Sex, Love, and Gender

1. Sex, Love, and Gender Adapted from: David Myers Psychology 8th Edition

2. Gender • XX=girl, XY=boy • Everyone receives X chromosome from mother • A sex gene present in both males and females • Men receive Y chromosome from father • A single sex gene which causes testes to develop • Hormones • Testosterone – principal male hormone, which is produced heavily due to the Y chromosomes • Females also have testosterone, but less of it. • Estrogen - hormone secreted in greater amounts by females than by males

3. Gender • Seven weeks after conception, you were anatomically indistinguishable from someone of the other sex.

4. Gender differences surface early • Boys play in large groups with an activity focus - competitive • Girls have smaller groups, often only one friend – imitative of social relationships • As teens, women spend more time with friends and less time alone. When onthe computer, spend less time playing games andmore time e-mailing friends

5. Women are more interdependent • They tend and befriend, turning to others for support • Use conversation to explore relationships while men use it to communicate solutions. • Express emotions freely • Are more concerned with making connections. • Make 63% of telephone calls and stay on the phone longer. • When wanting understanding and someone with whom to share worries and hurts, both sexes usually turn to women

6. When compared to men, women are more likely to… • Be open to spirituality • Be open and responsive to feedback • Dream equally of men and women • Become sexually re-aroused immediately after orgasm • Smell faint odors • Be offered help in some situations

7. Men • Are more concerned with viewing self as individuals • Are more skeptical • Admit to more aggression than women (ratio for murderers 9:1) • Male answer syndrome - a phenomenon in which males are more likely to hazard answers rather than admit they don’t know.

8. Leadership between the Sexes • Leadership tends to go to males – occupy 84% of seats in world’s government • Men tend to be more directive, even autocratic • Women tend to be more democratic, more welcoming of subordinate’sparticipation in decision making • Men more likely to utter opinions • Women more likely to express support • Men act powerful: talk assertively, interrupt, initiate touching, smile less, and stare • Gender differences in power lessen with maturity • Middle age women become more assertive • Men become more empathic

9. Risks and Vulnerabilities between Sexes • Women more vulnerable to… • Depression and anxiety • Eating disorders (ten times greater risk than men) • Men more likely to… • Commit suicide or suffer alcoholism • Have autism, color-blindness, hyperactivity (as children) • Have antisocial personality disorder (as adults)

10. Intimacy • As friends, women are more intimate than men; they talk more often and more openly • Men enjoy doing activities side by side, while women would rather talk face-to-face.

11. Attractiveness Varies by Culture • The current concept of attractiveness in Kenya, Morocco, and Scandinavia

12. Research of sexual habits - Kipling • Alfred Kipling conducted the first recorded sexual “survey,” which was very shocking to the conservative 1940s audience • Most of men and nearly half the women reported having premarital sex • Most women and virtually all men reported having masturbated

13. Research of Physiology of Sex in 1960s – Masters and Johnson • Recorded the physiological responses of volunteers who masturbated or had intercourse • 382 female and 312 male volunteers • A typical sample, consisting only of people able and willing to display arousal and orgasm while being observed in a laboratory

14. Research of Physiology of Sex in 1960s – Masters and Johnson • Monitored or filmed more than 10,000 sexual “cycles • Sexual Response Cycle - the four stages of sexual responding - excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution • During resolution phase, male enters a refractory period - a resting period during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm

15. Disorders • Sexual disorders - a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning, such as premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, and orgasmic disorder • Most women who experience problems relate it to their emotional relationship with their partner, not to the physical aspects • Testosterone-replacement patch restored sexual activity, arousal, and pleasure for over 500 naturally menopausal women

16. Hormonal Surges • Fluctuations in male hormones are partly a response to sexual stimulation. • Men’s testosterone levels rose with social arousal (talking to another man), but they rose much higher when talking with a female • If hormonal surge is not allowed, the normal development of sex characteristics and sexual desire does not occur • Example: during the 1600s and 1700s, pre-pubertal boys were castrated to preserve their soprano voices for Italian opera

17. Sexual Motivation

18. Pornography • Sexually explicit materials are sold mostly to men • Surprisingly, most women (at least the less inhibited women to volunteer to participate in the studies) report or exhibit nearly as much arousal to the same stimuli • With repeated exposure, the emotional response to any erotic stimulus often lessens • At the time mildly erotic stimulus: • When women’s hemlines first reached the knee, an exposed leg • A modest two-piece swimsuit, • Movie scenes of a mere kiss

19. Adverse effects of sexually explicit material • Images of sexually attractive women and men may lead people to devalue their own partner and relationships • Viewing X-rated sex films tends to diminish people’s satisfaction with their own sexual partners • Researchers suspect that reading or watching erotica may create expectations that few men and women can fulfill

20. Fantasies and Preferences • About 95% of both men and women say they have had sexual fantasies • However, men (whether gay or straight) fantasize about sex more often, more physically, and less romantically • They also prefer less personal and faster-paced sex content in books and videos

21. Adolescent Sexuality Rates • 3% of American women born before 1900, had premarital sex by age 18 • 50% of US high school students in 1995 • Only 2.5% of over 4 thousand unmarried Chinese students entering Hong Kong’s six universities

22. Teen Pregnancy • Compared with European teens, American teens have… • lower rates of intercourse and contraceptive use • higher rates of teen pregnancy and abortion • Only one-third of sexuality active male teens use condoms consistently

23. Why teens do not use contraceptives • Ignorance • Most teens overestimate their peers’ sexual activity, which may influence their own behavior • Guilt related to sexual activity • 72% of American girls aged 12-17 who have had sex said they regretted it • Not wanting to appear deliberately sexual or promiscuous, teens may hesitate to carry and produce a condom • Minimal communication about birth control • Uncomfortable discussing contraception with parents, partners, and peers

24. Why teens do not use contraceptives • Alcohol use • Sexually active teens are typically alcohol-using teens • Those who use alcohol prior to sex are less likely to use condoms • Alcohol tends to break down normal restraints, a phenomenon well known to sexually coercive males. • Mass media norms of unprotected promiscuity • According to Planned Parenthood, TV and movie portrayals of unsafe sex without consequence amounts to a campaign of “sex disinformation”

25. Fast spread of STIs • Over the course of year, Pat has sex with 9 people, each of whom has sex with 9 other people, who in turn have sex with 9 others. How many “phantom” sex partners will Pat have? • 511 - more than five times the estimate given by the average student • Given these odds, the rapid spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) is not surprising

26. The teens who delay sex are found to • Have a higher than average intelligence • Be actively religious • Have a father presence • Participate in volunteer work

27. Sexual Orientation Statistics • Sexual Orientation - an enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one’s own sex (homosexuality) or the other sex (heterosexual) • 3-4% of men and 1-2% of women are gay • Most homosexual people report not becoming aware of same sex attraction during puberty and not thinking of themselves as gay until age 20 • Sexual orientation is neither willfully chosen nor willfully changed • Sexual orientation in some ways is like handedness: most people are one way, some the other. A very few are truly ambidextrous

28. Orientation Statistics - continued • Women’s sexual orientation tends to be less strongly felt and potentially more fluid and changeable than men’s • More likely to feel bisexual attractions • Lesbian women are more likely to enter a committed long-term love relationship compared to gay men • Gays suffer elevated rates of depression and risk of suicide attempts • Mental health professionals are now more accepting of sexual orientation • They dropped homosexuality from their list of “mental illnesses

29. Orientation Statistics - continued • Homosexuality appears to run in families • Fraternal birthorder effect - men who have older brothers somewhat more likely to be gay • Odds of homosexuality are 3% among first sons • Increase to 4% among second sons and over 5% for third sons • Homosexual behavior does not indicate homosexual orientation • Even in tribal cultures where homosexual behavior is expected of all boys before marriage, heterosexuality still prevails

30. Homosexual animals • Some degree of homosexuality seems to be a natural part of the animal world • Penguins, Wendell and Cass, spent several years as devoted same-sex partners at the New York Aquarium • At least occasional same-sex relations have be observed in several hundred species, including grizzlies, gorillas, monkeys, flamingos, and owls

31. Physiological Differences between Homosexuals and Heterosexuals • A gay scientist, LeVay postulated that homosexuality is not just psychological. The physiological effects were shown in sections of the hypothalamus • The cell cluster was reliably larger in heterosexual men than in women and homosexual men. • Although, he did admit that sexual behavior patterns may have influenced the brain’s anatomy

32. Spatial Abilities • Can you tell which of the four figures can be rotated to match the target figure at the top? • Straight males tend to find this an easier task than do straight females, with gays and lesbians intermediate

33. Acceptance of Homosexuality • Acceptance is more common among women, among those with a gay or lesbian friend or relative, and among younger adults • Among entering collegians, support for laws prohibiting homosexual relationships has plummeted since 1987 • This is not a result of liberalization of all sex-related attitudes. For example from 1973 to 2000 agreement that extramarital sex is “always wrong” increased from 69.6% to 79.4%

34. New biological research is double edged sword • Alleviates parent’s concerns about their children being influenced by gay teachers and role models • Raises the possibility that genetic markers of sexual orientation could someday be identified through fetal testing, and a fetus could be aborted simply for being predisposed to an unwanted orientation

35. Love • Two types of love • Temporary passionate love • More enduring companionate love

36. Passionate love • Passionate love - an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship • Theory of emotion: • Emotions have two ingredients - physical arousal plus cognitive appraisal • Arousal from any source can enhance one emotion or another • College men were aroused by fright and then introduced to an attractive woman • Those who were stirred up attributed some of that arousal to the woman they were talking to and felt more attracted to her • Adrenaline makes the heart grow fonder

37. Companionate love • Companionate love - the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined • Happens as passionate love matures • Recognizing the short duration of passionate love, some societies have deemed such feelings an irrational reason for marrying • In Non-Western cultures, people rate love less important for marriage and have lower divorce rates

38. Keys to Healthy Relationship • Equity - a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it • When a couple shares decision making, their chances for sustained and satisfying companionate love are good • Self-disclosure - revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

39. Marriage • Marriage bonds are more likely to last when couples marry after age 20 and are well educated • Twice the rate of divorce from 40 years ago • Reflecting women’s lessened economical dependence on men and people’s rising expectations • US and Canada almost have 1 divorce per 2 marriages

40. Marriage • Adult bonds of love are most satisfying and enduring when marked by a similarity of interests and values, a sharing of emotional and material support, and intimate self-disclosure • Couples who cohabited before marriage had higher rates of divorce and marital dysfunction. • 40% of married adults report being “very happy,” compared to 23% of unmarried adults

41. Successful Couples • Have a five-to-one ratio of positive to negative interactions • Positive: smiling, touching, complimenting, and laughing • Negative: sarcasm, criticism, and insults • Learn to fight fair and state their feelings without insulting • Steer conflict away from chaos • “I’ll just be quiet for a moment and listen” • “I know it’s not your fault”

42. Children • When children begin to absorb time, money, and emotional energy, the couple’s marital satisfaction may decline • Especially, among women who tend to carry the traditional burden of doing chores at home. • When children leave home, empty nest is typically a happy place • Couple experience a “postlaunch honeymoon”