Hebephilia - Etiology and Etymology

Etiology and Etymology

As with sexual preference in general, it is not known what causes someone to prefer a pubescent rather than an adult individual for sexual reasons. A number of biological associations have been studied however. A team from CAMH has published a series of research articles comparing biologically relevant characteristics of clinical samples of pedophiles, hebephiles, and teleiophiles (individuals with a sexual preference for adults). In such samples, hebephilic men are midway between pedophilic men and teleiophilic men on average IQ, memory test scores, and rates of school grade failures over and above the IQ differences, with pedophiles scoring the lowest on the first two measures and highest on the third. Hebephiles score midway between pedophiles and teleiophiles in rates of non-right-handedness, rates of having suffered childhood head injuries, and physical height.

The name is based on the Greek goddess of youth Hebe, a daughter of Zeus and Hera. She is also known as Ganymeda, or in Roman: Juventas. Words such as juvenile are based on that form. The suffix -phil- based on Philia is also Greek, meaning love.