Chapter 10

1. Chapter 10

2. Foundational Concepts Aggression A forceful action or procedure, esp. when intended to dominate or master Emotions The affective aspects of consciousness; feelings What am I talking about? Empathy • The ability to understand and be aware of the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another person Self-Disclosure • Sharing things about oneself (attitudes, ideas, experiences, relationships) Visio-Spatial Ability • Thought processes that involve visual and spatial awareness Competitive • Enjoyment of a contest with a rival

3. Gender Big Picture Gender Role A culture’s expectations for masculine or feminine behavior, including attitudes, actions, and personality traits Expression of masculine/feminine behaviors Gender • The psychological aspects of being masculine or feminine Sex • Biology of male/female – determined esp. by reproductive organs Gender Identity • An individual’s sense of self as being a man or woman

4. Gender Are the stereotypes true? Communication Differences Women’s: “Relate style” Tend to reveal more about their private lives and express sympathy and concern Interrupt less and give everyone a chance to talk Take Home Message In many domains gender differences are becoming less pronounced However, research continues to indicate that men and women do differ behaviorally Cognitive Differences • Women process sounds using both hemispheres, men use the left hemisphere • Women = process tone, emotion + content Communication Differences Men’s: “Report style” • Conversations: tend to revolve around “events” – sports, current events, etc.

5. Gender Biology vs. Socialization Socialization • The process of internalizing societies and other people’s beliefs Read: • Gender Roles and Typing: • Environmental influences • Culture and gender • Theories: • Social learning theory • Gender schema theory

6. Gender Biology vs. Socialization Biological Components • Chromosomes, anatomy, hormones, brain

7. Gender The Male Brain – The Female Brain Common Structural Differences 2. Brain Size Men have larger brains Women have more densely packed gray matter 3. Hypothalamus (SDN) Extremely sensitive to sex hormones Gender identity/behavior Same size in boys and girls until 2 – 4 years SDN 2.5 x larger in men than women Common Structural Differences 1. Left Brain – Right Brain • Language Processing Center: • Men → left brained • Women → equal on both sides • Right brain • Women → Special emotional processing center • Men → Special visio-spatial processing center

8. Gender The Male Brain – The Female Brain Reason For Differences: Fetal Brain Development Testosterone (T) and Estrogen (E) “shape” the actual neural circuits of a developing brain Factors: Amount Duration Ratio Brain’s receptors Take Home Message During fetal development, everyone’s brain receives a unique combo of hormones Studies: Brain Functioning 1. PET SCAN • Males/females judged emotions of faces (of pictures of people) • Females were more accurate and used less energy than males 2. MRI • Males/females shown pictures of emotional scenes (couples fighting/being affectionate) • Three weeks later asked to recall the scene under an MRI machine • Women = more accurate recall, and their emotional regions (right brain) were more active

9. Gender Are there more than two genders? Androgyny • The ability to display both feminine and masculine qualities Transgender • An individual whose gender identity is opposite of what society would expect based on his/her genitalia Intersex • Individuals who are born with both sets ambiguous genitalia

10. Human Sexual Behavior What do people do? How do we measure this stuff??? Survey Research Goal: To assess people’s sexual behaviors • Self-reports – People answer specific, concrete questions about their sexual behavior and sexual attitudes • Interviews • Surveys Sources of Info • The Kinsey Institute • The Janus Report

11. Human Sexual Behavior Alfred Kinsey Contributions Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953) Background • Strict religious/sexually repressed upbringing • Studied biology and zoology • Taught at Indiana University • Upon having marital problems, he sought counseling, and became frustrated at the lack of empirical knowledge about sexuality • In 1938 he began his studies on sexual behavior

12. Human Sexual Behavior Alfred Kinsey Purpose of Research To provide a detailed account of people’s sexual behavior Research Method Face-to-face Interviews (survey research) 5,300 men, 5,940 women Interviews were well-conducted: over 50% were conducted by Kinsey himself

13. Human Sexual Behavior

14. Human Sexual Behavior Kinsey Institute: Modern Findings

15. Human Sexual Behavior Kinsey Institute: Modern Findings

16. Human Sexual Behavior Kinsey Institute: Modern Findings Fantasy • Men's sexual fantasies tend to be more sexually explicit than women's; women's fantasies tend to be more emotional and romantic (Zurbriggen & Yost, 2004). • In one study, men's fantasies mentioned a partner's sexual desire and pleasure more frequently than did women's fantasies (Zurbriggen & Yost, 2004). • 54% of men think about sex everyday or several times a day, 43% a few times per month or a few times per week, and 4% less than once a month (Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, Michaels, 1994). • 19% of women think about sex everyday or several times a day, 67% a few times per month or a few times per week, and 14% less than once a month (Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, Michaels, 1994).

17. Human Sexual Behavior Kinsey Institute: Modern Findings Frequency of sex • 18-29 year olds have sex an average of 112 times per year • 30-39 year olds an average of 86 times per year • 40-49 year olds an average of 69 times per year (Piccinino, Mosher, 1998).

18. Human Sexual Behavior Kinsey Institute: Modern Findings The incidence rate of homosexual desire for men is 7.7% and 7.5% for women (Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, Michaels, 1994). 6.2% of men and 4.4% of women are attracted to people of the same sex (Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, Michaels, 1994). Homosexuality • In a national survey, 90% of men aged 18-44 considered themselves to be heterosexual, 2.3% as homosexual, 1.8% as bisexual, and 3.9% as 'something else' (Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005). • Among women aged 18-44 in the same survey, 90% said they were heterosexual, 1.3% homosexual, 2.8% bisexual, and 3.8% as 'something else' (Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005).

19. Human Sexual Behavior Kinsey Institute: Modern Findings SM Practitioners 55% of females and 50% of males reported having responded erotically to being bitten (Kinsey, Martin, Gebhard, 1953). 14% of men and 11% of women have had some sexual experience with sadomasochism (Janus & Janus, 1993). 11% of men and 17% of women reported trying bondage (Lowe, 1983). BDSM • Bondage/Discipline (BD) • Domination/Submission (DS) • Sadism/Masochism (SM) SM Practitioners • 5-10% of the U.S. engages in SM for sexual pleasure on at least an occasional basis (Lowe, 1983). • 12% of females and 22% of males reported erotic response to a SM story (Kinsey, Martin, Gebhard, 1953).

20. Human Sexual Behavior Kinsey Institute: Modern Findings

21. Human Sexual Behavior Sexual Self-Schema Self-Schema A cognitive representation about who we think we are Multifaceted: people many different self-schemas • Student, TV-lover, thinker, etc. Sexual Self-Schema The cognitive representations (beliefs about) sexual aspects of one’s self Includes: attitudes, behaviors, physiological responses, and self-beliefs Origins… • Individual differences in sexual research has, historically, been grouped into three categories 1. Sexual attitudes 2. Sexual behavior 3. Physiological responses • Although informative, these lines of research have not assessed people’s cognitive-based views of their sexual selves

22. Human Sexual Behavior Sexual Self-Schema Hill’s Sexual Self-Schema Scale • Based on Galton’s (1884) Lexical Hypothesis, which states that trait adjectives (single words) are markers of important personality characteristics