Summary psychology of sexuality chapters 1, 9, 14, 15 (week one)

Chapter 1: theoretical perspectives on human sexuality
Three categories that influence our sexual behaviour:

 psychological factors: distinction between stable (e.g. personality, learned
associations, attitudes) and transitory (mood, cognitive distraction) factors (all are
bidirectional)
 cultural, societal, and environmental influences: more permanent, ‘normal’ vs
‘deviant’ standards in someone’s environment
o very few universal standards about sex, some are shared (promotion of
marriage, discouragement of incest), some are controversial (arranged
marriage)
o religion: huge differences
 Greek and Roman: very tolerant of sex
 pederasty: older men would mentor male adolescent who would
have sex with them in return
 early christians: enforced strict rules
 only permitted sex is heterosexual marriage, “natural position”
(missionary)
 celibacy and chastity are idealised
 punishment for those who do not abide by rules, both on earth
or Hereafter
 dominant man, submissive woman
 Islam: sex is a positive, religious deed that belongs within a marriage,
but very strict dominance difference
 Taoism: balancing Yin (female energy) and Yang (male energy)
 → confucianism: very conservative view
o technology and media:
 media has become more sexualised → has major influence on changes
in sexual attitudes and behaviours in society (e.g. television programs
that display sexual behaviour, interracial, gender couples)
 past decade more access to internet, sexual content more accessible,
emergence of ‘cybersex’ and ‘sexting’
 biological and evolutionary factors: genetic makeup and hormonal levels, reflected
in sex behaviour, determined by evolutionary factors
o homosexuality driven by hereditary factors
o gender roles influenced by sex hormones exposed in the womb
o someone with congenial adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) exposed to higher level of
male sex hormones in utero
 women CAH more male-typical play as children and have more
masculine interests
 male fetus that is insensitive to male hormones can adapt more
feminine gender identity later in life
o no sexual behaviour is unique to humans

Major theoretical perspectives on human sexuality

 psychoanalytic theory

, o Sigmund Freud: behaviour is driven by libido (sexual and life instincts) and
Thanatos (death instinct)
o id (core, libido, pleasure principle), ego (controls id, reality principle),
superego (conscience, moral principle) → drive behaviour
o five phases of psychosexual development
 oral
 anal
 phallic
 latent
 genital

→ sexual “abnormalities” when fixated during psychosexual stages of
development

 oedipus complex: boys’ sexual desire for their moms
 Electra complex: girls’ sexual desire for their dads
 penis envy: psychological traumatisation due to lack of penis
 cognitive-behavioural and learning theory
o classical conditioning: repeated pairing of neutral stimulus with one that
produces specific behaviour → neutral stimulus elicits same behaviour
o operant conditioning: reinforcement vs punishment → reparative or
conversion therapy (”fixing” homosexuality through physical punishment)
o social/observational learning: learned through observation of e.g. peers or
parents or through media exposure incl porn
 exchange perspectives
o exchange of resources is fundamental in social relationships
o trades between partners → perceived costs and benefits → behaviour
 e.g. high profits, low losses → maintain relationship, but low profits
high losses → terminate relationship
o female sexuality had more value than male sexuality (bc more men are
interested) → reflected in prostitution
o limitation: no room for altruism
 personality theories
o stable individuals → consistent patterns of behaviour across situations
o big five:
 openness to experience (high → lower sexual anxiety, fewer sexual
difficulties, more liberal sexual attitudes, wider range of sexual
fantasies, identifying outside of cis hetero)
 conscientiousness (low → more frequent and casual sex, high → fewer
sexual difficulties, less aggression, more detail-oriented fantasies with
less taboos)
 extraversion (high → more sexual partners and risk taking, and more
social sexual fantasies e.g. group sex)
 agreeableness (low → less infidelity, less aggression and risk taking,
fewer fantasies about taboos)
 neuroticism (high → more sexual difficulties and dissatisfaction, less
fantasies)

3. erotophilia (positive emotions and attitudes towards sex) & erotophobia
(negative “)