Chapter 11 - Sexual Orientation

Question 1

What is Sexual Orientation

Answer 1

A relative pattern of sexual attraction to males and/or females

Question 2

What are the 4 ways we can measure Sexual orientation and their advantages/disadvantages

Answer 2

1. Sexual Behaviour: Who do they have sex with (people may not engage in what they say they do)
2. Sexual Orientation Identity: How do they define themselves (imprecise and labels change overtime)
3. Sexual Attraction: Who do they think about when they masturbate (least constraints but also might not tell you)
4. Genital arousal: objective measurement but difficult to obtain

Question 3

What is Asexuality and what is some empirical evidence we know?

Answer 3

Still report sexual desire and engage in sexual encounters.
More liekly to have sexual fantasies not involving humans
Masturbate the same frequency as others.
Thus asexuality may not be directed at other people and may mean different things.

Question 4

How is the Kinsey scale flawed?

Answer 4

You need to know their biological sex to have a precise interpretation of the kinsey scale measurements.

Question 5

What is Androphilia:

Answer 5

Sexual attraction & arousal to adult males & masculinity

Question 6

What is gynephilia

Answer 6

sexual arousal and attraction to adult females & femininity

Question 7

What is Ambiphilia

Answer 7

sexual arousal and attraction to both males and females

Question 8

Is it better to measure behaviour or attraction in sexual contexts?

Answer 8

attraction because its an automatic response

Question 9

VPP

Answer 9

Inserted in vaginal lumen and measures how much light bounces back in concordance of blood flow changes that occur during vasocongestion

Question 10

Penile strain gauge

Answer 10

Goes around the circumference of the penis. Responds to changes in circumference. If there are changes then there are changes in arousal.

Question 11

Vaginal Lubrication (Litmus Test Strip)

Answer 11

How far up the litmus strip goes (more lubrication, more arousal). The vagina lengthens with arousal

Question 12

Thermography:

Answer 12

use same instrument for males and females, measures changes in blood flow with a thermal camera

Question 13

Eye tracking

Answer 13

humans look at the stuff they like more

Question 14

fMRI

Answer 14

what brain regions are responding the sexual stimuli

Question 15

What are ways we can provoke sexual arousal

Answer 15

Pictures of female and male models
Pure sexual stimuli like penetrative sex with MM, FM, FF.
and measure subjective and objective

Question 16

What Empirical Evidence did we find about female/male category specificity of sexual arousal?

Answer 16

There are sex differences in their levels of category specificity
Females are non-category specific and males are category specific

Males who list their subjective SO have high concordance with their genital arousal. Females do not.

Gynephilic females are more category specific

Question 17

If the instruments used to measure genital arousal are different then how can they measure the same thing? What empirical evidence do we have the counters this argument?

Answer 17

Transmen and transwomen used VPP and penile strain gauge.

Biological males (transwomen) were extremely category specific

Question 18

How strong is the correlation of subjective arousal and genital arousal in both sexes?

Answer 18

Male genital arousal was strongly correlated with subjective arousal (.77 R squared)
Female genital arousal was weakly correlated with subjective arousal (0.067 r squared)

Question 19

What did Chivers find about female genital arousal? Talk about both studies.

Answer 19

Females are sexually aroused to Ff stimuli more than others regardless of their sexual orientation self-report. They are also aroused at non human sex.

Question 20

How does genital arousal and female sexual orientation relate to category specificity

Answer 20

Androphilic females show indistinguishable patterns between stimuli
Ambiphilic females have slightly more arousal for female stimuli
Gynephilic females are more male shifted in their category specificity

Question 21

What does Chivers work say about females and their sexual oreintation?

Answer 21

That their genitals do not tell the whole story about their preference for a person like males can

Question 22

Gender-variant

Answer 22

having characteristics of the opposite sex

Question 23

What does empirical evidence of Typical Sex Difference in Gendered Childhood Behavior say. What’s the cohens d.

Answer 23

Females tend to take female roles, play dress up, have female toys
males tend to engage in rough-and-tumble play, male fantasy roles
difference is about 3.0

Question 24

What empirical evidence is there about sexual orientation differences in the roles they adopt in childhood.

Answer 24

Heterosexual women are more feminine in childhood
Homosexual women are more masculine on average when they are younger
Heterosexual men saying they were relatively male in childhood
Homosexual males report being more feminine

Question 25

What empirical evidence is there about sexual orientation differences in the behaviours they engage in childhood. and what conclusions can we draw about the inference of social integration effects?

Answer 25

Homosexual males -> higher levels of feminine behaviours Homosexual females -> higher levels of male behaviours Happens in all social settings regardless of social pressures meaning its not purely social

Question 26

What can we conclude about androphilic males in their childhood?

Answer 26

Pre-androphilic males (hetero) tend to be sex atypical children behaviour. Play with feminine toys, cross-dressing, not interested in rough and tumble play, preferring girls as playmates, more concerned if separated by major caregiver (found across cultures), believing or desiring to be a girl

Question 27

What can we conclude about androphilic males in their childhood?

Answer 27

Pre gynaphilic females show marked childhood sex atypicality (prefer male clothes, rough & tumble play, desire to be a boy (very masculine))

Question 28

What are kinds of studies that are better than self-report studies?

Answer 28

1. Blind ratings: have people submit childhood picture and ask people what they believe that persons sexual orientation is 2. Prospective Cohort studies: tracking people as they age

Question 29

What can we conclude about sexual orientation after looking at the emripircal evidence presented?

Answer 29

Gender non-conforming behaviour emerged before later sexual attraction/identity, and is not influenced by recall bias

Question 30

What was the evidence concluded from self-report studies of the sexes depiction of their sexual orientation in relation to femininity and masculinity?

Answer 30

Sexual orientation differences occur cross-culturally. Androphilic males are more feminine self-reported, and gynephilic females more masculine, despite cultures against female masculinity of male femininity.

Question 31

What is evidence for sexual orientation variation in preference for gendered occupations?

Answer 31

Heterosexual men have strong preference for male typical occupation Bisexual men are intermediate Homosexual male stronger preference for female Heterosexual women have strong preference for female occupations Bisexual women slightly male shifted Homosexual women are male shifted

Question 32

What are the things of tinbergs 4 things we use to answer causes of attractions?

Answer 32

we mostly ask proximate developmental questions Why and how bioenvironmentally would people have same or opposite sex attractions

Question 33

What is evidence against the theory that sexual orientation is socially directed?

Answer 33

Botch circumcision lead to being raised as female and later presented as male. Cases of penile ablation and cross-sex rearing are rare, but all such documented males are gynephilic

Question 34

What is an anatomical difference between sexual orientations that describes a proximate explanation. What region adn what does it regulate

Answer 34

A region of the anterior-hypothalamus is smaller in women and gay men compared to straight men called the INH3 that regulates FFFF

Question 35

What is the prenatal neurohormonal Theory:

Answer 35

Sexual orientation might be effected by androgen levels. o - --- Fetuses exposed to high androgens will be attracted to females (gynephilic) high exposure o Fetuses exposed to low androgens will be more attracted to men (androphilic) low exposure (usually female but includes males)

Question 36

What is evidence for the prenatal neurohormonal theory:

Answer 36

1. Males have lower 2d:4D index finger shorter than ring finger 2. Women with CAH are male shifted, more androgren and male shift 3. CAIS are female-typical 4. Gynaphilic females are subtly male-shifted. 5. Androphilic males are not female shifted 6. Females with CAIS more likely to report gynephilia 7. Genetic Males (XY) with DSDs leading to atypical male genitals are typically gynephilic

Question 37

what orientation is the most common

Answer 37

gynephilia

Question 38

How much influence does our genes have on our sexual orientation? What is some empirical evidence?

Answer 38

There is polygenic influence and studies have looked at sexual behaviour and not attraction. It is unclear. ~33% of male androphilia and female gynephilia can be attributed to genes. Twin studies show that monozygotic twins where one is gay, the other has 30% chance o fbeing gay as well.

Question 39

What is the Fraternal Birth Order Effect

Answer 39

Statistical finding that androphilic males on average have more older brothers than gynephilic males For every increase of older brother androphilia goes up approximate 20-30%

Question 40

What evidence do we have that points to confirming the FBOE

Answer 40

Looked at adapted families and found that the more biological older brother was related rather than adoptive brothers.

Question 41

Explain the Maternal Immune Hypothesis

Answer 41

An attempt to explain the FBOE. Females are exposed to Y chromosomal proteins and mom makes antibodies to fight them. The more babies, the more antibodies and the more it may impact levels of development and sexual orientation.

Question 42

What evidence do we have for the Maternal Immune Hypothesis

Answer 42

Looked at a specific antibody NLGN4Y that attacks males proteins and found that mothers with gay sons and mothers with more sons and gay sons had more antibodies

Question 43

What do we know about birth order for female sexual orientation?

Answer 43

only found predictors for gynephilia related to older siblings