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 on the computer, spend less time playing games and more time ing 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’s participation 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 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”