Psy 306 exam 4

6. A Sense of Duty: When Responsibility or Guilt Calls

6. A Sense of Duty: When Responsibility or Guilt Calls Highlight (yellow) - Page 117 · Location 2365 agreeing to have sex in order to stop a partner's nagging was a common reason for having sex given by the women in our study :Highlight (yellow) - Page 118 · Location 2382 Overtly declining a persistent partner's request for sex is something many women find hard to do :Highlight (yellow) - Page 119 · Location 2396 mismatches in the desire to have sex arise because a person fears pregnancy , dislikes the sexual activity being suggested , or believes it is too early in the relationship to have sex . In heterosexual relationships it is more often the man wanting to have sex earlier than the woman .Highlight (yellow) - Page 120 · Location 2411 hypoactive sexual desire disorder — the term for clinically low sex drive — is only diagnosable if it causes distress . If one partner has chronically higher desire than the other , however , then conflicts and concessions are likely to unfold .Highlight (yellow) - Page 121 · Location 2425 Some people are , in a sense , addicted to the infatuation stage . They have unrealistic expectations that the feelings of newness and excitement will last forever . When the spark and excitement start to fade , so does their desire for having sex . There begins another mismatch in desire .Highlight (yellow) - Page 121 · Location 2432 Studies consistently show that men report higher levels of sex drive than women . This holds true for college students , middle - aged people , and even eighty - and ninety - year - olds .Highlight (yellow) - Page 121 · Location 2435 32 percent of women between the ages of eighteen and twenty - nine reported a lack of sexual interest in the previous year , compared to 14 percent of men in the same age group .Highlight (yellow) - Page 121 · Location 2438 that desire problems stand out as the number one sexual complaint reported by women .Highlight (yellow) - Page 121 · Location 2439 why men report higher sex drives than women . The most common reason given is that men's high levels of androgens and other hormones are responsible .Highlight (yellow) - Page 122 · Location 2441 Traditional sex roles dictate that it is the man who initiates sex , not the woman . So there may be situations where women desire sex but are reluctant to seek it out or ask for it .Highlight (yellow) - Page 122 · Location 2451 Anatomical differences between men's and women's genitals also can impact differences in desire . When men become aroused , their erections provide very visible and direct feedback that prompts an urgent desire for sex . This can happen even when they do not initially seek sex .Highlight (yellow) - Page 122 · Location 2456 Women , on the other hand , receive very little feedback from their genitals when they first start to become aroused . Thus , genital arousal cues do not trigger women to want sex as frequently or in the same way as they do for men .Highlight (yellow) - Page 123 · Location 2460 study . In men , estimates range from five sexual fantasies per day to one per day . In women , estimates range from three per day to less than once per month . Interestingly , when sexually compulsive men are treated with drugs that decrease testosterone levels , they report lowered levels of sexual thoughts and fantasies . So perhaps higher testosterone levels cause men to fantasize and think about sex more than women .Highlight (yellow) - Page 123 · Location 2471 Many factors can contribute to low sexual desire in a woman . Some are short - term and contextual , such as feeling too tired after work or child care or not having the privacy to feel comfortable having sex . Others are more enduring and can lead to relationship distress . These include biological causes , such as changes in hormones , pregnancy , medications , or health , and relationship factors , such as decreased attraction to a partner , sexual boredom or frustration , and conflict with a partner .Highlight (yellow) - Page 124 · Location 2475 There are three major categories of " sex hormones " : progesterone , estrogen ( which comes in three different varieties — estriol , estradiol , and estrone ) , and the androgens ( of which testosterone is the most important ) .Highlight (yellow) - Page 124 · Location 2476 Progesterone is primarily known for its role in pregnancy . It is responsible for " building the nest " by preparing the lining of the uterus for implantation of the fertilized egg . Studies have not shown progesterone to play an important role in women's sex drive , although high levels cause the symptoms of PMS , or premenstrual syndrome — a common desire killer .Highlight (yellow) - Page 124 · Location 2479 Estrogen and testosterone , on the other hand , are critical for women's sexual interest . Estrogen , in addition to protecting the bones and heart ( and presumably helping women to remember where they put their keys ) , is responsible for the vaginal lubrication that occurs when a woman feels sexually aroused . It also helps " plump up " and maintain women's genital tissues . Without estrogen ,Highlight (yellow) - Page 124 · Location 2482 vaginal intercourse and stimulation of sensitive erogenous zones such as the nipples and clitoris would be painful . Testosterone , generally considered the " male hormone , " might actually play the most important hormonal role in women's sex drive . Like estrogen and progesterone , women's testosterone is produced primarily by the ovaries and a smaller portion by the adrenal glands . According to medical laboratories , the " normal " range of free testosterone for women aged eighteen to forty - six is anywhere from 1.3 to 6.8 picograms — that is , 1.3 to 6.8 trillionths of a gram — per milliliter . That's obviously very little , and just by comparison , beginning at puberty the male testes produce somewhere between 300 and 1,000 picograms per milliliter daily .Highlight (yellow) - Page 124 · Location 2488 Testosterone levels decline naturally year by year in women starting around age twenty . But the biggest drop in testosterone occurs around the time a woman undergoes menopause , usually when a woman is in her mid - forties to fifties , and her ovaries dramatically decrease hormone production . It is generally believed that a woman's testosterone levels decrease by about 50 percent between the ages of twenty and fifty . If a woman has a total hysterectomy that includes having both ovaries removed , regardless of her age , testosterone production is dramatically decreased .Highlight (yellow) - Page 125 · Location 2499 desire . A lack of testosterone negatively affects how frequently a woman masturbates , fantasizes about sex , and desires sexual activity . Women who lack sufficient testosterone may also lack sensation in their nipples and clitoris , and are unable to become sexually aroused even when stimulated by someone or something that used to turn them on .Highlight (yellow) - Page 125 · Location 2502 straightforward . Although labs give ranges of what is " normal , " women vary a lot in how much testosterone they need to feel good . For example , two thirty - five - year - old women could have exactly the same levels of testosterone and one could experience a healthy sex drive while the other complains of diminished desire . This may be related to what the women's testosterone levels were in their late teens compared to their current levels . Adding to the confusion , there are many women who complain of a lack of sexual desire and have perfectly normal testosterone levels , and there are many women who have low testosterone but high sex drives !Highlight (yellow) - Page 126 · Location 2510 Testosterone is available by prescription in many forms — pills , lozenges , capsules , and , most commonly , creams that are applied to the clitoris and inner labia . There has been some convincing research that taking testosterone helps restore sexual drive in women with abnormally low levels , and it has been especially effective for restoring drive in postmenopausal women . Testosterone is also available over - the - counter in the form of DHEA , which converts to testosterone once it is in the body .Highlight (yellow) - Page 127 · Location 2527 A series of hormonal changes also accompany pregnancy . Estrogen and progesterone no longer fluctuate the way they do prior to conception . They are both simultaneously high to get the woman's body ready for milk production and to keep the uterine lining thick to prevent miscarriage . High levels of estrogen may make a woman feel sexually aroused and interested , but high progesterone may make her too tired and cranky to want to do anything about it . After childbirth , a woman's sex drive is a lot more likely to decrease than increase , at least for a short time :Highlight (yellow) - Page 127 · Location 2540 The oxytocin released during breast - feeding also suppresses testosterone levels , so it could negatively impact women's sex drive . From an evolutionary perspective , both the decrease in sex drive following childbirth , and the fact that the hormonal changes during breast - feeding make conception less likely , serve an important birth - spacing function . Ancestral mothers who had children too closely spaced often found their limited resources spread too thin .Highlight (yellow) - Page 129 · Location 2560 Some researchers believe that pregnancy can sometimes permanently impair the production of testosterone , and that , in turn , could permanently affect a women's desire to have sex .Highlight (yellow) - Page 129 · Location 2569 Antidepressants , which are used to treat depression as well as certain anxiety disorders , have long been linked to impairments in sexual functioning . An estimated 96 percent of the women who are taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , or SSRIs — the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants — experience problems with desire , arousal , orgasm , or all three .Highlight (yellow) - Page 130 · Location 2580 functioning . In the past decade , great gains have been made in developing antidepressants that do not activate the brain receptors that influence sexual behavior . As a result , many of the newer generation of antidepressants such as Serzone ( nefazodone ) , Wellbutrin ( bupropion ) , Celexa ( citalopram ) , and Remeron ( mirtazapine ) cause fewer deleterious sexual side effects than those developed a decade or so ago ( such as Prozac and Paxil ) . Anti - anxiety medications , such as Valium , Xanax , Ativan , and BuSpar , and antipsychotic medications , such as Haldol , Thorazine , and Mellaril , can also negatively impact a woman's sex drive by interfering with brain chemicals that play a role in sexual functioning .Highlight (yellow) - Page 130 · Location 2585 Finally , some antihypertensive medications that are used to treat high blood pressure , such as reserpine and clonidine , have been found to inhibit the blood flow to women's genitals . By doing so , they impair a woman's ability to become sexually aroused and experience orgasm . Over - the - counter antihistamines that are used to treat allergies , including Benadryl , Atarax , and Periactin , can also negatively impact sex drive by drying out the mucous membranes in the vagina .Highlight (yellow) - Page 136 · Location 2681 One study of married couples found that 84 percent of wives and 64 percent of husbands " usually " or " always " complied with having sex when their spouse wanted to and they did not .Highlight (yellow) - Page 136 · Location 2686 In our study , three main themes emerged in the reasons women gave for why they willingly agreed to have unwanted sex : to maintain the relationship ; because they felt it was their duty ; and because they felt it was the " nice " thing to do . For some women , having unwanted sex to maintain the relationship meant using sex to avoid a fight :Highlight (yellow) - Page 138 · Location 2717 The idea that sex is part of the marital contract is alluded to in many religious texts . For example , the Christian Bible states in First Corinthians 7 : 2 - 3 that it is both the wife's and husband's duty to have sex with each other : " But since there is so much immorality , each man should have his own wife , and each woman her own husband . The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife , and likewise the wife to her husband . "Highlight (yellow) - Page 143 · Location 2799 What determines whether a woman will feel happy or remorseful after engaging in consensual unwanted sex ? Probably the best predictor is whether the behavior occurred because of what psychologists refer to as approach versus avoidance motives . Approach - motivated behaviors refer to acts done in an effort to achieve a positive or pleasurable experience . In the sexual arena , this would mean , for example , that a woman agrees to have unwanted sex because she wants to make her partner happy and to feel that she is a good mate . That motivation would likely resultHighlight (yellow) - Page 143 · Location 2803 in her feeling good about her decision . Avoidance - motivated behaviors , on the other hand , refer to behaviors undertaken to avoid negative or painful outcomes . This could mean agreeing to have sex out of fear of losing one's partner or making the partner angry or disappointed . Consenting to sex to avoid negative outcomes more often than not leads to feelings of shame and remorse .

How Women's Sexual Arousal is Measured

Genital Arousal: Blood flow into genital tissue and vaginal lubrication (cells squeezed by blood flow to release lubrication.) Measured with a vaginalphotoplethysmograph using light reflections, subjects are shown boring films and porn to measure response. Mental / Psychological Arousal: Measured using an Arousometer, which is holding a mouse and measuring how fast her hand twitches while holding it and watching films. Most people can't simply tell you how aroused they were while watching a film, too inaccurate.

Treatment of decreased Genital Lubrication in Women

Genital lubrication decreases when ovaries removed, hitting menopause, or low estrogen. • Topical lubricants (e.g., K-Y Jelly, Astroglide) • Estrogen creams replace Estrogen • Eros-CTD (Clitoral therapy device, pumps blood to genital region, doesn't always solve the problem because sexual arousal involves more than just blood flow, expensive)

4. Casual Sex

4. Casual Sex Highlight (yellow) - Page 113 · Location 1758 IMAGINE THAT AN attractive person of the opposite sex walks up to you on a college campus and says : " Hi , I've been noticing you around town lately , and I find you very attractive . Would you go to bed with me ? " How would you respond ? If you are like 100 percent of the women in one study in Florida , you would give an emphatic no . You might be offended , insulted , or plain puzzled by the request out of the blue . But if you are a man , the odds are 75 percent that you would say yes .Highlight (yellow) - Page 114 · Location 1774 casual sex would seem to have vanished . 4 So short - term sex would have meant that women were engaging in extramarital affairs . One of the keys to ancestral women's extramarital sexual opportunities was a lapse in mate guarding . Hunting opened windows of opportunity , because men went off for hours , days , or weeks to procure meat .Highlight (yellow) - Page 115 · Location 1789 sociosexual orientation . Some people are strongly inclined to long - term , high - investment mating . They want sex in the context of a loving committed relationship . Others are more inclined to short - term mating ; casual sex without love or encumbering commitment feels fine to them . Whereas long - term maters search for " the one and only , " short - term maters thrive on sexual variety and tend to experience a larger number of sex partners . So we turn now to the clues present in a deep - time evolutionary history of short - term mating .Highlight (yellow) - Page 116 · Location 1798 Large testes typically evolve as a consequence of intense sperm competition when the sperm from two or more males occupy the reproductive tract of the female at the same time . 5 Sperm competition exerts a selection pressure on males to produce large ejaculates containing numerous sperm . In the race to the valuable egg , the more voluminous sperm - laden ejaculate has an advantage in displacing the ejaculate of other men inside the woman's body . The testes size of men , relative to their body weight , is far larger than that of gorillas and orangutans . Male testes account for 0.018 percent of body weight in gorillas and 0.048 percent in orangutans . In contrast , men's testes account for 0.079 percent of body weight — 60 percent more than that of orangutans and more than four times that of gorillas . Men's relatively large testes provide one solid piece of evidence that women in human evolutionary history sometimes had sex with more than one man within a time span of a few days .Highlight (yellow) - Page 117 · Location 1814 Men's sperm count increased dramatically with the increasing amount of time the couple had been apart . The more time spent apart , the more sperm the husbands inseminated in their wives when they finally had sex . When the couples spent 100 percent of their time together , men inseminated only 389 million sperm per ejaculate . But when the couples spent only 5 percent of their time together , men inseminated 712 million sperm per ejaculate , or almost double the amount . Sperm insemination increases when other men's sperm might be inside the wife's reproductive tract at the same time , as a consequence of the opportunity provided for extramarital sex by the couple's separation .Highlight (yellow) - Page 118 · Location 1828 Rather , there is no link between the timing of the flowback and the number of sperm retained . 9 Women on average eject roughly 35 percent of the sperm within thirty minutes of the time of insemination . If the woman has an orgasm , however , she retains 70 percent of the sperm and ejects only 30 percent .Highlight (yellow) - Page 118 · Location 1838 Indeed , the rate of sexual intercourse with an affair partner during peak fertility is three times as high as the rate during the low - fertile post - ovulatory phase . 10Highlight (yellow) - Page 120 · Location 1871 Norwegian culture provides an especially interesting test case for these sex differences , since it is a culture with a high degree of gender equality . 14 Over the next thirty years , Norwegian women desired roughly five sex partners ; Norwegian men desired roughly twenty - five . Some psychologists argue that increased gender equality will reduce or eliminate these and other sex differences . 15 This clearly has not happened in Norway or in any other culture studied so far . Men's inclination to count their " conquests " and to " put notches on their belt , " long incorrectly attributed in Western culture to male immaturity or masculine insecurity , in fact reflects an adaptation to motivate brief sexual encounters .Highlight (yellow) - Page 123 · Location 1910 relationship . For a brief hookup , college men accepted an age range that was roughly four years wider than women did . Men were willing to have sex in the short run with members of the opposite sex who were as young as sixteen and as old as twenty - eight , whereas women required men to be at least eighteen but no older than twenty - six . This relaxation of age restrictions by men did not apply to committed mating , for which the minimum age was seventeen and the maximum twenty - two . For women the minimum age for committed mating was nineteen and the maximum twenty - five .Highlight (yellow) - Page 124 · Location 1922 Men clearly relaxed their standards more than women did for brief sexual encounters . Lowered standards , however , are still standards . Indeed , men's standards for sexual affairs reveal a precise strategy to gain sexual variety . Compared with their long - term preferences , men seeking casual sex disliked women who were prudish or conservative or had a low sex drive . In contrast to their long - term preferences , men valued sexual experience in a potential temporary sex partner , which reflects a belief that sexually experienced women are more sexually accessible to them than women who are sexually inexperienced . Men disliked promiscuity or indiscriminateHighlight (yellow) - Page 124 · Location 1927 sexuality in a potential wife or committed mate but believed that promiscuity was either neutral or even mildly desirable in a potential sex partner . Promiscuity , high sex drive , and sexual experience in a woman probably signal an increased likelihood that a man can gain sexual access for the short run . Prudishness and low sex drive , in contrast , signal a difficulty in gaining sexual access and thus interfere with men's short - term sexual strategy .Highlight (yellow) - Page 125 · Location 1943 And so the " Coolidge effect " was named — the male tendency to be sexually re - aroused upon the presentation of novel females , giving males an impulse to mate with multiple females . The Coolidge effect is a widespread mammalian trait that has been documented many times . 20 Male rats , rams , cattle , and sheep all show the effect . In a typical study , a cow is placed in a bull pen , and after copulation the cow is replaced with another cow . The bull's sexual response continues unabated with each new cow but diminishes quickly whenHighlight (yellow) - Page 126 · Location 1955 the Coolidge effect . In Western culture , the frequency of intercourse with a long - term partner declines as the relationship lengthens . Compared to the first month of marriage , intercourse is roughly half as frequent after one year of marriage , and it declines more gradually thereafter . As Donald Symons notes , " The waning of lust for one's wife is adaptive . . . because it promotes a roving eye . " 22 Human wanderlust takes many forms . Men in most cultures pursue extramarital sex more often than do their wives . The Kinsey study , for example , found that 50 percent of men but only 26 percent of women had extramarital affairs .Highlight (yellow) - Page 127 · Location 1978 Studies of men's sexual arousal to pornography support the existence of the Coolidge effect in humans . 32 Using physiological measures of penile tumescence and self - reports of sexual arousal , researchers have shown that men viewing the same erotic images repeatedly experience progressively diminished arousal with each viewing . Over the same time period , men exposed to erotic images of different women became consistently re - aroused .Highlight (yellow) - Page 129 · Location 2005 observe , " The most striking feature of [ male fantasy ] is that sex is sheer lust and physical gratification , devoid of encumbering relationships , emotional elaboration , complicated plot lines , flirtation , courtship , and extended foreplay . " 38 These fantasies reveal a psychology attuned to seeking sexual access to multiple partners .Highlight (yellow) - Page 130 · Location 2019 Sexual regret occurs in two domains — missed sexual opportunities ( sexual omission ) and committed sexual actions ( sexual commission ) . In studies of more than 23,000 individuals , men more than women reported regretting missed sexual opportunities . 41 These included not having more sex when younger , not having more sex when single , and failing to act on a sexual opportunity with a particularly attractive person . Women were more likely to regret sexual acts of commission , such as losing virginity to the wrong person , hooking up with a person with low mate value when drunk , and having sex with someone who was not interested in a relationship . Women are more likely than men to experience negative emotions after a hookup . Men are more likely to regret when the woman they hooked up with wants a more serious relationship . Men report that their ideal outcome of a hookup would be more hookups in the future . Women are more likely to report that their ideal outcome would be a romantic relationship .Highlight (yellow) - Page 131 · Location 2034 As closing time approached , men viewed women as increasingly attractive .Highlight (yellow) - Page 131 · Location 2035 6.5 . Women's judgments of men's attractiveness also increased over time .Highlight (yellow) - Page 131 · Location 2038 Men's shift in perceptions of women's attractiveness near closing time occurs regardless of how much alcohol they have consumed .Highlight (yellow) - Page 131 · Location 2041 As the evening progresses and a man has not yet been successful in picking up a woman , he views the remaining women in the bar as increasingly attractive , a shift that should increase his motivation to seek sex from the remaining women in the bar .Highlight (yellow) - Page 131 · Location 2044 Some men report viewing a sex partner as highly attractive before orgasm , but then after orgasm , a mere ten seconds later , viewing her as less attractive or even unappealing . Martie Haselton and I found that these shifts occur primarily among men who are dispositionally inclined to pursue a short - term mating strategy . 44 They do not occur for long - term - oriented men , and they do not occur for women regardless of mating strategy . The negative shift in attraction following orgasm may function to prompt a hasty postcopulatory departure to reduce risks to the man such as getting involved in an unwanted commitment .Highlight (yellow) - Page 132 · Location 2055 Gay men are much more interested in casual sex with strangers than are lesbian women .Highlight (yellow) - Page 132 · Location 2057 One study found that 94 percent of male homosexuals had more than fifteen sex partners , whereas only 15 percent of lesbians had that many .Highlight (yellow) - Page 132 · Location 2059 The more extensive Kinsey study conducted in San Francisco in the 1980s found that almost one - half of the male homosexuals who participated had over 500 different sex partners , mostly strangers met in baths or bars .Highlight (yellow) - Page 132 · Location 2063 In their proclivities for casual sex , as in their long - term mate preferences , homosexual males are similar to heterosexual males and lesbian women are similar to heterosexual women .Highlight (yellow) - Page 133 · Location 2073 consumers . Kinsey found that 69 percent of American men had been to a prostitute , and for 15 percent of them prostitution was a regular sexual outlet . The corresponding numbers for women were so low that they were not even reported . 50Highlight (yellow) - Page 133 · Location 2076 Rather , it can be understood as a consequence of two factors operating simultaneously — men's desire for low - cost casual sex and women either choosing or being compelled by economic necessity or other factors to offer sexual services for material gain . The psychological clues that reveal men's strategies for casual sex are numerous : sexual fantasies , the Coolidge effect , lust , sex drive , inclination to seek intercourse rapidly , relaxation of standards , attitudes toward hookups , emotions of sexual regret , the closing time effect , post - orgasm shifts in judgments of women's attractiveness , homosexual proclivities , and willingness to use prostitution as a sexual outlet .Highlight (yellow) - Page 134 · Location 2092 provide the minimum . Additional sperm are unnecessary for fertilization . One key benefit of casual sex to women is immediate access to resources . Imagine a food shortage hitting an ancestral tribe thousands of years ago . Game is scarce . The first frost has settled ominously . Bushes no longer yield berries . A lucky hunter takes down a deer . A woman watches him return from the hunt , hunger pangs gnawing . She flirts with him . Although they do not discuss any explicit exchange , her sexual enticements make him more than willing to provide her with a portion of the deer meat . Sex for resources , or resources for sex — the two have been exchanged in millions of transactions over the millennia of human existence .Highlight (yellow) - Page 135 · Location 2103 encounters . Women especially value four characteristics in temporary lovers more than in committed mates — spending a lot of money on them from the beginning , giving them gifts from the beginning , having an extravagant lifestyle , and being generous with their resources . 53 Women judge these attributes to be mildly desirable in husbands but quite desirable in casual sex partners . Women dislike frugality and signs of stinginess in a lover ; these qualities signal that the man is reluctant to devote an immediate supply of resources .Highlight (yellow) - Page 136 · Location 2117 Immediate economic resources , in short , remain a powerful benefit to women who engage in temporary sexual liaisons .Highlight (yellow) - Page 136 · Location 2125 Sexual intercourse before marriage provides important information about the long - term viability of a couple's relationship by giving them the opportunity to evaluate their sexual compatibility . Through sex women can gauge such qualities as a man's sensitivity , his concern with her happiness , and his flexibility . Sexually incompatible couplesHighlight (yellow) - Page 137 · Location 2127 divorce more often and are more likely to experience adultery . 55 Twenty - nine percent of men and women questioned by the sex researchers Samuel Janus and Cynthia Janus stated that sexual problems were the primary reason for their divorce — the reason most often mentioned .Highlight (yellow) - Page 137 · Location 2134 In truth , however , women regard a preexisting relationship or promiscuous tendencies in a prospective lover as highly undesirable , since they signal unavailability as a potentially committed partner or the repeated pursuit of a short - term sexual strategy . These characteristics decrease the woman's odds of entering a long - term relationship with the man . They convey powerfully that the man cannot remain faithful and is a poor long - term mating prospect . And they interfere with the function of extracting immediate resources , since men who are promiscuous or whose resources are tied up in a serious relationship have fewer unencumbered assets to allocate . Women's desires in a short - term sex partner strongly resemble their desires in a husband . 57 In both cases , women want someone who is kind , romantic , understanding , exciting , stable , healthy , humorous , and generous with his resources . In both contexts , women desire men who are tall , athletic , and attractive . Men's preferences , in marked contrast , shift abruptly with the mating context . The relative constancy of women's preferences in both scenarios supports the hypothesis that some women see casual mates as potential husbands and thus impose high standards for both .Highlight (yellow) - Page 139 · Location 2166 The mate - switching function has been observed in the spotted sandpiper ( Actitis macularia ) , a polyandrous shorebird studied on Little Pelican Island in Leech Lake , Minnesota . The biologists Mark Colwell and Lewis Oring , through 4,000 hours of field observation , discovered that a female spotted sandpiper who engages in extra - pair copulations with another male has an increased likelihood of becoming an enduring mate with that male in the future . 62 The females use the copulation as a way to test the receptivity and availability of the male . Male spotted sandpipers , however , sometimes foil these attempts at mate switching . Some males move several territories away from their home base when seeking extra - pair copulations , apparently so that the female will not detect that they are already mated .Highlight (yellow) - Page 140 · Location 2188 One version of the better genes theory has been called the " sexy son hypothesis . " 66 According to this view , women prefer to have casual sex with men who are attractive to other women because they will have sons who possess the same charming characteristics .Highlight (yellow) - Page 141 · Location 2194 Women are more exacting with regard to physical attractiveness in a casual encounter than they are in a permanent mate . 67 The preference for physically attractive casual sex partners may be a psychological clue to a human evolutionary history in which women benefited through the success of their sexy sons .Highlight (yellow) - Page 142 · Location 2209 Arranged marriages restrict the opportunities for women to reap the benefits of short - term mating . Even where matings are arranged by parents and kin , however , women often exert some influence over their sexual and marital decisions by manipulating their parents , carrying on clandestine affairs , defying their parents ' wishes , and sometimes eloping . These forms of personal choice open the window to the benefits for women of short - term mating , including genetic benefits , even when their marriage is arranged by others .Highlight (yellow) - Page 143 · Location 2231 An unfaithful married woman risks the withdrawal of resources by her husband . From a reproductive perspective , she may be wasting valuable time in an extramarital liaison , obtaining sperm that are unnecessary for reproduction . 76 Furthermore , she risks increasing the sibling competition among her children , who may have weaker ties because they were fathered by different men .Highlight (yellow) - Page 144 · Location 2243 father absence has been correlated with men stating that they are unwilling to commit the time , energy , and resources needed to sustain a long - term mateship . 78 Women and men who grow up in father - absent homes are likely to reach puberty sooner , to start having intercourse earlier , and to pursue a short - term strategy after their sexual debut . 79 Their father's absence may lead women to infer that men are not reliable investors and thus to pursue a short - term sexual strategy of obtaining some benefits from multiple men rather than trying to secure the sustained investment of one man .Highlight (yellow) - Page 146 · Location 2275 In some subcultures , notably in areas of concentrated poverty , men often lack the resources that women desire in a permanent mate . Where men do not have resources , women have less reason to mate with only one man . Similarly , when women receive more resources from their kin than from their husbands , they are more likely to engage in extramarital sex .Highlight (yellow) - Page 146 · Location 2280 In cultures where food is shared communally , women have less incentive to marry and often shift to temporary sex partners . The Ache of Paraguay , for example , communally share food secured from large game hunting . Good hunters do not get a larger share of meat than poor hunters . Women receive the same allotment of food , regardless of whether they have a husband and regardless of the hunting skill of their husband . Hence , there is less incentive for Ache women to remain mated with one man , and about 75 percent of them favor short - term relationships . 83 The socialist welfare system of Sweden provides another example . Since food and other material resources are provided to everyone , women have less incentive to marry . As a result , only half of all Swedish couples who live together get married , and members of both sexes often pursue more casual relationships . 84

Etiology of Erectile Disorder: Psychological Factors: Anxiety and Erectile Disorder

#1 cause of erectile failure is Anxiety: • Performance pressure • Fear of failure • Differential effect on functional/dysfunctional men (Barlow. 1986)

11. Sexual Medicine: The Health Rewards of a Sex Life

11. Sexual Medicine: The Health Rewards of a Sex Life Highlight (yellow) - Page 237 · Location 4453 How can sex serve as both a headache catalyst and cure ? During sexual activity , something therapeutic happens : When the body releases its oxytocin surge , the high level of the hormone triggers the release of endorphins , the brain chemicals that bear a remarkably close resemblance to morphine .Highlight (yellow) - Page 238 · Location 4459 The release of endorphins during sexual activity can relieve headaches — and quite effectively for many women , according to a study conducted at the Headache Clinic at Southern Illinois University .Highlight (yellow) - Page 238 · Location 4466 This would explain why the headache relief from orgasms is usually permanent , as opposed to lasting only a few hours , as might be the case ifHighlight (yellow) - Page 238 · Location 4467 endorphin release was the sole cause . Researcher Beverly Whipple of Rutgers University found that stimulation of the G - spot , the nickel - sized area on the inside front wall of the vagina , raised pain thresholds by an astonishing 40 percent . And during orgasm itself , women were able to tolerate an amazing 75 percent more pain .Highlight (yellow) - Page 239 · Location 4477 Sex can also ease the pain of menstrual cramps . In a premenopausal woman , each month the lining of the uterus produces hormones called prostaglandins . These hormones stimulate the contractions that move tissue and menstrual blood out of the uterus , but they also cause menstrual cramps . Sexual activity has a significant impact on how prostaglandins affect the body , and this explains why some women in our study reported deciding to have sex to relieve cramps :Highlight (yellow) - Page 239 · Location 4487 the increased number of uterine contractions during orgasm helps expel menstrual blood more quickly — ending the menstrual period more efficiently .Highlight (yellow) - Page 240 · Location 4493 women who regularly engaged in sexual intercourse or masturbation during menstruation were one and a half times less likely to develop endometriosis than women who abstained from sexual activities during their periods . ( Curiously , tampon use also decreases a woman's chances of having endometriosis . )Highlight (yellow) - Page 244 · Location 4577 relaxing the mind and the body . But probably more important , during orgasm the hormone prolactin is released — and there is a strong link between that hormone and sleep . Prolactin levels are naturally higher when we sleep , and studies conducted in animals show that prolactin injections make animals intensely sleepy . Prolactin release has also been associated with feelings of satiety . In men , prolactin is partly responsible for the refractory period . InHighlight (yellow) - Page 245 · Location 4582 research has shown that there is a 400 percent greater increase in prolactin from orgasms that occur from intercourse than from masturbation .Highlight (yellow) - Page 246 · Location 4605 sexual arousal to the film was a whopping 150 percent greater on the days they exercised . So , in addition to preparing our bodies for the " fight or flight " response , activation of the SNS prepares a woman's body for sexual arousal . This finding is quite different from what research has found in men . Activation of the SNS impairs a man's ability to get an erection , especially if he is concerned about his sexual abilities . The finding from the Meston Lab suggests just the opposite for women — that activation of the SNS might help women who have sexual problems . If a women is " into " having sex psychologically , but her body is not responding , she might try doing something energizing — chase her partner around the block ( or better yet , have the partner chase her ) , go dancing , or watch a scary movie together .Highlight (yellow) - Page 248 · Location 4642 estrogen peaks around day twelve ( just before ovulation ) and progesterone is highest around days nineteen through twenty - two .Highlight (yellow) - Page 249 · Location 4663 neurotransmitters to chemically communicate information that controls our thoughts and behaviors . There are many different types of neurotransmitters in the brain , but three in particular have been linked closely with mood : serotonin , norepinephrine , and dopamine . If the production of these neurotransmitters is somehow compromised , it can cause a region in the brain's limbic system to malfunction . The limbic system controls our emotions , appetite , sleep , certain thought processes , and sex drive — all of which are impaired when a person is depressed .Highlight (yellow) - Page 252 · Location 4707 Of the various semen - carrying candidates , estrogen and prostaglandins seem most likely to be the mood elevators . Both of these hormones have been shown to be lower than normal in depressed people , and estrogen has been shown to have mood - enhancing effects among postmenopausal women . Among younger women , there have been a few reports showing that certain estrogen - based contraceptives have mood - elevating properties . In the same study , theHighlight (yellow) - Page 253 · Location 4717 semen can enhance a woman's mood , these provocative findings have far - reaching implications for women's sexuality . As we saw earlier , low testosterone levels can account for low sex drive in some women , and testosterone is absorbed through the vagina even more quickly than through the skin . So , to the extent that semen - borne testosterone can seep into a woman's bloodstream , it could potentially have a beneficial effect on her sexual desire . Using duplex ultrasonography , researchers have shown that prostaglandin E1 , one of the magic substances found in semen , significantly increased the amount of blood flow to women's genitals .Highlight (yellow) - Page 256 · Location 4786 Depending on which report you read , a sexual session can burn anywhere from 100 to 250 calories . Clearly the range is related to the levelHighlight (yellow) - Page 257 · Location 4800 Drop " Sexercise " not only burns calories , like other forms of cardiovascular exercise , but supplies a host of other health benefits . It can increase metabolic rate , stretch muscles and increase flexibility , increase energy , help tip the good / bad cholesterol balance in the good direction , increase blood circulation to all parts of the body including the brain , and maybe even lower the risk of having a heart attack and extend life expectancy .Highlight (yellow) - Page 259 · Location 4833 also influence immune system functioning , psychologists Carl Charnetski and Francis Brennan asked 112 college students , most of whom were women , how often they had sex during the past month . They also collected saliva samples from all the participants to assess IgA levels . Students who had sex infrequently ( less than once a week ) had slightly higher levels of IgA than students who had completely abstained from sex . However , students who had sex regularly ( once or twice a week ) had 30 percent higher levels of IgA than all other students — suggesting better immune system function . It mayHighlight (yellow) - Page 260 · Location 4838 system function . The finding that was hard to explain was that students who had engaged in even more frequent sex — three or more times per week — had the lowest IgA levels of all students , lower even than the abstainers . This suggests there is an optimal frequency of sexual activity for keeping the body's defenses strong . Studies show that a moderate level of opioid peptide release enhances the immune system , but one study found that too much opioid peptide release can actually suppress immune system functioning .Highlight (yellow) - Page 260 · Location 4848 Having sex can increase the presence of estrogen and testosterone ; a burst of the body's own testosterone is thought to help fortify bones and muscles , and estrogen promotes healthy vaginal tissue , soft skin , and shiny hair . Perhaps this explains why Joan Crawford is quoted as once saying , " I need sex for a clearer complexion . "

Treatment of erectile dysfunction

Assess organic/psychological - PDE 5, Inhibitors: Sildenafil (Viagra), Tadalafil (Cialis); Vardenafil (Levitra): increase Nitric Oxide in genital tissue and increase blood flow into genitals Not effective if there is nerve damage from bicycle seats, Nitric Oxide system damage, damage to penile arteries,

Effects of Alcohol & Tobacco on Erectile Function

Breakdown nitric oxide over long term use https://imgur.com/a/KXWVgqr Prolonged Alcohol Use • Effects entire endocrine system (affects hormones, testosterone, testicular atrophy, infertility) • Decreases production/metabolism of testosterone • May lead to testicular atrophy • Problems can persist even after alcohol recovery

Social/Cultural/Religious Factors and Desire

Culture and religion strongly influence both the way we feel about our sexuality and the way we express it Religion often against sex before marriage and sex with gay people. Can have a bad effect when you get older in terms of feeling guilty for having sex, which lowers sexual desire.

Male Erectile Disorder (ED)

DSM-5 DIAGNOSIS: A. At least one of following: 1. Marked difficulty obtaining erection during sex 2. Marked difficulty maintaining erection until completion sexual act 3. Marked decrease in erectile rigidity (firm erection vs flaccid) B. Min 6 months C. Causes sig distress D. Not better explained by nonsexual mental disorder, relationship distress, other sig stressor, substance/meds Lifelong vs. Acquired; Generalized vs. Situational Distress is Mild vs. Moderate vs. Severe • 35% men experience incidental erectile failure (Kinsey, 1948) • Transient impotence in 50-80% of males • Prevalence of ED: Approximately 7% in males 18-29 years; 18% men in 30-59 years (Laumann et al., 1994)

What is Sexual Desire?

Desire of any sort of sexual nature (sex with partner, masturbation, sex drive, sexual thoughts, etc.) • No objective physiological criteria (blood flow to genitals is sexual AROUSAL, not desire) Can't accurately measure hormones or brain scans for desire. • Inferred by self-reported frequency of thoughts, fantasies, dreams, wishes, interest in initiating or engaging in sexual activity, "receptivity" Men think about sex more than women, throughout a relationship women typically decline over time in sexual desire where men do not

Premature (Early) Ejaculation Treatment

Drugs • Antidepressants • Clomipramine Behavioral Techniques: 1. Stop-start technique (Semans, 1956) 2. Squeeze technique (M&J, 1970)

What Makes You Desire Sexual Activity? Emotional Bonding Cues

Emotional Bonding Cues • Feeling a sense of love with a partner • Feeling a sense of commitment from a partner • Experiencing emotional closeness with a partner • Your partner expresses interest in hearing about you

Treatment for Women with Sexual Arousal Dysfunction

Exercise helps because it activates the nervous system, do NOT try to calm down to help with sexual arousal.

What Makes You Desire Sexual Activity? Explicit/Erotic Cues

Explicit/Erotic Cues • Watching an erotic movie • Reading about sexual activity • Talking about sexual activity or "talking dirty" • Having a sexual fantasy

What about Viagra for women?

Huge placebo effect in women - changes expectancies Expecting to improve could: • positively impact partner-patient communication • positively impact partner's behavior toward patient • decrease anxiety - if you increase blood flow in genitals for men they will most likely be aroused (.9 correlation) but there is only a .2 correlation in women. Possibly because men are more aware of their genitals and psychologically are more accepting of their genitals than women. - Not approved by the FDA because of the placebo response. 42% said they felt aroused from the placebo. -Placebo effect is powerful because it changes expectations and can cause you to try different things related to the test, usually most placebos work 22-25% of the time.

What Makes You Desire Sexual Activity?

McCall and Meston (2006): • Asked 50 women (aged 18-67) • "Sexual activity" defined as kissing, petting, oral sex, intercourse, masturbation • Generated 125 independent cues • Administered to 874 women (aged 17-72) - 4 factors

Recreational Viagra Use (Harte & Meston, 2011)

Motives: • Curiosity (75%) • Counteract drugs (29%) • Increase rigidity (27%) • Impress partner (23%) • Enhance self esteem (17%) • Increase sex drive (16%) • Decrease refractory phase (13%) • Improve sensation (12%)

According to barlow's model of erectile responding, what is the main cause of psychologically based erectile dysfunction?

Negative expectations

Treatment for Low Desire / Sex Drive

One of the hardest sexual problems to treat in the DSM-5, don't know that much about treatments. Usually first step is to go to a sex therapist and see if there are relationship issues. 2nd step is to increase sexual communication between partners. • Psychotherapy • Flibanserin (Addyi) - 2015 - first drug approved by FDA for sexual dysfunction in women, increases sex drive - Acts as 5-HT 1A agonist; 5-HT 2A antagonist; D 4 partial agonist - Physicians and pharmacies have to undergo certification process; patients have to submit written agreement to abstain from alcohol. This drug received the "black box" warning on it.

What Triggers Orgasm?

Orgasm can be induced via: • Clitoral stimulation (most common) • Vaginal stimulation (~ 60% orgasmic women) • G-spot or cervical stimulation • Pressure applied to mons pubis • Breast/nipple stimulation • Fantasy, imagery, hypnosis, sleep • Easier via masturbation than with partner

Aphrodisiacs

Oysters, clams, many herbs and ground animal parts in Chinese medicine FAKE • Most effective via placebo • Rarer and more expensive, greater placebo • Yams - increase testosterone

Part II. Orgasm: Male Premature (Early) Ejaculation (PE)

Persistent or recurrent ejaculation during partnered sexual activity within approx. 1 min of vaginal penetration and before individual wishes it. Causes • Goal-focused masturbation • Lack of awareness of sensation before ejaculation Not counted as a problem if this happens with inexperienced/young men or a new partner.

Sex Differences in Sexual Fantasies

Pornography Industry: • Aimed primarily at males (80% male consumers) • Visual • Involves many different partners • No commitment • Romance novels: women consumers, mate selection, emotional bonding.

What Makes You Desire Sexual Activity? Romantic/Implicit Cues

Romantic/Implicit Cues • Dancing closely • Touching your partner's hair or face • Having a romantic dinner with a partner • Laughing with a romantic partner

Female Orgasmic Disorder: Treatment

Sensate Focus (M & J, 1970) Week 1-2: The couple takes turns exploring the other's body and face. The genitalia and breasts should be avoided. The purpose of the exercise is to pay attention to tactile sensation. It is the individual's responsibility to tell the other person what feels good to them. Sexual intercourse and orgasms are not permitted during weeks 1-2. Week 3-4: Begin with week 1-2 exercises. Breast and genital stimulation are included this week. Self-stimulation, mutual self-stimulation, and orgasms are also permitted. Week 5-6: Begin with week 1-4 exercises. Intercourse is permitted this week. Start slowly in a comfortable position. If anxiety or pain occurs, try going back to exercises from weeks 1-4 until an appropriate comfort level is gained in order to attempt intercourse again. Directed Masturbation • Education, self-exploration to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about anatomy • 88%-90% success rate Becoming Orgasmic book (Heiman & LoPiccolo)

Hormonal Aspects of Desire: Women 2

Sexual desire influenced by Testosterone but androgens/testosterone ALONE NOT sufficient for sexual desire. - Studies failed to find different Testosterone levels between women with/without clinically diagnosed HSDD (low sexual desire levels) - Decreasing Androgen/testosterone levels does not usually decrease sex drive in women

Physiology of erection

Sexual stimulation -> Nitric oxide produced in penis -> NO starts guanylate cycle -> GTP turns into cGMP -> cGMP relaxes muscles surrounding penile arteries -> erection also known as vasocongestion of penile tissues

Tobacco

Survey studies: • ED higher in current smokers versus those who have never smoked • Dose dependent (pack years and level of ED) siol

The science of sexual arousal notes

They found that men with and without sexual problems reacted very differently to anxiety-inducing threats of mild electric shock. Men who reported having no trouble getting and maintaining erections, says Barlow, "would believe that they were going to get shocked if they didn't get aroused, so they would focus on the erotic scene." The result was that the threat of shock actually increased sexual arousal. But men who had sexual problems responded to the threat of shock very differently, says Barlow. "Their attention would be so focused on the negative outcomes that they wouldn't be able to process the erotic cues," he explains. men with sexual arousal problems tend to be less aware of how aroused they are. he notes. "They tend to attribute it to benign external events--it was something they ate, or they're not getting enough sleep--not as characteristics of themselves." In contrast, men with arousal problems tend to do just the opposite, thinking of every instance of difficulty as a sign of a long-term internal problem, either physiological or psychological, he says. the Sexual Inhibition and Sexual Excitation Scale--a new questionnaire that measures individual differences in the tendency to become sexually inhibited and excited. Early research on the model suggests that while a single factor accounts for all of the variation among men in their tendency to become sexually excited (SES), there are two inhibitory factors--one that represents inhibition due to the threat of performance failure (SIS1) and one that represents inhibition due to the threat of such performance consequences as an unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease (SIS2). people who scored highly on SIS2 were less likely to be aroused by erotic films that included threatening stimuli than people with low SIS2 scores. What we find in research in males is there's a very high correlation between their erectile response and how aroused they say they are," says Meston. "But in women we get low, if any correlations." Several explanations that once seemed likely candidates have been eliminated in recent years. One of them is the idea that women are less likely than men to talk honestly about their sexuality because of sexual taboos. But Meston says she sees no evidence of reticence in the women who volunteer for her studies. Another possibility is that erotic films might evoke negative emotions in women, which could mask their arousal. But Laan and her collaborators at the University of Amsterdam have found no evidence that such reactions can account for the physiology-experience gap. Meston and others suspect that the difference probably has something to do with the fact that male genital arousal is simply easier to notice than female genital arousal. Men also seem to be more attentive than women to all kinds of physiological signals, not just sexual ones, says Janssen. Meston and others suspect that the difference probably has something to do with the fact that male genital arousal is simply easier to notice than female genital arousal. Men also seem to be more attentive than women to all kinds of physiological signals, not just sexual ones, says Janssen.

Aging and Desire

Usually decreases with age because of these factors: • Health • Medication use • Depression • Loss of sexual partner • Accumulative impact of smoking/alcohol • Beliefs about aging and sex • Relationship length (in women) - new partners increase sex drive even when you're old

What Makes You Desire Sexual Activity? Visual/Proximity Cues

Visual/Proximity Cues • Seeing someone who is well-dressed or "has class" • Seeing someone act confidently • Seeing/talking with someone intelligent • Being in close proximity with attractive people • Seeing/talking with someone powerful

Orgasm is part of the

autonomous nervous system

How viagra works 2

blocks cGMP from converting to GMP, viagra is cGMP PDE5

Arousometer measures

continuous subjective sexual arousal

main reason college men use recreational viagra

curiosity

Ideal Number of Sex Partners Desired, Men vs Women, Age

https://imgur.com/a/0SN5xGr

Barlow's Cognitive Model of Sexual Function/Dysfunction

https://imgur.com/a/1oTthDC Being afraid of erectile dysfunction causes it to happen. If you never had ed you should be ok though.

Hormones and Female Sexual Desire

https://imgur.com/a/GV7Llm0 In the 28 day menstrual cycle, sexual desire peaks on day 14, during ovulation when they are most fertile, when testosterone and estrogen peaks. Progesterone does not increase desire, as it builds up to day 21 in preparation for pregnancy and plummets by day 28 if the egg is not fertilized.

Erectile Response with Nicotine (Harte & Meston, 2008)

https://imgur.com/a/Q8PvgO6 Nicotine causes decreased blood flow to genitals for both genders.

linear model of sexual response cycle

https://imgur.com/a/S8zUo25 Proposed by Masters and Johnson in the 1970s. Effective at describing MALE sexual response, NOT FEMALES. In females, arousal happens before desire, unlike the picture. Linear model for men:: desire -> arousal -> orgasm, resolution Nonlinear/ circular model for women: arousal, desire, orgasm, resolution

Physiology of penile erection

https://imgur.com/a/eZz4gmW

Exercise and Sexual Arousal in Women

https://imgur.com/a/uTRO3Wo Exercise Increases Genital Arousal in Women by 150% ONLY when watching the erotic film, not the non-erotic one. Exercise does not CAUSE arousal, it simply PREPARES for arousal by pumping blood everywhere. This effect wears off after 30 minutes. Sexually functional women Two counterbalanced sessions: Exercise/ No-exercise Exercise: 20 min cycling at 70% Vo 2max https://imgur.com/a/GGCyj6W

Overall findings of the smoking cessation study

men showed a gradual improvement in erection throughout the study

Lazarous effect

mummy arms when you trigger a "dead" person kept organs alive on resperators

sexual desire

no physiological way to tell you tell by reciprocation of sex, amount of thoughts, fantasys, and plans for sex

women with sexual problems relate more to the

nonlinear model of sexual desire

Sexual Regret

• Men regret missed opportunities • Women regret sex acts of commission

Psychological Aspects of Desire: Depression

- Depression = low sex drive, used for assessing depression. Antidepressants lower sex drive even more because they affect the serotonin sex receptors in the brain. Newer antidepressants are better because they skip those sex subtype serotonin receptors.

How Does Body Image Impact Sex?

- If a woman is trying to have sex they need to keep feeling arousal and desire, but they can't do that if they are having anxious thoughts about the way their body looks. • 55% married and single women US aged 15-74 dissatisfied with bodies • Turn out lights, self-conscious • Spectatoring (Made up by masters and johnson in the 1960s, where the woman is constantly trying to perform in bed by worrying about her body instead of enjoying it)

Can Porn Cause Erectile Dysfunction?

-Porn is more available due to fast internet - porn more socially acceptable - usually how guys in 20's and 30's are learning about sex and getting ED - masturbating in new ways to porn can cause lack of sensation, lack of desire, lack of intimacy, and inorgasmia. Desensitization. Can prefer porn instead of real sex. - How you know it's a problem: do you need more and more porn each time? spending money and time and effort on porn? real life marriage or watching porn at work problems? - ED is directly linked to overloading your dopamine receptors / brain synapses with porn. - overdoing porn can lead to idiosyncratic masturbatio where you touch yourself so well that real life sex can't activate achieve the same effect. - Can't be treated with viagra, cialis, etc because the problem is in the brain, not a physiological problem. Can still achieve an erection but will not feel pleasure. - Can reverse porn ED in 4 weeks, stop masturbating for 4 weeks. Try using non dominant hand. - Don't get rid of porn completely, try female friendly porn.

Loss of Desire: Changes in Sexuality

1. complaints about sexual withholding (men complain about women not wanting to have sex after marriage) 2. frequency of sexual intercourse (declines with relationship length, introducing a new sex partner makes it go up again) 3. sexual satisfaction (decreases with time: at age 20 about 40% satisfaction between both men and women, at age 60 declines to 20%) 4. arrival of a baby (less sex because less time) • moderating effect of men's perceptions of spouse's attractiveness (if a man finds his wife really attractive he will have the same sex drive throughout the relationship)

10 things you didn't know about orgasm notes

1. In utero masturbation exists. 2. You don't need genitals: toothbrush, eyebrows, spinal chords, knee 3. You can have them when you're dead 4. Orgasm can cause bad breath. 5. can cure hiccups 6. doctors once described orgasms as a cure for infertility "upsuck" theory 7. pig upsuck exists 8. female animals do it 9. hard to study orgasm in a lab

Testosterone (T) Changes in Men

1. Men in committed relationships and marriages have 21% lower testosterone levels. 2. Testosterone-levels of married men and men in committed relationships are the same 3. Married men with kids have 42% lower Testosterone. 4. Testosterone levels drop about 1% per year

Why Do Women Fake Orgasms?

1. to get it over with 2. make man feel good 3. if the woman has a problem she will fake it to reassure her partner that she is ok. 4. Possibly faking it might achieve the real thing.

2. The Pleasure of It: Sexual Gratification and Orgasm

2. The Pleasure of It: Sexual Gratification and Orgasm Highlight (yellow) - Page 29 · Location 811 In fact , of all the possible reasons women gave for having sex , " I wanted to experience the physical pleasure " and " It feels good " were two of their top three . These were also two of the top three reasons for having sex endorsed by men .Highlight (yellow) - Page 29 · Location 820 The skin is a woman's largest sexual organ .Highlight (yellow) - Page 29 · Location 821 The areas of the skin that are highly responsive to stimulation are often referred to as the " erogenous zones " because they lead to sexual arousal and pleasure . The most commonly cited erogenous zones are the neck , earlobes , mouth , lips , breasts and nipples , genitalia , buttocks , inner thighs , anus , backs of the knees , fingers , and toes .Highlight (yellow) - Page 30 · Location 841 82 percent of the college women surveyed said that nipple or breast stimulation either caused or increased their sexual arousal . In comparison , only a little over 50 percent of men find nipple stimulation sexually arousing . For 7 percent of the women ( and the men ) , however , stimulation had the opposite effect — it decreased their sexual pleasure .Highlight (yellow) - Page 31 · Location 854 When a woman is sexually aroused , blood travels to the pelvic areas of the vagina , labia , and clitoris , and to other regions such as the urethra , uterus , and possibly even the fallopian tubes and ovaries . This pooling of blood in genital tissue is referred to as " genital vasocongestion . "Highlight (yellow) - Page 31 · Location 862 Vasocongestion also leads to vaginal lubrication . Most people think that vaginal lubrication comes from a gland inside the vagina , but it does not . When a woman is physically sexually aroused , the pressure of blood engorgement in her vaginal tissue actually squeezes lubrication into the vagina .Highlight (yellow) - Page 32 · Location 869 often , genital arousal in women is measured in the laboratory with a device called a vaginal photoplethysmograph . The device , which looks like a clear plastic tampon , contains a photosensitive cell that measures , from within the vagina , the amount of light reflected from vaginal walls , which indicates the amount of vasocongestion .Highlight (yellow) - Page 32 · Location 875 arousal . For some women , though , feeling turned on and sexually gratified has little , if anything , to do with how their genitals are responding — physiological arousal does not necessarily lead to psychological arousal . The fact that a woman's genital response does not automatically lead to her psychological pleasure is probably why Viagra and similar drugs have not been nearly as helpful for women with sexual arousal problems as they have been for men with erection problems —Highlight (yellow) - Page 33 · Location 894 years . For example , a study conducted in the late 1980s found that 93 percent of men and only 48 percent of women had masturbated by the age of twenty - five — percentages almost identical to those reported by Alfred C . Kinsey and his colleagues twenty years earlier . Among college students , the Meston Lab found that 85 percent of Caucasian men and 74 percent of Asian men said they engaged in masturbation compared with only 59 percent of Caucasian women and 39 percent of Asian women .Highlight (yellow) - Page 34 · Location 909 Inside the vagina there are two areas that bring sexual pleasure to many women when pressure is applied . One area is the cervix — the small round structure at the far end of the vagina that serves as the opening to the uterus . Although the cervix does not have any nerve endings , it is highly sensitive to pressure and movement . Some women find it unpleasant or even painful to have pressure repeatedly thrust against their cervix . For other women , repeated rhythmic pressure on the cervix is extremely enjoyable . And for some it is even essential for orgasm to occur . Some women who have undergone a hysterectomy that includes removal of the cervix and uterus report decreased arousal , orgasm , and pleasure during sexual intercourse . Other women who have had the surgery report no changes in their sexual function or pleasure whatsoever .Highlight (yellow) - Page 35 · Location 928 Of the twenty women they examined , nine were able to achieve orgasm through vaginal stimulation alone and the other eleven were not . The findings from the ultrasound exams revealed that the tissue between the vagina and the urethra — the area speculated to be the location of the G - spot — was much thicker in women who were able to achieve vaginal orgasms than in the women who were not . This means that some women may have a region of their vaginas that is densely packed with nerve fibers that make it more sensitive and thus easier to have an orgasm through vaginal penetration alone . The easiest way for a woman to determine whether this area exists in her vagina is to explore with her fingers — two or three fingers are best . To find the area , the woman or her partner should try applying firm rhythmic pressure inside the vagina , upward toward the belly button in the space almost directly below the urinary opening . Some women say that the first sensation they experience when the G - spot is hit is a need to urinate . But with continued pressure this feeling is soon replaced by an intensely pleasurable sensation . Continued G - spot stimulation can lead to deep orgasms that may be more pleasurable than orgasms achieved through clitoral stimulation alone . For most women , however , G - spot orgasms are much more difficult to attain than clitoral orgasms .Highlight (yellow) - Page 36 · Location 939 A small proportion of women claim that having an orgasm through stimulation of the G - spot causes them to ejaculate . Researchers have analyzed this ejaculate fluid and have found that , although it comes out of the urethra , it is not simply urine being expelled during orgasm . There has not been much solid scientific research on female ejaculation , but some sex researchers believe the fluid comes from the Skene's gland , an internal gland located near the same area as the G - spot .Highlight (yellow) - Page 37 · Location 955 An orgasm in the human female is a variable , transient peak sensation of intense pleasure , creating an altered state of consciousness , usually accompanied by involuntary , rhythmic contractions of the pelvic striated circumvaginal musculature , often with concomitant uterine and anal contractions and myotonia that resolves the sexually - induced vasocongestion ( sometimes only partially ) , usually with an induction of well - being and contentment .Highlight (yellow) - Page 38 · Location 970 Masters and Johnson claimed that the stronger the orgasm , the greater the number of contractions and thus the longer the duration of orgasm . They labeled " mild orgasms " as having an average of three to five vaginal contractions with each lasting 2.4 to 4.0 seconds , " normal orgasms " as involving four to eight vaginal contractions each with a duration of 4.0 to 6.4 seconds , and " intense orgasms " as having eight to twelve vaginal contractions each lasting 4.0 to 9.6 seconds — for a grand total of over two minutes of orgasmic delight .Highlight (yellow) - Page 39 · Location 987 For the small percentage of women who ejaculate during orgasm through G - spot stimulation , vaginal contractions likely help release the fluid from the urethra . It is also likely that vaginal contractions during orgasm help dissipate the genital vasocongestion that occurs during sexual arousal .Highlight (yellow) - Page 39 · Location 989 Orgasm helps the blood to flow out of the genital tissue quickly . If orgasm does not occur , it takes a substantial amount of time — up to an hour — for the blood to flow back from this tissue . This unresolved vasocongestion sometimes frustrates women as it gives them an uncomfortable feeling , analogous to what men refer to as " blue balls . " Blood also rapidly flows out of the nipples and areolae following orgasm .Highlight (yellow) - Page 39 · Location 994 Prolactin levels double immediately after orgasm and remain elevated for about an hour afterward . Prolactin is thought to be responsible for the refractory period in men — the period of time post - ejaculation when a man is unable to attain another erection . The refractory period varies greatly between men of all ages , but increases with age ; more recovery time is required between erections in older men . In women , however , prolactin does not seem to have the same inhibitory effect . As a result , women are able to have multiple , serial orgasms , with the latter ones being just as good as , and sometimes even better than , the first . Unlike men , women can also attain what Masters and Johnson referred to as " status orgasmus , " orgasms that last for several minutes . Another difference between male and female orgasms is that once a man becomes highly sexually aroused he reaches a " point of no return , " in that orgasm becomes automatic even if stimulation is stopped . In women , however , if stimulation is stopped , during either clitoral - or vaginal - induced orgasms , the orgasm is abruptly halted .Highlight (yellow) - Page 40 · Location 1017 A number of hormones are released during orgasm — with prolactin , discussed above , and oxytocin being the most prominent . Oxytocin release has been associated with emotional bonding and might explain why some women experience an intense feeling of connectedness with their partners following orgasm .Highlight (yellow) - Page 42 · Location 1046 Some women are able to have orgasms from clitoral , G - spot , or cervical stimulation , and some reach orgasm from pressure applied to the mons pubis , the fatty mound of flesh covered by pubic hair that lies directly over the pubic bone . But women have also reported reaching orgasm through breast or nipple stimulation , from mental imagery or fantasy , or even from hypnosis or during their sleep . Thus , orgasms can occur in women without any genital involvement whatsoever .Highlight (yellow) - Page 42 · Location 1057 only 29 percent of the women overall said they were able to have an orgasm with a partner . Sixty - one percent — more than twice as many — said they were able to have an orgasm when they masturbated .Highlight (yellow) - Page 45 · Location 1097 Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists agree that the two most common reasons why women experience orgasm problems are that they are not receiving enough pleasurable stimulation for an orgasm to occur or that something is distracting them from focusing on the pleasurable stimulation . In addition to trying to please a partner or worrying about how they look , potential distractors include worrying about whether the kids ( or the parents ) next door are listening , contemplating the next day's work and errands , reevaluating a partner's mate value , and — probably the number one " orgasm killer " — guilt .Highlight (yellow) - Page 46 · Location 1123 Many studies of the technique have noted a phenomenal success rate for treating women who have never had an orgasm . One study found that two months after treatment 100 percent of the nonorgasmic women were able to attain an orgasm during masturbation and 47 percent were able to attain an orgasm during intercourse . These women had met for ten sessions with a therapist who taught them how to conduct the directed masturbation exercises at home . But the same study also showed high success rates among women who simply read about the exercises as opposed to having a therapist teach them . Forty - seven percent of these women who had never before had an orgasm became orgasmic during masturbation and 13 percent became orgasmic during intercourse . The book Becoming Orgasmic : A Sexual and Personal Growth Program for Women , by Julia Heiman and Joseph LoPiccolo , provides women with an excellent step - by - step guide for conducting directed masturbation exercises .Highlight (yellow) - Page 48 · Location 1156 Another way that women's orgasms could play a role in the reproductive process is that , for women who are with men who are slow to ejaculate , the vaginal contractions that occur during orgasm can facilitate ejaculation . And when the hormone prolactin is released during orgasm , it may enter into the vaginal , cervical , or uterine fluids , where it can influence calcium entry into sperm . This in turn helps to facilitate sperm entry into the woman's genital tract .Highlight (yellow) - Page 49 · Location 1172 So , by choosing to stay with someone with whom she is orgasmic , a woman might be selecting a mate who will stick around and generously invest in her and her children .

9. The Ego Boost: Body Image, Attention, Power, and Submission

9. The Ego Boost: Body Image, Attention, Power, and Submission Highlight (yellow) - Page 191 · Location 3651 Among men , for example , research reveals that those who experience a bout of impotence , or erectile dysfunction , suffer a tremendous blow to their self - esteem . There's an adaptive reason for this link : Failure to perform sexually , historically , would have jeopardized a man's reproductive success . Conversely ,Highlight (yellow) - Page 193 · Location 3672 seeking sex for esteem can give women tremendous benefits — a boost from mood - altering hormones such as oxytocin ; the assurance of herHighlight (yellow) - Page 193 · Location 3673 value as a human being ; the confidence to trade up to a better partner ; and a sense of sexual power in a world that sometimes tries to take it all away .Highlight (yellow) - Page 193 · Location 3687 for women who are dissatisfied with their bodies — an alarming 55 percent of both married and single women in North America — their expectations of what their bodies should look like contribute more to their dissatisfaction than do their actual body characteristics .Highlight (yellow) - Page 195 · Location 3715 Women with poor body images have lower sex drives , more problems becoming aroused , and greater difficulty achieving orgasms .Highlight (yellow) - Page 196 · Location 3724 time . They found that over a period of ten years , approximately 57 percent of the women reported a lessening of sexual desire , 58 percent reported actually engaging in sex less often , 40 percent reported enjoying sex less , and 32 percent reported having more difficulty with orgasms . The researchers then looked to see what might explain the decreases in sexual functioning among so many women . Guess what ? Body image played a major role .Highlight (yellow) - Page 200 · Location 3807 One study of 16,749 adolescents , for example , found that higher parental support and parental monitoring were linked to higher self - esteem in their children .Highlight (yellow) - Page 201 · Location 3815 Some women reported that they used sex to feel the love , care , and attention that they did not get at home :Highlight (yellow) - Page 204 · Location 3873 Sex for some women affords them a tremendous sense of power , and that feeling of command and dominance motivates them in the sexual realm .Highlight (yellow) - Page 207 · Location 3925 studied forceful sexual submission fantasies in a sample of nearly nine hundred women . She found that women who tended to have and to enjoy these sexual force fantasies , far from being submissive or pathological , in fact were more dominant , more independent , and higher in self - esteem than other women .Highlight (yellow) - Page 207 · Location 3928 Hawley concluded that the erotic allure of women's forceful submission fantasies reflects feminine power rather than weakness , since the man in the fantasy is provoked uncontrollably by her sexual attractiveness , allure , and irresistibility .Highlight (yellow) - Page 208 · Location 3945 Overall , we found that two reasons women gave for having sex — " I wanted to submit to my partner " and " I wanted to ' gain control ' of the person " — were related ; statistically , they clustered together , suggesting that sexual submission can in fact be a means of gaining control . Perhaps this is one reason why sexual submission is a popular sexual fantasy among women . A study of 141 married women discovered that the fantasy " I imagine that I am being overpowered and forced to surrender " was the second most common fantasy out of the list of fifteen , exceeded only by fantasies of " an imaginary romantic lover . "

Orgasm Gap

95% of hetereosexual men have orgasm during sex, only 65% of hetereosexual women do. Gay men 85% Bisexual men 88% Lesbian women 86% Bisexual women 66% Recent study if the clitorous is 2cm or closer to the urinary opening the woman is more likely to orgasm during penile penetration. If it is 3cm or more less likely to orgasm.

Reopening the case of the female orgasm notes

Definition of female orgasm: Female orgasm is a variable, transient peak sensation of intense pleasure, creating an altered state of consciousness, usually with an initiation accompanied by involuntary, rhythmic contractions of the pelvic striated circumvaginal musculature, often with concomitant uterine and anal contractions and myotonia that resolves the sexually induced vasocongestion (sometimes only partially), generally with an induction of well-being and contentment. some of the shared connective tissue and nervous system pathways in females were "accidentally" shaped for pleasure by evolution, too, leading happily to the occasional orgasm in sexually mature females. The clitoris is essentially the female version of the penis, since the two derive from the same embryological substrate. This also explains why female orgasms are achieved more by clitoral than vaginal stimulation. Hereditary factors account for only a third of the population-level variance in female orgasm, however. female orgasms tend to decrease with age Most women report that they are more likely to experience an orgasm while masturbating than during sexual intercourse with a male partner, and importantly such masturbatory orgasms do not always hinge on simulating penile-vaginal sex educated women are more likely to report having masturbatory orgasms—but are no more likely to experience coital orgasms than are less educated women. Religiosity is another social mediator: religious women tend to have less frequent orgasms than nonreligious ones positive correlation between frequency of orgasm and the physical attractiveness of male partners some physiological evidence that female orgasm leads to the retention of more and/or better-quality sperm among a single ejaculate women who were dating or married to wealthy male partners reported having orgasms more frequently than women whose partners made less Elisabeth Lloyd who has been arguing that female orgasm "is a signal whereby a female's body tells her brain that she is sexually engaged with a dominant individual. Pollet and Nettle point out, for example, that female orgasm may be linked to male income because money (resources) is a reliable indicator of the male's long-term investing in offspring and it may also reflect desirable underlying genetic characteristics. In this light, female orgasm may serve an emotional bonding role, motivating sexual behavior—and hence conception—with high status males.

Mismatched Desire

Differences in desired amount of emotional intimacy and/or sex drive • "fusion" or "merging" among lesbian couples meaning that women want to have sex to express emotional connection more than men. So if 2 women are good at expressing emotion without sex, then sex loses it's motivation. - "Lesbian bed death" meaning sex drive diminishes quickly in lesbian couples compared to male gay couples and heterosexual couples.

ED: Physiological Factors

Disease: • Low Testosterone • Nerve damage (Bicycling) • Clogged or narrow arteries • Diabetes • Multiple sclerosis • Spinal cord injury • Kidney disease • Hypertension • High blood cholesterol • Nitric Oxide system damage (smoking, alcohol) Drugs: • Antidepressants • Antipsychotics • Benzodiazepines • Diuretics • Antihypertensives • Alcohol • Tobacco • Chemotherapy • Many recreational drugs

Female Orgasmic Disorder

Presence of either of following: 1. Marked delay in, marked infrequency of, or absence of orgasm 2. Markedly reduced intensity of orgasmic sensations (Happens for 6 months + distress) • ~10% report lifelong lack of orgasm • ~50% report situational problems • Overall ~24% of women have had a problem with orgasm during past year (Laumann et al., 1994) Most often NOT caused by physiological/physical problems, mostly just never learned how to do it.

Does sexual anticipation increase Testosterone in women as it does in men?

Yes. -Long distance monogamous relationship study (Hamilton & Meston, 2010) Didn't work for men because they all masterbated and ruined the test results. However, it did work with women: when they were about to see their long distance partner their testosterone levels increased in anticipation.

Learning to Lust notes

When it comes to desire, men have more of it, both in frequency and intensity. Among women, levels of desire vary much more than among men. They also vary more within individual women, depending on time of the month and across the lifespan.Sexual desire in women is less directly tied to physical arousal than it is in men; in fact, it often follows arousal, rather than precedes it. In women, desire is much more a matter of mind than mechanics and seems to be more affected by partner relationships, what's going on around them and, perhaps most important, how they feel about themselves. Female sexual desire is not just more complex but more fragile, too. In 1979, psychiatrist Helen Singer Kaplan, who opened the country's first sex therapy clinic in New York, put forth a model of sexuality in which genital excitement and orgasm were preceded by desire. At the same time, she introduced the idea of disorders of desire, and the term hypoactive sexual desire took up residence in the diagnostic bible, the DSM. Rosemary Basson put forth a new model of female sexual response. It depicts sexual response as more circular than linear The importance of relationships and emotional attachment to female desire emerges from many sources In 1996, researchers reported that 35 percent of women but only 13 percent of men cited love and emotional intimacy as goals of sexual desire; 70 percent of men, versus 43 percent of women, said that sex in and of itself was the goal of sexual desire. Men tend to have sex for sex's sake, research suggests, but women's sexual desire tends to aim at relationship outcomes. relationships can have a dampening effect on desire and sex for both genders—and as relationships progress, desire declines people in the early stages of falling in love have brain serotonin levels as low as those seen in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. "That's why you can't stop thinking about that person and want to be close to them all the time. Of course, having sex all day or staring at each other all day isn't conducive to everyday living," and those levels settle down. "Good intimacy doesn't always guarantee good sex," she says. "The very elements that nurture love—reciprocity, mutuality, protection, closeness, emotional security, predictability—are sometimes the very things that stifle desire. Love wants a certain kind of closeness; desire needs space and distance to thrive." to be chosen as The One. Perhaps that's why they are turned on by relationships at the onset: Women want a commitment because it signals they are uniquely desired. But after a commitment has been made, its meaning changes. Women feeling good about themselves emotionally and physically appears to be a bigger mediator of women's desire than men's. Over and above anyone else, women are their own point of reference for how sexy they are. Self-consciousness doesn't just inhibit desire. It can subvert women's view of their whole sex life Until recently, physical arousal and subjective arousal were thought to be mutually dependent—that a man who has an erection or a woman who has increased blood flow to her genitals also feels sexual desire. But such linkage is more the case for men than for women. Which may explain why Viagra doesn't work for women; it increases genital blood flow and puts genitals in an aroused state—but women didn't subjectively feel sexual desire, and they care more about subjective arousal. Other studies have found that women reporting high rates of orgasm during sex have high concordance rates of genital and subjective arousal. The more that mind and genitalia are in sync, the less problematic a woman's sex life seems to be. But the relationship between subjective and genital arousal is not static. The longer women watched erotic videos, Chivers found, the more concordance they experienced. Women may just need more time for their minds to catch up to their bodies—perhaps explaining why they want more foreplay. "We know a desynchrony exists where the genitals are doing one thing and the mind another, and this has a bearing on sexual response. So if we can teach women to bridge the gap between mind and body" by cultivating mindfulness, she says, "we should be able to improve that response." In the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Brotto reported that 150 women experienced higher levels of sexual desire after being trained in her 4-step program of mindfulness specificallygeared to enhancing sexual pleasure. Tested in the lab while watching erotic videos, the women reported feeling more lubricated, even though there was no measurable increase in lubrication from watching such videos before training. The results suggest the women had become more aware of their genital lubrication. Lori Brotto has devised and tested a program to increase sexual responsiveness in women with sexual complaints, including low desire. A major component draws on Buddhist principles of mindfulness to reconnect the mind with the body's sensations. 1. Women first learn the basics of mindfulness in a nonsexual context. The goal is to guide the mind back to the present whenever distracting thoughts arise. Using an object like a penny or a raisin, slowly explore the way it feels, looks, smells, tastes. When your mind starts to wander, gently guide it back to focus on the object. Practice this exercise 10 minutes a day while engaged in some other activity, like walking, eating a meal, or washing the dishes. You can also practice a more traditional meditation: Close your eyes, remain silent, and focus simply on your breath. 2. Next, women learn to examine their bodies in a nonsexual way without generating distress. The aim is to lessen distractions by judgment of physical appearance during sex. Look at your body while showering, bathing, or drying yourself. Notice when judgments arise and guide your mind back to just looking at your body. Repeat the exercise next using a hand-held mirror to look at your body and genitals. Then touch your body and genitals in a nonsexual manner while being aware of judgments and guiding attention back to what you are doing. 3. Women repeat the body-focused exercise, but this time with a shift in sexual attitude. The goal is to help women change the way they look at their body and enjoy sensations in a sexual way. Tell yourself that "my body is sexual," "I am a sexual person," "I enjoy my sexuality," and repeat the mindfulness exercise from step 2. 4. Last, women learn to connect bodily arousal and emotional pleasure. Use a vibrator, look at erotica, or fantasize about sex to deliberately arouse your body. Stop after about five minutes. Then perform a mindfulness exercise to fully tune into the sensations.

Making sex normal ted talk notes:

When sex is treated as abnormal doctors and patients dont talk about it: Cancer patients dont hear about sexual side effects of radiation. No sex ed in school = more sexually transmitted infections. Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV highest in USA where schools don't teach about sex. 30% of women feel pain while having sex, but wasn't published in a news article. How to normalize sex: 1. Read sex books in public 2. Celebrate sexual diversity by going to lgbt events 3. Watch sexual movies 4. Talk about sex to doctors, parents, your kids, etc. 5. Share sex topics on social media 6. Wear sex positive clothing 7. Ask sex questions in the waiting room 8. make space for sex 9. support sex arts 10. embrace real sex videos

Sacril nerve route

headquarters for orgasm, along the spinal nerve. If triggered with an electric shock, can trigger orgasm

How viagra works

https://imgur.com/a/xZ62YPq Blocks the conversion of cGMP to GMP using PDE5

Upsuck might not exist in humans, but

it exists in pigs, (6% more piglets produced if you masturbate a sow while artificially inseminating it)

average semen distance by kinsey

kinda just spurted out, record is 8 ft

Unrealistic Expectations

• Addicted to "infatuation stage" (When you first start a relationship and want to have sex all the time, over time this dies out and you think "whats wrong?" but in reality it's normal. • Phenylethylamine (PEA) released when a person first falls in love in the infatuation stage (close resemblance to amphetamine, an addictive feel good drug) so once you get addicted to the start of a relationship and over time PEA is decreased, you lose interest and think something is wrong over time.

Alcohol and Desire

• Alcohol/recreational drugs can disinhibit inhibitory mechanisms but impair performance -Low amounts can be good for sex drive, high amounts bad

Sex Hormones

• Androgens (testosterone is the main form of androgen, there are other types like dihydrotestosterone) • Estrogen (estradiol is the most powerful form, estriol, estrone) • Progesterone Both men and women produce ALL of these hormones, but in different quantities. Men: Produced mainly by the testes, also adrenal glands Women: Produced mainly by the ovaries, also adrenal glands

Hormonal Aspects of Desire: Men pt2

• Castration decreases sex drive- reversed with Testosterone replacement • In adult males, variability in circulating Testosterone not linked to levels of sexual desire

Loss of Attraction to Partner

• Change in physical appearance • Change in status/earning potential • Bad hygiene

What About Men?

• Correlates of drive for muscularity • Exercise dependence • Supplement use • Self-esteem

Female Orgasmic Disorder: Etiology

• Disease • Drugs • Psychological and interpersonal factors

Hormonal Aspects of Desire: Men

• Estrogen (E) and progesterone (P) little effect - High intake of estrogen reduces male sexual desire because it lowers testosterone, used to stop sex offenders • Androgens (testosterone) high impact on male sex drive Men usually have so much testosterone that we can't measure how it relates to sex drive because the minimum needed for producing sperm is extremely low in comparison to most male's baseline testosterone levels. People who need testosterone injections for sex drive are below the minimum amount of testosterone, which is very low in comparison to most males. - Man on remote island in Australia (Nature, 1970) https://imgur.com/a/9FHD95X Anticipating sex increases testosterone. Extremely vigorous exercising temporarily decreases testosterone, being in isolation and relaxing increases it.

Hormonal Aspects of Desire: Women

• Estrogen (required for vaginal lubrication) and Progesterone play minimal role in sexual desire, if low estrogen/vaginal lubrication that makes sex painful which leads to low sexual desire • Testosterone plays important role in desire - Some evidence for increase in sexual activity mid-cycle when Testosterone levels high - "Normal" range free testosterone women aged 18-46 is 1.3 to 6.8 picograms per milliliter. Beginning at puberty, male testes produce somewhere between 300 to 1,000 picograms per milliliter daily! - Oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) decreases desire, restored with Testosterone Lots of women have low sex drive unrelated to low amounts of testosterone, injecting women with testosterone doesn't usually fix low sex drive Oral contraceptives increase progesterone or estrogen to prevent ovulation. Some increase SHBG (sex hormone binding globulant) which binds to testosterone and makes it unusable. These types of oral contraceptives decrease Testosterone and decrease sexual desire. Oral contraceptives that have Desogestrel or Norgestimate really bad for sex drive because of the high amounts of SHBG, which effectively lowers testosterone.

Grafenberg Spot and Female Ejaculation

• Female ejaculation tentatively linked to Grafenberg spot (2/3 of women have this, lots of nerves and easily stimulated) • Biochemical composition of female ejaculate is conflicting • Higher levels tartrate-inhibited acid phosphatase and glucose; lower levels urea and creatinine compared with urine. • "Female prostate?" (Skene's paraurethral gland) • Presence of prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) and prostatic specific antigen (PSA) • G-spot cannot be located for all women • Among women who have located a G-spot, there is usually not ejaculation

Lack of Sexual Skill

• Frustration • Ungratifying • Boring

Psychological Experience of Orgasm (both genders)

• General mood changes • Subjective perception of physiological events • Altered state of consciousness • Post-orgasm feelings include happiness, love, relaxation, satisfaction "Feels like tension building up until you think it can't build up any more, then release. The orgasm is both the highest point of tension and the release almost at the same time. Also feeling contractions in the genitals. Tingling all over." "Tension builds up to an extremely high level - muscles are tense, etc. There is a sudden expanding feeling in the pelvis and muscle spasms throughout the body followed by release of tension. Muscles relax and consciousness returns." "Intense excitement of entire body. Vibrations in stomach - mind can consider only your own desires at the moment of climax. After, you feel like you're floating - a sense of joyful tiredness." "Often loss of contact with reality. All senses acute. Sight becomes patterns of color, but often very difficult to explain because words were made to fit in the real world." Source of quotes: An introductory psychology course in the 1970s - responses were elicited from both men and women

Evolutionary Hypothesis About Testosterone Results

• High Testosterone breeds success in intrasexual competition. • Low Testosterone is better for a parent because testosterone is costly and if you have a kid you can spend that energy elsewhere. Testosterone remains high if you cheat on your committed partner with other sex partners while in a relationship.

Multiple Orgasms

• M & J: women do not have refractory period; able to have multiple orgasms • Minority of men capable of multiple orgasms Multiple orgasms usually happen in succession from 5-20, usually self-stimulated by masturbation. For men multiple orgasms mean 1 orgasm where they ejaculate, the next ones are dry orgasms where no semen is released.

Prescription Drugs and Desire

• Many prescription drugs decrease desire and performance • Antidepressants but newer generation (Serzone, Welbutrin, Celexa) have fewer side effects • Antihistamines for allergies dry out mucous membranes in vaginal tissue

Hooking Up and FWB

• Men hope hooking up will lead to more hooking up • Women are likely to report that 'ideal outcome' would be a romantic relationship

Gender Differences in Sex Drive

• Men of all ages report higher levels sexual interest • Women report more problems with disinterest in sex Men think about sex 18 times a day, women 9 times. So about 2 times as much. Why? • Differences in socialization - men initiate sex more • Sex roles - masculinity social norm • Anatomical differences

Physiological Experience of female Orgasm

• Orgasmic platform contracts/swells (the outer 1/3rd of the vagina) by masters and johnson • Rectal sphincter contracts • Uterus/cervix contracts • Pulse rate, blood pressure, breathing increase • Muscles throughout the body (e.g., legs, thighs, back) contract

Evolutionary Theory of Sexual Desire

• Primary reproductive benefit: - Direct increase in number of offspring Men: No cost for having sex so more partners guarantees reproductive success. With women high sex drive is costly so it doesn't need to be as high as in men.

Factors Related to Orgasmic Ability

• Sex guilt • Attitudes and Personality • Sexual Conservatism • Partner Variables • Partner's sexual function (erectile ability) • Duration/quality of foreplay • Duration/quality of sexual stimulation • Relationship Factors • Compatibility • Contentment • Communication

Relationship Problems

• Sexual Communication - a problem for a lot of couples, need to tell your partner what you like and listen to what they like, everyone is different. • Anger • Lack of trust • Lack of connection • Lack of emotional intimacy

ED: Treatment

• Testosterone treatment for abnormally low T (rarely happens) • Vacuum constriction device (No physician prescription required, sucks blood into penis and holds it in) • Penile implants 1. Flexible Rod Penile Implant Surgery (artificial bendable rod inside penis) 2. Inflatable Penile Implant - more complicated, water resivior that pumps into cylinders. • Penile artery bypass (replacing artery in penis from another part of your body) • Penile injections alprostadil into corpus cavernosum relaxes muscles that surround blood vessels in penis • Alprostadil can also be administered in suppository form and absorbed through the urethral mucosa

Oxytocin & Orgasm

• The higher the level of oxytocin, the greater the perceived intensity of orgasm. - Oxytocin is released in both men and women during orgasm. • If blocked pharmacologically, pleasurable quality reduced.

Psychological Aspects of Desire: Body Image & Self-esteem

• Unrealistic standards of beauty, fashion magazines can make you feel less desirable • "Vanity sizing" means that tags on clothing have gotten smaller over time to make women feel better about buying clothes.

Psychological Aspects of Desire: Stress

• Sleep important, exhausted, no energy, "sex is just one more thing to do"