Lambert considered the book "unfortunately named", and noted that it neither answered the question of what causes homosexuality nor attempted to do so. However, she credited Green with disproving "myths" such as that "a weak, ineffectual father and a domineering mother are likely to cause homosexuality in their son." Lomas considered the book disappointing. Although he credited Green with being aware that "conceptions such as a 'distant father' are too crude to be of much use", employing detailed interviews, being knowledgeable about relevant scientific literature and "rigorous, thoughtful, honest, balanced", he added that "Green's organization and style make it hard to discover what he really believes" and that research of the kind Green undertook was "intrinsically flawed" because it "does not sufficiently take into account the ambiguities of such a concept as the feminine and it lacks the penetration into the devastating subtleties of personal relationship that is the hallmark of the psychoanalyst and family therapist." The physician Lawrence D. Mass interviewed Green about "The "Sissy Boy Syndrome" and the Development of Homosexuality" in "Christopher Street", and subsequently reviewed the book in "The Advocate". The book was also discussed by Brock Thompson in "GLBTQ Social Sciences". Thompson wrote that it remains the "definitive work" on the development of homosexuality, but noted that Green "often praises fellow psychiatrists and the parents of feminine boys for dictating to children the importance of being heterosexual." The economist Richard Posner described "The "Sissy Boy Syndrome" and the Development of Homosexuality" as a "noteworthy study". He credited Green with investigating the development of gender nonconformity in a way that avoided relying on the potentially inaccurate "recollections of adult homosexuals".