Psychology Chapter 11 Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

is a variable in an experiment, other than the independent variable, that systematically differs across the groups and that might explain the results.

Confound

means conditions are present from birth

Congenital

the bundle of fibers that connects the two hemispheres. gay men seem to have thicker ---s. thought to have a genetic basis.

Corpus Callosum

and her colleagues have produced important recommendations for the best ways to influence behavior. The studies have found that fear tactics are relatively less effective and that programs emphasizing active skill building (for example, role playing the use of condoms), self-efficacy, and positive attitudes about condom use are effective with most groups. Making safe sex sexy is a great way to practice safe sex.

Delores Albarracin

involve delayed or absent orgasm during sexual activity. can be related to the experience of childhood sexual abuse, as well as to strict religious beliefs and negative sexual attitudes. may be treated with androgens or through psychotherapy. Addressing underlying physical causes can also sometimes improve sexual function.

Disorders of Orgasm

Congenital conditions in which the development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex is atypical; formerly called intersex conditions or hermaphroditism.

Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD)

Being reared by a gay parent. Parenting style. experimentation in early childhood.

Do Not Predict Sexual Orientation

studied the Mangaian culture in the South Pacific.

Donald Marshall

means discomfort or a lack of positive feelings.

Dysphoria

a feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another person. requires an appreciation of another person's mental state, suggesting the important role of theory of mind in this capacity. is a strong predictor of an individual's willingness to help another in need.

Empathy

occurs among members of the same sex as they vie for the opportunity to mate with members of the opposite sex.

Competition

summarized the available U.S. data and concluded that approximately 3.8 percent or 9 million Americans are gay, lesbian, or bisexual,

Gary Gates

patterns of expectancies for how people should behave sexually. For men, sex may center more on the genitals, with orgasm being a crucial aspect; for women, sex may be more an expression of intimacy, with orgasm an optional feature

Sexual Scripts

involves providing students with comprehensive knowledge about sexual behavior, birth control, and the use of condoms in protecting against sexually transmitted infections, while encouraging them to delay sexual activity and practice abstinence. less likely to report adolescent pregnancies

Comprehensive Sex Education

According to Darwin's theory of evolution, the differentiation between the male and the female members of a species because of the differences between the two in competition and choice.

Sexual Selection

an object or activity that arouses sexual interest and desire. include erotic materials (such as pornographic images and films), clothing, and other physical objects.

Fetish

the ratio of the length of the second digit (the index finger) to that of the fourth digit (the ring finger) — reveals the amount of male hormones, mainly testosterone, a person is exposed to in the womb. The more testosterone, the longer the ring finger grows.

2D:4D Ratio

emphasize that sexual behavior outside of marriage is harmful to individuals of any age. Instructors can present contraceptives and condoms only in terms of their failure rates. Abstinence-only sex education promotes the notion that abstinence is the only effective way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Abstinence-Only Sex Education

a sexually transmitted infection, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which destroys the body's immune system. Without treatment, most people who contract HIV are vulnerable to germs that a healthy immune system can destroy.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

Behavior that is intended to harm another person. men are more likely to partake in physical aggression.

Aggression

believes that modeling is an especially potent mechanism for transmitting values. Children gain information about gender from models of each sex. When children see their parents and other adults engaging in behavior (and as they observe whether and how these behaviors are reinforced), they learn about how men and women behave.

Albert Bandura

and his colleagues conducted the earliest research on sexual practices in 1948. Kinsey is widely recognized as the father of sexology, a pioneer who brought scientific attention to sexual behavior. Kinsey collected data wherever he could find it, interviewing anyone willing to discuss the intimate details of his or her sex life.

Alfred Kinsey

proposed that to understand gender, we must recognize the larger social and cultural institutions surrounding the psychological phenomenon of gender identity. proposed that these differences resulted in a division of labor between the sexes, with women being more involved in the home and with childrearing and men being more likely to work outside the home. asserts that this division of labor can lead to important beliefs about what it means to be a woman or a man. The activities and occupations we see men and women performing give rise to expectations and beliefs about what it means to be a male or female person, what a male or female person ought to do, and what we believe that person can do.

Alice Eagly

are hormones, the most common being testosterone, that are at higher levels in men. In women, produced in adrenal glands. In men, some are produced in the testes and are converted into estrogens.

Androgens

having attributes that are typically associated with both genders.

Androgynous

focus on the role of a hormone such as testosterone, which circulates at higher levels in men than women

Biological Approach (Aggression)

looked to genetic or hormonal differences, although aptitude for science is similarly predicted by genes for both males and females

Biological Approach (Cognitive Ability)

draw links between these aspects of the person's biological sex and his or her eventual psychological feelings of gender. focus on variables such as genes, prenatal hormones, and brain structures and functions, as these differ between males and females and potentially account for the experiences of ourselves in those sexes. also on how such factors contribute to gender development in interaction with experience

Biological Approach (Gender Development)

differences in sexuality can be explained by genetic and hormonal differences between men and women.

Biological Approach (Sexuality)

referring to a sexual orientation in which the individual is sexually attracted to people of both sexes.

Bisexual

fake lie detector

Bogus Pipeline

The findings were that among people ages 15 to 44, 10 percent of men and 8 percent of women had never had sex, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex. Among adults ages 25 to 44 years, 97 percent had had vaginal intercourse, and 90 percent had had oral sex. Among men, 40 percent had had anal sex, and among women 35 percent had done so.

CDC Sexual Behaviors Study

chemically or surgically removing the testes.

Castration

the process by which the environment determines the adaptiveness of particular genetic characteristics. Organisms with the fittest genes are most likely to survive and reproduce. This slow process is responsible for creating the typical characteristics of any species.

Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection

selecting the lucky one (or ones) with whom they will mate. the one that invests the most in producing offspring.

Choice

are the packages of DNA that carry our genes. Human beings have 23 pairs of ---, with one of each pair being provided by each parent.

Chromosomes

refers to individuals who experience a match between their experienced and natal gender.

Cisgender

the failure of the penis to become erect. may be a symptom of an underlying physical illness, such as diabetes, and is more likely to occur with age. Treatment typically involves medications, such as Viagra, that allow the individual to experience erection.

Erectile Dysfunction

hormones that are at higher levels in women.

Estrogen and Progesterone

view the overt aggression of males as an outgrowth of ancestral male competition for female mates. From this perspective, the propensity for relational aggression derives from the female need to compete for male partners with resources.

Evolutionary Approach (Aggression)

the differences are thought to be tied to important ancestral female roles, such as socializing offspring and negotiating the interpersonal landscape, and to the ancestral male roles of traversing the landscape for food and navigating their way home again

Evolutionary Approach (Cognitive Ability)

see these differences as supporting the role of sexual selection in human evolution.

Evolutionary Approach (Sexuality)

views the differences between the sexes through the lens of natural selection and adaptation. From this perspective, the factors that produce gender are the product of millions of years of natural selection. assert that the differences we see between contemporary men and women can be explained by the selection pressures, or environmental challenges, that confronted our distant human ancestors. focus on sexual selection and the differing reproductive challenges faced by men and women.

Evolutionary Psychology Approach (Gender Development)

begins the process of erotic responsiveness; it lasts from several minutes to several hours, depending on the nature of the sex play involved. Engorgement of blood vessels and increased blood flow in genital areas, along with muscle tension, characterize the excitement phase. The most obvious signs of response in this phase are lubrication of the vagina and partial erection of the penis.

Excitement Phase

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, any good theory of sexual orientation should explain how any of us (gay or straight) becomes sexually oriented toward individuals of a particular sex. As scientists, we want to explain the sexual orientations of men and women who are attracted to men or women or both.

Explaining sexual orientation doesn't mean explaining only homosexuality

feminine traits. nurturing, warm, gentle, and sensitive to others

Expressiveness

collectively called the vulva, include the mons pubis (a fleshy area just above the vagina), the labia (the lips surrounding the vaginal opening), and the clitoris (a small sensory organ at the top where the labia meet).

External Genitalia (Females)

Penis and the Scrotum

External Genitalia (Males)

Available evidence suggests that approximately 37 percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender households include children. Children reared by gay men and lesbian women tend to be as well-adjusted as those from heterosexual households and are no less likely to be accepted by their peers. A study comparing adolescents who had two mothers with adolescents who had opposite-sex parents revealed no differences in self-reported or peer-reported functioning. For both sets of adolescents, what mattered was their close, warm relationship with their parents.

Gay and Lesbian Families

gay men and women report being more satisfied with their relationships. Gay couples are more likely to end relationships.

Gay and Lesbian Relationships

the social and psychological aspects of being female or male; gender goes beyond biological sex to include an individual's personal understanding of the meaning of being male or female.

Gender

refers to a person's discomfort with his or her natal gender

Gender Dysphoria

an individual's multifaceted sense of belonging to the male or female sex.

Gender Identity

roles that reflect the individual's expectation for how a female person and how a male person should think, act, and feel.

Gender Roles

a mental framework for understanding what is considered appropriate behavior for females and males in their culture. is a product of learning and serves as a cognitive framework by which children interpret further experiences related to gender.

Gender Schema

Hyde's proposition that men and women (and boys and girls) are much more similar than they are different.

Gender Similarities Hypothesis

overly general beliefs and expectations about what women and men are like.

Gender Stereotypes

behavior that fits with the expectations of their sex

Gender-Conforming Behavior

66 extremely gender-nonconforming boys to 56 gender-conforming boys (Green, 1987). Among the nonconforming boys, 75 percent were either bisexual or homosexual at a follow-up during adolescence or young adulthood. Among the gender-conforming boys, 96 percent were heterosexual at follow-up.

Gender-Conforming and Nonconforming Groups

behaviors that does not fit with expectations for their sex

Gender-Nonconforming Behavior

Glands that produce sex hormones and generate ova (eggs) in females and sperm in males; collectively called gametes, the ova and sperm are the cells that eventually will be used in reproduction. Female --- are ovaries (located on either side of the abdomen). Male --- are the testes (located in the scrotum)

Gonads

studied sexual response through the lens of her clinical practice, during which she talked with individuals about their sexual experiences. --- discovered that for many of her clients, sexual desire was sometimes lacking. ---'s work highlighted the very important role of motivation in sexual activity. she argued, without the desire to have sex, the stages described by Masters and Johnson may never get started.

Helen Singer Kaplan

is a statistic that tells us the extent to which we can explain observed differences in a given characteristic based on differences in genes. A study of nearly 4,000 twins in Sweden demonstrated that the --- of same-sex sexual behavior was about 35 percent in men and 19 percent in women. These --- estimates suggest that although genes play a role, they are not as strong an influence on sexual orientation as they are for other characteristics, such as intelligence.

Heritability

referring to a sexual orientation in which the individual is generally sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex.

Heterosexual

display a similar pattern of having larger right hemisphere relative to the left. prenatal hormone exposure

Heterosexual Men and Lesbian Women

show similar pattern in which the two hemispheres are alike. prenatal hormone exposure.

Heterosexual Women and Gay Men

referring to a sexual orientation in which the individual is generally sexually attracted to members of the same sex. occur in non-human species. present in all cultures. 2 to 10 percent of the population.

Homosexual

are chemicals produced by endocrine glands.

Hormones

Masters and Johnson's model of human sexual response, consisting of four phases--excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

Human Sexual Response Pattern

masculine traits. assertive, brave, independent, and dominant

Instrumentality

reviewed the meta-analyses that had been conducted on gender differences over a wide range of characteristics. found that where differences did emerge, they were quite small, with girls scoring higher on some measures of verbal ability and boys scoring higher on spatial tasks.

Janet Shibley Hyde

and his colleagues conducted a longitudinal study of gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples that included video-recorded interactions over 12 years. found that compared to heterosexual couples, gay and lesbian partners were better able to manage conflicts. They were more likely to use humor and affection in dealing with conflicts, took a more positive attitude toward negative feedback from their partners, and let conflicts go once they were resolved

John Gottman

classic analysis of of the people living on the small island of Inis Beag off the coast of Ireland.

John Messenger

a well-known sex researcher, believed strongly that socialization was the main determinant of gender. In the 1960s, he tested his theory in the famous "John/Joan" case. The case involved one member of a pair of twin boys.Reared as a girl, according to Money, the former boy essentially became a girl The case became famous as an example of nurture's triumph over nature.

John Money

can stem from low levels of androgen, stress, anxiety and depression, physical illnesses, and various medications. Treatments for lack of sexual desire include drug therapies, psychological therapies, and relationship counseling.

Lack of Sexual Desire

rude speech about how woman are less intelligent in math and science fields.

Larry Summers

found evidence for the existence of a stable bisexual identity. Among women identifying themselves as lesbian or bisexual in 1995, change was more likely to occur in the direction of lesbian women moving toward bisexuality rather than bisexual women changing to a lesbian or heterosexual orientation. Demonstrating the difference between orientation and behavior, Diamond found that although bisexual orientation was unlikely to change, sexual behavior did. Women who self-identified as bisexual were more likely, over time, to engage in exclusively homosexual or heterosexual behavior, because many of them had settled into a long-term relationship with one partner by the end of the study

Lisa Diamond

and her colleagues examined the sex motives of a sample of adolescents and young adults whom they followed longitudinally over several years. The researchers examined the reasons these individuals gave for having sex. The participants' reported motives included the following: to connect intimately with someone, to enhance their own self-esteem, to gain a partner's and peers' approval, and to avoid feeling distressed or lonely. Engaging in sex as a form of intimacy with another person was related to having fewer sex partners overall and to practicing less risky sex. Conversely, individuals who had sex to cope with negative feelings were less likely to have stable long-term relationships and tended to engage in more unsafe sex.

Lynne Cooper

is a statistical technique that allows researchers to pull together findings from a variety of studies that all address the same questions, so that they can determine whether differences from one study represent real differences in the world and can estimate the size of those differences.

Meta-Analysis

an expert on the disorder, concluded that efforts should focus on preventing the disorder and implementing interventions aimed at child-victims. With respect to preventing pedophilic disorder, --- argues that, given the evidence for a neurodevelopmental basis to the problem, enhanced prenatal care and early parenting interventions might be helpful in reducing the occurrence of the disorder. With respect to preventing abuse and protecting children, --- advocates educating children to distinguish appropriate and inappropriate touch and empowering them to share their feelings with a trusted adult if someone is making them uncomfortable.

Michael Seto

a biologist and strong critic of Money's theory, followed up on "John/Joan" Diamond found that over time, "Joan" became less and less interested in being a girl, eventually refusing to continue the process of feminization that Money had devised. David's story seems to suggest that biological factors powerfully guide gender identity development and that socialization is relatively unimportant.

Milton Diamond

suggest that the responsiveness of the amygdalae to emotion-arousing stimuli varies according to gender, with women being more responsive to negative stimuli and men being more responsive to positive stimuli

Neuroimaging Studies

The third phase of the human sexual response cycle. Some individuals sense that time is standing still when it takes place, but in fact --- lasts for only about 3 to 15 seconds. --- involves an explosive discharge of neuromuscular tension and an intensely pleasurable feeling. With --- comes the release of the neurotransmitter oxytocin, which plays a role in social bonding.

Orgasm

physically or verbally harming another person directly. boys and men are higher

Overt Aggression

sexual disorders that feature recurrent sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving nonhuman objects; the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner; or children or other nonconsenting individuals.

Paraphilic Disorders

set up a series of speed-dating events to examine these differences. Although ratings before the event of desirable characteristics in romantic partners followed the stereotypical patterns, men and women valued appearance and status equally in their selections in the actual speed-dating events.

Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel

a paraphilic disorder in which an adult or an older adolescent sexually fantasizes about or engages in sexual behavior with individuals who have not reached puberty. more common in men. people molested as children do not usually grow up to molest others. associated with low self esteem, poor social skills, low IQ, and history of head injuries. Ineffective treatments.

Pedophilic Disorder

15 year old from Ireland that moved to the US was bullied after rumors spread about her and she late committed suicide.

Phoebe Prince

The second phase of the human sexual response, is a continuation and heightening of the arousal begun in the excitement phase. The increases in breathing, pulse rate, and blood pressure that occurred during the excitement phase become more intense, penile erection and vaginal lubrication are more complete, and orgasm is closer.

Plateau Phase

the experience of orgasm before the person wishes. is the most common sexual complaint among men under the age of 40. Psychological, physical, and relationship factors can play a role in --- The problem may be treated with drugs or therapy and may also involve working together with one's sexual partner to develop greater mastery over the sexual response.

Premature Ejaculation

is explained by problems in the autonomic nervous system that disrupt the engorgement of the labia and lubrication of the vagina; for other women, the subjective feeling is absent even when these physical changes occur. can be related to the experience of childhood sexual abuse, as well as to strict religious beliefs and negative sexual attitudes. may be treated with androgens or through psychotherapy. Addressing underlying physical causes can also sometimes improve sexual function.

Problems of Sexual Arousal

is a period of rapid maturation that occurs mainly in early adolescence.

Puberty

a researcher who studies the neurobiology of sexual orientation, asserted that "there is no argument anymore—if you are gay, you are born gay." Whether one is homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual, sexual orientation is not a choice but an integral part of the functioning human being and his or her sense of self.

Qazi Rahman

behavior that is meant to harm the social standing of another person. high social and cognitive skill. more subtle. girls engage in more --- than other types.

Relational Aggression

Comparing individuals from different sexual orientations presents research design challenges. One such challenge is representativeness, for in some studies the heterosexual and homosexual participants are recruited in very different ways. Gay and lesbian participants are sometimes recruited only from Gay Pride events, for example, and so they may not be representative of all homosexual and bisexual individuals. Similarly, small sample size can be an issue because of the difficulty involved in recruiting gay participants. Indeed, in a study reported in 2000, just 6 gay men were compared to 256 "non-gay" men

Research Challenges

in which blood vessels return to their normal state. A sex difference in this phase is that females may be stimulated to orgasm again without delay, whereas males enter a refractory period during which they cannot have another orgasm.

Resolution Phase

and his colleagues (1994) interviewed nearly 3,500 randomly selected people from 18 to 50 years of age. Although 17 percent of the men and 3 percent of the women said they had had sex with at least 21 partners, the overall impression from the survey was that for most Americans, marriage and monogamy rule sexual behavior. Married couples reported having sex most often and were the most likely to have orgasms when they did. Nearly 75 percent of the married men and 85 percent of the married women indicated that they had never been unfaithful. Subsequent surveys show similar results. For instance, in 2004 ABC polled a nationally representative sample and found that individuals in committed relationships had more sex than singles, and the vast majority reported themselves as sexually faithful.

Robert Michael

sent five men and five women experimenters (judged to be slightly unattractive to moderately attractive) to a college campus with a mission. They were to approach members of the opposite sex whom they found quite attractive and say, "I have been noticing you around campus. I find you very attractive."

Russell Clark and Elaine Hatfield

the sex determining region of the Y chromosome, is activated early in the first three months of pregnancy. low levels of androgen determine female sex.

SRY Gene

one person (the sadistic partner) gains sexual pleasure from dominating another person (the masochist), who in turn enjoys being dominated.

Sadomasochism

traits that differ between the two sexes but are not part of the reproductive system; breasts in females and facial hair in males are secondary sex characteristics

Secondary Sex Characteristics

the properties of a person that determine his or her classification as male or female.

Sex

(23rd pair) In humans, the pair of genes that differs between the sexes and determines a person's sex as male or female. Females have XX and males have XY.

Sex Chromosomes

the direction of an individual's erotic interests. not just sexual behavior, it also includes desires, feelings, fantasies, and a person's sense of identity.

Sexual Orientation

the ways people experience and express themselves as sexual beings. involves activity that is associated with sexual pleasure.

Sexuality

an infection that is contracted primarily through sexual activity--vaginal intercourse as well as oral and anal sex. Some are bacterial in origin, as are gonorrhea and syphilis. Others are caused by viruses, as in the case of genital herpes and HIV. are a top health concern because they can have implications for a person's future fertility, risk of cancer, and life expectancy.

Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)

gender differences in styles of aggression would reflect differences in boys' and girls' socialization, with girls being taught early on that overt aggression is inappropriate

Social Cognitive Approach (Aggression)

focus on how children learn about gender and how they come to occupy a particular gender identity. These approaches emphasize both the way that children internalize information about gender and the way the environment reinforces gender-related behavior. From this perspective, gender behavior is learned through reward and punishment, observational learning, and modeling. believe that social and cultural factors have a much stronger influence on eventual gender identity. From this perspective, differences in men's and women's career and life choices can be explained by differences in the availability of role models and beliefs about self-efficacy and personal control.

Social Cognitive Approach (Gender Development)

focus on the ways that boys and girls learn about what is considered appropriate sexual behavior for each gender.

Social Cognitive Approach (Sexuality)

say that these differences reflect differences in experience. Interactions with parents, which are likely influenced by parents' beliefs, can magnify small differences over time. In fact, research revealed that with as little as 10 hours of training (playing an action-oriented video game), the sex difference in spatial cognition declined considerably. In addition, a recent study showed that sex differences in cognitive abilities were better explained by gender than sex. That is, masculine and feminine individuals differ, not men and women

Social Cognitive and Social Role (Cognitive Ability)

these differences as emerging out of gender roles, and responses to these forms of aggression would reflect stereotypes of male and female behavior

Social Role Approach (Aggression)

assert that these gender differences reflect the differing gender roles, stereotypes, and opportunities that cultures construct for men and women.

Social Role Approach (Sexuality)

Eagly's theory of gender development that, while acknowledging the physical differences between the sexes, argues that these differences color social expectations and create social structures that limit opportunities for both sexes. begins by acknowledging that women are more innately and directly involved in reproduction than men, and men are larger and stronger than women. asserts that each of us internalizes these roles and stereotypes and comes to evaluate our own behavior and choices according to their gender typicality. recognizes the institutional structures and patterns of opportunity that perpetuate gender differences. as social structures change, gender differences should decline. asserts that thinking about men and women simply in terms of their sex misses big differences among people within each group.

Social Role Theory

one study showed that among genetic males born without a penis (due to a birth defect) and reared as females, 78 percent lived their adult lives as women. Of those who were reared as male, 100 percent of them were living as male

Socialization Related to Gender Identity

Younger Americans are particularly likely to support gay rights. In a 2015 poll, among those ages 18 to 29, 70 percent supported marriage equality. 79 percent of respondents reporting knowing someone who is gay —a large increase from a 1984 survey in which only 24 percent reported knowing a gay or bisexual person

Supporting Gay Rights

has declined almost continuously over the course of the last 20 years. In 2010, the rate was over 57 per 1,000 females and by 2014, it fell to 24.2 per 1,000 females, the lowest rate ever recorded.

Teen Pregnancy and Birth Rate

noted that although men and women in the study differed in their willingness to say yes to a proposal for casual sex, they were responding to proposers who systematically differed in terms of their sex as well: Women were always approached by men, and men were always approached by women. showed that the proposer's characteristics influence whether the approached person accepts or rejects a proposal for casual sex. she found that both men and women rated a male stranger as potentially more dangerous than a female stranger.discovered that women were more likely to report that they would say yes to casual sex if it was offered by a familiar person, such as an attractive friend, or by a celebrity, such as Johnny Depp. She also found that bisexual women were more likely to say they would engage in casual sex with a female, but not a male, who approached them.

Terri Conley

published in two volumes, presented his findings for men and women. Among the findings that shocked his readers were Kinsey's estimates of the frequency of bisexuality in men (nearly 12 percent) and women (7 percent) and his estimate that at least 50 percent of married men had been sexually unfaithful. Although acknowledged for initiating the scientific study of sexual behavior, Kinsey's work was limited by the lack of representative samples.

The Kinsey Reports

In presenting research on the origins of sexual orientation, the popular media often emphasize similarities between gay men and Page 376heterosexual women and between lesbian women and heterosexual men. Regardless of their sexual orientation, gay men are men, and lesbian women are women.

The meaning of cross-sex similarities

is the ability to understand the inner life of another person.

Theory of Mind

experiencing one's psychological gener as different from one's physical sex, as in the cases of biological males who identify as female and biological females who identify as male. more common in natal males (male to female)

Transgender

involves gradual stages that move from reversible treatments to permanent ones. The first stage may involve dressing and living as their preferred gender identity. Then the person might receive hormones that support that identity, followed by surgery to remove secondary sex characteristics (such as breasts), and potentially culminating in gender-affirming surgery

Transgender Treatment

gets sexual pleasure from wearing clothing of the opposite sex.

Transvestic Fetish

college student was cyberbullied for being gay and later committed suicide.

Tyler Clementi

individuals who are low on both dimensions. tend to have better psychological adjustment and resilience

Undifferentiated

For any psychological characteristic, it is unlikely that a single cause can be identified, and sexual orientation is no exception. As we consider the accumulated data on this topic, keep in mind that it is very probable that many factors work together to foster sexual orientation and that factors that have not even been considered will likely emerge in the future.

Unliklihood of a single cause

One possibility is to define sex as activities that are involved in reproduction. Another approach is to define sexual behavior by the arousal and sexual response that occur when the behavior is performed.Alternatively, we might broaden the definition a great deal and define sexual behaviors to include behaviors that are specific to each individual and that are pleasurable in a particular way—one that is unusually intimate and personal.

Ways to Define Sexual Behavior

carefully observed and measured the physiological responses of 382 female and 312 male volunteers as they masturbated or had vaginal intercourse. Masters and Johnson identified a human sexual response pattern.

William Masters and Virginia Johnson

There is a great deal of variation within any group of people who share the same sexual orientation. All heterosexual men are sexually attracted to women, but that attraction may be the only thing that any two heterosexual men have in common. Similarly, all gay men share a sexual attraction to men, but any two gay men may have little else in common.

Within-group Variation

formerly known as sex reassignment surgery. This surgery involves the surgical reconstruction of the genitals.

gender affirming surgery