1. Myers EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Edition in Modules)
Sexual Motivation
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
Linda Zimmerman
Oakton Community College
Worth Publishers

2. Sexual Knowledge Quiz

3. Sexual Motivation
Sex is a physiologically based motive, like hunger, but it is more affected by learning and values.

4. Sexual Response Cycle Refractory Period
Masters and Johnson (N= 382 f and 312 m) the four stages of sexual responding
excitement
plateau
orgasm
resolution
Refractory Period
resting period after orgasm, during which a
man cannot achieve another orgasm

5. Sexual Disorder
…a problem that consistently impairs sexual arousal or functioning
Can include:
lack of motivation, arousal
Premature ejaculation (men)
Erectile dysfunction (men)
Orgasmic dysfunction (women)
Treatments:
Sexual therapy
Medication

6. Estrogen
a sex hormone, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males
in nonhuman females, levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity

7. Testosterone most important of the male sex hormones
both males and females have it
extra testosterone in males:
stimulates growth of sex organs in the fetus
development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

8. Forces Affecting Sexual Motivation

9. Births to Unwed Parents

10. Sexual Orientation an enduring sexual attraction toward:
members of one’s own sex (homosexual orientation)
Members of the other sex (heterosexual orientation)

11. Brain Differences
On the average (the evidence is strongest for males), various biological and behavioral traits of gays and lesbians fall between those of straight men and straight women.

12. Brain Differences
One hypothalmic cell cluster is larger in straight men than in women and gay men, same difference is found in male sheep displaying other-sex versus same-sex attraction.
Anterior commissure is larger in gay men than in women or straight men.

13. Genetic Influences
Shared sexual orientation is higher among identical twins than among fraternal twins.
Sexual attraction in male fruit flies can be genetically manipulated.

14. Prenatal Hormonal Influences
Altered prenatal hormone exposure may lead to homosexuality in humans and other animals.
Men with several older brothers are more likely to be gay.

15. Brain differences and prenatal influences may contribute to observed gay-straight differences in childrens’:
Spatial abilities
Relative finger lengths
Fingerprint ridge counts
Gender nonconformity
Auditory system
Age of male puberty
Handedness
Male body size
Ocupational preferences

16. Views of Homosexuality