodomy laws, and the exclusion of gays in the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

. Savin-Williams's work has shown the positive aspects of LGBT young people's experiences. He has related this to a blurring of sexual identity, and its corresponding relaxing of oppressive attitudes. Using the name of the Hollywood film, '' The Kids Are All Right'', he has written about the improvements in experiences of LGBT youth. In 2010 Savin-Williams was quoted in a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' article about sexuality. It read: "Professor Savin-Williams says that his current research reveals that the fastest-growing group along the sexuality continuum are men who self-identify as 'mostly straight' as opposed to labels like 'straight,' 'gay' or 'bisexual.' They acknowledge some level of attraction to other men even as they say that they probably wouldn't act on it, but … the right guy, the right day, a few beers and who knows. As the professor points out, you would never have heard that in years past." Commenting on the article, Mark Simpson, the UK journalist, wrote: "An A ++ to Dr Savin-Williams. Not so long ago, when Heterosexuality was a proper belief system that commanded round-the-clock obeisance, 'mostly straight' would have been a heretical contradiction in terms – like half pregnant. But in this Brave New World of male neediness it's just a statement of where we're at."

Works

* ''Adolescence: An Ethological Perspective'' (1987) * ''Gay and Lesbian Youth: Expressions of Identity'' (1990) * ''Beyond Pink and Blue: Exploring our Stereotypes of Sexuality and Gender'' (1994) * ''The Lives of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals: Children to Adults'' (1996) * ''“...and then I became gay.” Young Men's Stories'' (1998) * ''“Mom, Dad. I’m gay.” How Families Negotiate Coming Out'' (2001) * ''The New Gay Teenager'' (2005) * ''Becoming Who I Am: Young Men on Being Gay '' (2016) * ''Mostly Straight: Sexual Fluidity among Men'' (2017) * ''Bi: Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid, and Nonbinary Youth'' (2021)

Honors

* 2001: The

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

awarded Savin-Williams the Division 44 Distinguished Scientific Award for his work in the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Issues. * 2005: The

awarded Savin-Williams the Division 44 Distinguished Book Award for ''The New Gay Teenager''.

References

External links

Ritch Savin-Williams Faculty Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savin-Williams, Ritch Living people 21st-century American psychologists University of Chicago alumni Cornell University faculty University of Missouri alumni 1949 births Psychology writers on LGBTQ topics 20th-century American psychologists