Human Sexuality Midterm Flashcards

Question

Trade-off theory

Answer 1

Women may trade off attractiveness for resources in mate selection Results from a study showed that men will put more emphasis on attractiveness and women will put more emphasis on resources Women favour resources because they need them when pregnant and to support children

Answer 2

Women: Limited number of eggs; Carry fetus for nine months; Responsible for child care after (e.g., breastfeeding) Men: Millions of sperm; Role in reproduction is significantly less involved

Answer 3

Men- short-term, attracted to cues of fertility and physical qualities Women- long-term, attracted to cues of resources and commitment

Answer 4

Adaptation during the evolution of humans produced psychological differences between males and females Males tend to be more violent, competition, and risk Females more devoted to parenting and nurturing

Answer 5

There are differences in the minimum obligatory parental investment between the sexes: Males = mating effort and ejaculation; sperm abundant Females = fertilization and gestation of 9 months; 2-4 years nursing; eggs finite This leads to two predictions: - The sex that invests more in offspring will be more selective in mating - The sex that invests less in offspring will be more competitive for sexual access to the high-investing sex

Answer 6

Between members of the same sex (male aggression)

Answer 7

Selection of preferred mates (female choice)

Answer 8

Heterosexual view only No biological explanation for why women look for resources Not everyone wants to reproduce Society has changed a lot and these theories may not apply easily now Focus more on Western views Perpetuates stereotypes The central function of sex as reproduction Contrasting evidence indicates a lot of men want long-term relationships and some women want short-term relationships

Answer 9

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Born with biologically based sex drives that must be channelled through socially approved outlets Developed stages that young children would have to go through and resolve a problem to move on to the next stage

Answer 10

Derived data almost exclusively from his work with patients who sought therapy from him Feminists have also been critical of this theory – as a very male-centred theory e.g., penis envy (biologically inferior to men) Most concepts cannot be evaluated scientifically to see whether they are accurate (he postulated that many of the most important forces in personality are unconscious)

Answer 11

Learning theory in psychology refers to the frameworks and principles that explain how people acquire, modify, and retain behaviours, skills, and knowledge through experiences. Including classical conditions and operant condition

Answer 12

A type of learning in which an organism learns to connect or associate stimuli US: Sexual intimacy with partner UR: sexual arousal Neutral stimulus: partners cologne Conditioning = cologne + sexual intimacy = sexual arousal

Answer 13

Learning based on consequences, where behaviors are influenced by rewards (reinforcement) or punishments

Answer 14

Cognitive frameworks, often different for males and females, for understanding how a sexual experience is supposed to proceed and how sexual experiences are to be interpreted. Cultural, interpersonal, and intrapsychic (individual differences in relationships) influences

Answer 15

Men: providers, initiators, and protectors, always want to have sex, men view it as a physical act, rewarded for being sexual Women: protect virginity, want emotional intimacy first as well as commitment, submissive, gatekeepers, can’t be too sexual

Answer 16

Evolution = currents patterns of sexual behaviour are embedded in our genes through years of natural selection Sexual script = sexual life is influenced by social and cultural factors and differs from one historical era to another or from one culture to another

Answer 17

Subjective: asking people questions, self-reported Objective: getting physiological measurements Expressed: body language

Answer 18

Very subjective There needs to be definitions of what a sexual partner is, everyone has their definition Some people may lie about certain answers if they feel shame about a topic Faulty memories False estimates Volunteer bias

Answer 19

Penile strain gauge and vaginal photoplethysmography (measurement tools) Laboratory observation method

Answer 20

Women: more likely to demonstrate non-specific sexual arousal, sexual arousal is very similar across different stimuli Men: more likely to demonstrate category specific sexual arousal, they have different sexual arousal levels based on what stimuli they are shown * Women are aroused by a wider range of stimuli than are men * Women have lower concordance between their physiological arousal and self-reported sexual arousal

Answer 21

Women: women are more likely to demonstrate lower sexual arousal concordance, means what we say and how our bodies react are not the same Men: more likely to demonstrate higher sexual arousal concordance, meaning what their bodies are showing and what they are saying are similar * Women are aroused by a wider range of stimuli than are men * Women have lower concordance between their physiological arousal and self-reported sexual arousal

Answer 22

Female sex organ, consisting of a shaft and a glans Becomes erect when aroused Only body part that is only for pleasure

Answer 23

They develop from the same embryonic tissue and are similar in structure Not similar in function

Answer 24

Masturbation was considered harmful or immoral. As a result, removal of the clitoris (clitoridectomy) was sometimes performed as a "treatment" to suppress sexual desire and prevent orgasm. The removal of the clitoral hood (a procedure known as clitoral hood reduction) was sometimes done to expose the clitoris more directly, theoretically making it easier for women to achieve orgasm.

Answer 25

Internal passage leading from the opening at the vulva to the cervix of the uterus; contains the penis during sexual intercourse; is what babies pass through during childbirth

Answer 26

External genital organs of the female containing the mons veneris, the labia majora, and the labia minora, clitoris, and vaginal opening

Answer 27

Vaginal: Freud considered vaginal orgasms, achieved through penetration and involving the internal genitalia, to be a marker of sexual maturity. He theorized that, as women developed psychologically and sexually, their sexual focus would shift from the clitoris to the vagina. Clitoral: Freud associated clitoral orgasms with immature or adolescent sexual development. He believed that stimulation of the clitoris, a part of the external genitalia, led to these orgasms and viewed them as a stage typical of early sexual development.

Answer 28

Conditioned marked by abnormally low levels of testosterone; men show loss of sexual desire and activity When given testosterone injections, their sex drives, fantasies, and activities return to former levels

Answer 29

Men who are castrated show decrease in sexual fantasies/desire, as well as capacity to attain erection and ejaculate

Answer 30

In most mammals, females are sexually receptive during estrus (“in heat”) – period of fertility corresponding to ovulation and increases in estrogen Human female is responsive during all phases of reproductive cycle – even during menstruation, when hormone levels are low Subtle changes may still occur: body, face, smell, voice Study found that men find women more attractive when they are ovulating

Answer 31

Women who have had ovariectomies (no production of female sex hormones), still become sexually aroused But…women whose ovaries and adrenal glands have been removed (no production of female or male hormones) lose sexual desire

Answer 32

1. Excitement 2. Plateau 3. Orgasmic phase 4. Resolution

Answer 33

1. Desire 2. Excitement 3. Orgasm

Answer 34

Nonsexual or neutral: A person starts in a baseline state where they are not thinking about or feeling sexual desire. Sexual arousal for intimacy : ome people experience sexual arousal as a way to seek closeness and connection with a partner. Sexual arousal for sexual reasons : Others experience arousal primarily for pleasure, release, or excitement Response to sexual stimulation, which increases arousal and then sexual desire

Answer 35

The cycle assumes that sexual response progresses in a linear fashion Desire and arousal often stem from emotional or relational factors, which this model does not address. The model places significant emphasis on orgasm as the "peak" or goal of sexual activity. The model is based primarily on heterosexual, cisgender individuals and does not account for the diverse experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals or those with different gender identities

Answer 36

People tend to develop romantic relationships with those whose level of attractiveness and other traits are similar to their own Partners tend to resemble us in terms of race, ethnicity, age, etc The longer partners are together, the more they start to resemble each other

Answer 37

Consensus judgement: These are evaluations of attractiveness that are generally agreed upon by a large group of people Ex: certain facial features (e.g., symmetry, clear skin) or body proportions (e.g., the golden ratio) are often perceived as universally attractive due to evolutionary, cultural, or societal norms. Person-specific judgement: These are evaluations of attractiveness that vary from person to person based on individual preferences, experiences, or personal connections Ex: as someone becomes more familiar to an individual (e.g., through repeated interactions or emotional bonding), their attractiveness can increase, even if they don’t fit traditional standards of beauty

Answer 38

Based on cultural standards of beauty, we will alter ourselves, to be more beautiful Relative body size often influences judgements of attractiveness, especially for women Size preferences can be culturally determined

Answer 39

* Attraction * Building * Continuation * Deterioration * Ending

Answer 40

Jealousy is present in all cultures, but is more common in cultures: Is found in all genders and sexual orientations Is aroused when we think our relationships are threatened by rivals

Answer 41

Jealousy increases when individuals attribute their partners infidelity to internal causes (e.g., clear personal choice) When infidelity is attributed to external causes (e.g., alcohol use, social pressures), less jealousy is reported The way we interpret infidelity is based off the causes that are behind the cheating.

Answer 42

Sexual orientation isn’t necessarily expressed in sexual behaviour - Gay people have staright experiences and straight people have gay experiences Sexual orientation should be defined by a combination of factors. Sexual orientation is more complex than just who we have sex with Some people use a typology, classifying it using broad categories Some people think of it as a continuum or a spectrum, sometimes making categories from the continua but there are still categories along the spectrum

Answer 43

Sexual attraction Sexual fantasies Sexual partners Tendency to fall in love romantically Self-identification

Answer 44

Participants’ perceptions of what most other people similar to themselves in gender/sex and sexuality consider to be okay/not okay in sexual situations (rather than their own attitudes or interests) E.g: who is acceptable to partner with, how many partners are appropriate, what sexual behaviors are acceptable

Answer 45

The found that the norms for in person, porn and fantasy are very different . The norms of fantasy and in person had the smallest amount of overlap. People perceive sexual fantasy as potentially separate and having their own context specific norms. When people engage in each of these sexual contexts they do so through distinct normative lenses.

Answer 46

In response to various social and cultural factors, people show different levels of sex drive and express sexual desires in different way depending on those factors.

Answer 47

Women show greater variation in sexual behaviour over time Women seem to be more responsive to cultural factors (e.g., permissiveness or restraint) Men sexual behaviour is more consistent with their sexual attitudes than women

Answer 48

Men fairly stable, women more variation

Answer 49

Women changed sexual standards towards being more permissive as they accumulated dating experience . A man would do anything wether it be the first or fifth date, women are more limited to what they feel comfortable with doing.

Answer 50

More women than men come to accept sexual behaviour that initially made them feel guilty

Answer 51

Women, but not men commenced same sec intercourse under those circumstances (60% vs 12%)

Answer 52

Higher levels of education associated with delays in starting sexual activity-more so for women. For women higher level of education the older they are when they lost their virginity, for men we do not see a relationship

Answer 53

Women became socially (sexually) malleable as an adaption to male power. Maybe it has been adaptive that women will change their sexual behaviour depending on what partner they are with since men are stronger and more dominant.

Answer 54

What is meant by sexual orientation? It is framed around binary ideas of sex and gender (and no other factors) Why are sex/gender the only factors? Sexual fluidity? What happens to our sexual orientation when our label changes or our behaviours change

Answer 55

* A way of mapping someone’s sexual life according to a range of factors - Gender and sex (challenges binary) - Partner number (challenges motonormativity) - Level of sexual desire (challenges sexual normativity) - Kink, sexual dynamics and other traits

Answer 56

Status: current partners Orientation: sexual pulls or draws towards other people (or not) e.g., attraction Identity: the way one defines one’s self , including to others Past partners, current, and future Eroticism and nurturance

Answer 57

1899: Albert von Schrenck-Notzing’s bold claim to have turned a gay man straight He thought with some therapy and a trip to the brothel they could be changed Eugen Steinach = same sex orientation rooted in a man testicles, led to testicle transplantation

Answer 58

Electroconvulsive therapy, lobotomies, hired prostitutes and heterosexual pornography, talk therapy, hypnosis, antidepressives, antipsychotics, role plays Aversion therapy: chemical to induce vomiting (e.g., when looking at pictures of loved ones), electric shocks while watching porn

Human Sexuality Midterm Flashcards

(82 cards)