Sexology Lecture 1: Introduction & History of Sexology
Theories of sexology
Evolutionary: evolution, natural selection
Psychological: psycho-analytic
Critical: opposite of general theories
Sociological
Freud: first to introduce a more scientific study of sexuality
Human behavior is motivated by libido and Thanatos
o Libido: sexual instinct, physical need for sex (Freud)
o Instinct arises from sources within your body (different from
stimulus)
Stages of psycho-sexual development
o Pre-genital stage: oral, anal and phallic/oedipal stages (1-6y)
o Latency stage (6-12y): not much interest in sexuality
o Genital stage (12y+): coping with sexual urges
Female sexuality
o Sexual pleasure is transferred from clitoris to vagina
o Healthy woman experiences vaginal orgasm, otherwise sign of
fixation and intrapsychic problems
o Research on distance between clitoris and urethra
Early 1900s
Havelock Ellis: liberal view on female sexuality and deviations
Krafft-Ebing: classification of perversions/deviations
Bloch: methods and insights of sexology must correspond with
insights of natural and cultural sciences
Magnus Hirschfeld: emancipation of people with different gender
or sexual orientations (LGBT)
Clinical methodology based on case studies
, Need for case studies
Belief in a universal sexual instinct
Divergencies are the result of a disease and should be treated
After WW2
Alfred Kinsey: founder of Institute for Sex Research
o “course” on marriage for students: sexuality was neglected
o Interviews about sexual behavior of 11.000 Americans
John Money: studied development of gender identity in children
o Interaction with parents as a child influences gender
differences in behavior, nurture stronger than nature
Case where one male twin was reconstructed and
raised as a girl to prove this, he changed back to male
after he found out
Masters and Johnson: first to conduct psychophysiological
laboratory research
o Studied and measured responses to sexual stimuli
Discovered variety of sexual response cycles, women
can have multiple orgasms model with stages:
excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution
o Basis for a new behavioral therapy to approach sexual
problems: sensate focus for couples
Exercises to restore the natural sexual response: no sex,
then three steps:
Non-genital touching in sensual massage
Touching with genitals
Intercourse
Two weeks in the institute, daily sessions
Helen Singer Kaplan: addition of the clinical concept “desire phase,”
missing at the start of the model by Masters and Johnson
o Integration of psycho-dynamic orientation with behavioral
therapy
2
Theories of sexology
Evolutionary: evolution, natural selection
Psychological: psycho-analytic
Critical: opposite of general theories
Sociological
Freud: first to introduce a more scientific study of sexuality
Human behavior is motivated by libido and Thanatos
o Libido: sexual instinct, physical need for sex (Freud)
o Instinct arises from sources within your body (different from
stimulus)
Stages of psycho-sexual development
o Pre-genital stage: oral, anal and phallic/oedipal stages (1-6y)
o Latency stage (6-12y): not much interest in sexuality
o Genital stage (12y+): coping with sexual urges
Female sexuality
o Sexual pleasure is transferred from clitoris to vagina
o Healthy woman experiences vaginal orgasm, otherwise sign of
fixation and intrapsychic problems
o Research on distance between clitoris and urethra
Early 1900s
Havelock Ellis: liberal view on female sexuality and deviations
Krafft-Ebing: classification of perversions/deviations
Bloch: methods and insights of sexology must correspond with
insights of natural and cultural sciences
Magnus Hirschfeld: emancipation of people with different gender
or sexual orientations (LGBT)
Clinical methodology based on case studies
, Need for case studies
Belief in a universal sexual instinct
Divergencies are the result of a disease and should be treated
After WW2
Alfred Kinsey: founder of Institute for Sex Research
o “course” on marriage for students: sexuality was neglected
o Interviews about sexual behavior of 11.000 Americans
John Money: studied development of gender identity in children
o Interaction with parents as a child influences gender
differences in behavior, nurture stronger than nature
Case where one male twin was reconstructed and
raised as a girl to prove this, he changed back to male
after he found out
Masters and Johnson: first to conduct psychophysiological
laboratory research
o Studied and measured responses to sexual stimuli
Discovered variety of sexual response cycles, women
can have multiple orgasms model with stages:
excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution
o Basis for a new behavioral therapy to approach sexual
problems: sensate focus for couples
Exercises to restore the natural sexual response: no sex,
then three steps:
Non-genital touching in sensual massage
Touching with genitals
Intercourse
Two weeks in the institute, daily sessions
Helen Singer Kaplan: addition of the clinical concept “desire phase,”
missing at the start of the model by Masters and Johnson
o Integration of psycho-dynamic orientation with behavioral
therapy
2
