This decision essentially destroyed his relationship with his father and deeply troubled him for years to come. His father vehemently opposed this, but finally relented. At the end of two years at Stevens, Kinsey gathered the courage to confront his father about his interest in biology and his intent to continue studying at Bowdoin College in Maine. At Stevens, he primarily took courses related to English and engineering, but was unable to satisfy his interest in biology. Regardless, he continued his obsessive commitment to studying. Kinsey was unhappy at Stevens, and later remarked that his time there was one of the most wasteful periods of his life. His father demanded that he study engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Kinsey approached his father with plans to study botany at college. Kinsey was later to claim that his high school biology teacher, Natalie Roeth, was the most important influence on his decision to become a scientist. While there, Kinsey became interested in biology, botany and zoology. Kinsey seems not to have formed strong social relationships during high school, but he earned respect for his academic ability.
Kinsey scale test wiki professional#
Kinsey's ability early on to spend immense amounts of time deeply focused on study was a trait that would serve him well in college and during his professional career. At one time, Kinsey had hoped to become a concert pianist, but decided to concentrate on his scientific pursuits instead. While attending Columbia High School, he was not interested in sports, but rather devoted his energy to academic work and the piano. In high school, Kinsey was a quiet but extremely hard-working student. Despite earlier disease having weakened his heart, Kinsey followed an intense sequence of difficult hikes and camping expeditions throughout his early life. Kinsey diligently worked his way up through the Scouting ranks to Eagle Scout. His parents strongly supported this (and joined as well) because the Boy Scouts was an organization heavily grounded on the principles of Christianity. He joined the Boy Scouts when a troop was formed in his community. Even Kinsey's senior undergraduate thesis for psychology, a dissertation on the group dynamics of young boys, echoed this interest. He enjoyed these activities to such an extent that he intended to work professionally for the YMCA after his education was completed. He worked and camped with the local YMCA often throughout his early years. Kinsey ultimately disavowed the Methodist religion of his parents and became an atheist.Īt a young age, Kinsey showed great interest in nature and camping. As a child, Kinsey was forbidden to learn anything about the subject that was to later bring him such fame.
Such a strict upbringing was not entirely uncommon at the time. Kinsey's father imposed strict rules on the household including mandating Sunday as a day of prayer (and little else), outlawing social relationships with girls. His father was known as one of the most devout members of the local Methodist church and as a result most of Kinsey's social interactions were with other members of the church, often merely as a silent observer while his parents discussed religion with other similarly devout adults. Kinsey's parents were extremely devout Christians this left a powerful imprint on Kinsey for the rest of his life. Rickets, leading to a curvature of the spine, resulted in a slight stoop that was to prevent Kinsey from being drafted in 1917 for World War I. This health record indicates that Kinsey received suboptimal exposure to sunlight (the cause of rickets in those days before milk and other foods were fortified with vitamin D) and lived in unsanitary conditions for at least part of his childhood. Consequently, the family often could not afford proper medical care, which may have led to young Kinsey's receiving inadequate treatment for a variety of diseases including rickets, rheumatic fever, and typhoid fever.
His parents were rather poor for most of Kinsey's childhood. His mother had received little formal education his father was a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. 2.3 Human sexual behavior and the Kinsey ReportsĪlfred Kinsey was born on June 23, 1894, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Alfred Seguine Kinsey and Sarah Ann Charles.