Sexuality Today 9th Ed. Chapter 1

Eurocentric

A cultural attitudinal framework typical of people with western European heritages. View of the world tends to be dualistic in nature

Robert Latou Dickinson

A gynecologist from New York. He published "A Thousand Marriages" which documented how repressive sexual attitudes of childhood led to disastrous effects on adult sexual functioning. He studied physiological responses of the clitoris, vagina, and the cervix during sexual stimulation and orgasm. Realized that once women were able to experience the pleasure of self-induced orgasm that she was more likely to have an orgasm during intercourse, he introduced the use of electric vibrators for women

Helena Wright

A pioneer in the sexual liberation of women. A London gynecologist who discovered that most women found no enjoyment in sex and instead considered it a marital duty. Published "The Sex Factor in Marriage" a series of books that instructed women on how to achieve orgasm through both intercourse and masturbation. The books gave explicit instructions to women on becoming fully acquainted with their sex organs and sexual responses

Redbook Magazine

A questionnaire about female sexuality to which more than 100,000 women responded. The results could not be considered representative of the general female population because only about 2% of the magazine readers actually returned the survey. At the same time, the study constituted one of the largest surveys of women's attitudes and behaviors ever attempted. The study conveyed a picture of US women as having active sex lives and often initiating sexual activities with their partners

Sample

A representative group of a population that is the focus of a scientific poll or study

Random Sample

A representative group of the larger population that is the focus of a scientific poll or study in which care is taken to select participants without a pattern that might bias research results

National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

By the mid 1990s, there was a plan for a long-term federal study of teenage health, which included questioning 20,000 teens about their sexual behavior. The study was completed in stages over several years. 500 interviewers visited 20,000 adolescents in grades 7 to 12 at their homes, gathering information from them in a confidential manner. Although political controversies made it difficult for this study to get off the ground, data from the research are still being analyzed and continue to appear in a number of publications, and offer a clearer perspective on sexual behavior among teens

Culture and Sexuality

Anything that affects a society's subsistence pattern can influence reproduction and thus sexual behavior. Gender roles are tied to both reproductive patterns and other social structures. Sexuality has a place at the center of any culture

Flaws with Kinsey's research approach

He used sample of convenience, interviewing groups of people who expressed willingness to respond to sex and sexual behavior related questions. The volunteers included fraternities, sororities, college classes, and other student groups as well as hitchhikers. This approach had essential flaws: 1) because the volunteers were willing to provide information, this information could NOT be justifiably be generalized to the larger, national population and 2) it can be assumed that that willing volunteers may have very different sex-related attitudes, life experiences, and sexual behaviors from those reluctant to participate

Sex Research in the 90s

Evidence from two studies that startled a number of sexologists, one in France and the other in the UK, suggested two things: 1) that people were not using condoms during their sexual activities to the extent that would be advisable to protect them against HIV infections and 2) Same-gender (homosexual) sex activity may not be as prevalent as earlier studies, such as Kinsey's, had suggested

Iwan Bloch

German physician, coined the term "sexual science" and began studying the history of prostitution and what he called "strange" sexual practices. Was the first to conceive of history as an important foundation for understanding human sexuality. Might have been considered as the first sexologist

World Health Organization Study

Puzzled by the many variations in the way HIV may spread, a major study was conducted on sexual behavior in 15 different countries. A major difficulty was designing a questionnaire that could be translated into many different languages. Different packages were designed for Africa, Europe, and the Americas taking into consideration cross-cultural and regional differences. Information gathered included religious attitudes, educational levels, condom use, knowledge about AIDS, and premarital and extramarital sex. It represented the first coordinated international research on sexual behavior ever conducted on a major scale

Ethnosexual

Referring to data concerning the sexual beliefs and customs of other cultures

Controlled Experiment

Research in which the investigator examines what is happening to one variable while all other variables are kept constant

Observational Research

Researchers can chose to observe an aspect of human sexual behavior directly, thereby eliminating the biases characteristic of research in which people report on themselves. These studies may take place in laboratory settings or in the field

Gender Differences in Sex Research

Men report higher levels of permissive sexual attitudes and behaviors and women are more likely to revise their reporting downward during later follow-up. Women seem to be initially more interested in participating in sex research but are also more likely to refuse to continue if the study seems to personal or invasive. Results of sexuality studies may be affected by the sex of the experimenter involved in gathering results and by the amount of prior information provided to respondents

Gender Discrepancies in Sex Surveys

Men tend to report having more female sexual partners than the numbers of make partners women say they have had. The inconsistency may be due to the ways men and women tend to report their sexual histories. Men tend to round up their figures by 5s, 10s, and even 25s. This may be because they have poor memory as to the exact number of partners, or because men are more comfortable exaggerating the numbers. Women are more accurate and conservative in their reporting of numbers of partners and also prone to undercounting

Collecting Research Data in Human Sexuality

One goal of scientific research is to find information that can then be generalized to the "real world" outside the study. Science offers hope of being able to understand , predict, and prevent various phenomena. Researchers have the responsibility of ensuring that their own methods assumptions do NOT distort their work

Relational Category

People in this group tend to view sexual activity as a natural component of intimate and loving relationships. This group is generally accepting of sex within the context of a loving and committed relationship - marriage - or otherwise - but has strongly negative attitudes toward extramarital sex or "cheating" on a partner

Response Bias

People may not always be accurate or truthful in self-reporting their sexual behaviors. This type of bias can work in two ways: 1) some may underreport or conceal their sexual behaviors out of fear of personal embarrassment, fear that their anonymity will not be guaranteed, or concerns about reprisals 2) some may exaggerate or embellish their reports because it is self-enhancing for them to imagine having been more adventurous than they actually have been

William Masters and Virginia Johnson

Researchers who contributed to our knowledge of sexual functioning than any other predecessor. Their work focused on two major areas: the physiology of human sexual response and the treatment of sexual dysfunction. They used sophisticated instrumentation to measure the physiological responses of 694 individuals during masturbation and coitus; they studied more than 10,000 orgasms in laboratory conditions. The detailed account of their work is given in "Human Sexual Response". They also developed and perfected clinical techniques for the treatment of male and female sexual dysfunctions. The treatment format was described in "Human Sexual Inadequacy" a book that inaugurated the age of sex therapy

Qualitative Data

There has been a growing willingness to gather and analyze ________ data from people, which offer a somewhat more subjective view than do quantitative numbers and statistics. Even though such finding may not be easily organized into numerical form, they are informative and add value to the field

Quantitative Research

This method gathers information, or data in a form that allows organization of the information into numerical (statistical) form. It also allows the data to be subjected to various forms of statistical analysis to help summarize findings and test their reliability and validity

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS)

This study has been closely coordinated with the questions on adolescent sexual health now included in a survey used by 35 areas cross the world called Health Behaviors in School Aged Children (HBSC). The attention now being given to understanding adolescent sexual bodes well four our future understanding of sexual trends and problems

Data

This term is plural, referring to more than one datum, a single bit of information

Alfred C. Kinsey

Through his work sex research became a more legitimate scientific pursuit because he applied statistical analysis to sexual behavior instead of drawing conclusions solely from personal observations. When he realized that there was very little reliable information about sexuality, he began to gather information by interviewing people about their sex lives; he gathered detailed histories of 16,000 people. He published "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female". He founded and directed Indiana University's Institute for Sex Research. Now called ____________ for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction

Four Fundamental Moral Principles

1) Respect for an individual's autonomy and independent decision making; 2) the importance of doing no harm; 3) the pursuit of benefit for people, balanced with risks and costs; and 4) the pursuit of "distributive justice", ensuring the greatest benefit for the largest number of people

Politics and "Family Values"

A term discussed in political contests. It has been used to signify a belief in traditional approaches to sexuality and the family. These include abstaining from sex until marriage, the assumptions that heterosexual is the proper way to be, the model of a family as consisting of a man and a woman and their children, no availability for abortion, and other ideas considered to be on the conservative side of politics

Case Studies

An in-depth look at a particular individual and how he or she might be helped to solve a sexual or other problem. Although these studies are risky to overgeneralize, they may offer new and useful ideas for counselors to use with other patients

Variable

An aspect of a scientific study that is subject to change

Robert Musil

An author that explored gender issues, homosexuality, and sadism in Europe, while refocusing attention on the cultural meanings of gender

Volunteer Bias

Bound to affect the outcome of the research because not everyone may be willing to participate in a study on sexuality or answer honestly even if he or she agrees to participate. Studies have shown these individuals tend to be more sexually experienced, more interested in sexual variety, and generally more interested in sex

Samuel & Cynthia Janus (1993)

Completed a general survey of sexual attitudes and behaviors in the US. They published "The _______ Report on Sexual Behavior". More than 4,500 people were pretested with a survey instrument, followed by data collection from a cross section of the US adult population. Questionnaires were supplemented by 125 in-depth interviews conducted by carefully trained professionals. Although the researchers had responses from 48 states and tried to have a representative sample, they also used volunteers which made a threat to the external validity of the study. However, the report did provide interesting perspectives on the current sexual attitudes and activities of Americans

Puritan Ideal

Considered that love between a man and a woman evolves within marriage, as two people began to know each other better

Recreational Category

Consists of people who consider the primary purpose of sex to be pleasure. They tend to believe that any sexual activity between consenting adults would be acceptable and tend to have mixed views on issues such as abortion and same-gender sexual activity

Henry Havelock Ellis

English sex researcher who spent decades studying all available information on human sexuality in the Western world and the sexual mores of other cultures. He published "Studies in the Psychology of Sex". His studies recognized that human beings exhibit great variety in their sexual inclinations and behaviors and that sexual mores are determined by cultural and social influences. He noted that masturbation was a common practice in males and females of all ages. Legitimized the idea that women could have as great sexual desire as men and that orgasms of men and women were similar. Recognized that difficulties in achieving erection were psychological problems rather than physical

Sigmund Freud

Focused much of his work on the study of the psychosexual development of children and how it affected adult life and mental condition. His contributions also perpetuated a negative attitude toward most aspects of human sexuality. Published "Studies in Hysteria" , it contained discussions of the unconscious mind, repression, and free association, concepts that became the foundation of psychoanalysis. Also published "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality" where he developed the theory of infantile sexuality and attempted to demonstrate how adult sexual perversions were distortions of childhood sexual expressions. He did not brand sexual behaviors as immoral, criminal, or pathological

Culture Wars

Human sexual attitudes about sex cannot be easily classified, because many different factors are involved in their creation and expression. No single set of beliefs easily describes the prevailing North American attitudes toward sex. Researchers have found that there are some clusters of similarities in the way groups of people view various sexual issues and behaviors. No single set of social attitudes relating to human sexuality predominates. Several different and contradictory patterns exist along side one another. The sexual attitudes people hold are strongly influenced by the social groups to which they belong and the sexual behaviors in which they engage

Homogeneous Cultures

In smaller, ___________ cultures in which people are expected to be very much alike in their belief patterns and values, a great deal of effort often is spent on maintaining conformity. In such cultures, people tend to conduct their sexual lives in accordance with accepted social roles. Individuals from this culture who immigrate to places with heterogeneous culture, must often undergo a processes of reevaluating traditional values brought from their homelands and selecting what sexual norms and options from the new surroundings will be comfortable

Procreational or Traditional Category

Includes people who see the primary purpose of sexual activity as reproductive. They tend to disapprove of any sex outside the marriage as well as sexual activity between members of the same gender. This group seems to be split on other issues, such as abortion and pornography

Heterogeneous Cultures

Larger, _________ cultures in which there is a good deal of human diversity, people do not work as deliberately toward producing or stabilizing behavioral conformity. These cultures tend to have many different patterns of sexual conduct, including not only sexual subcultures based on sexual orientation or behavioral preferences, but also more highly individualistic patterns of behavior within particular groups of people

Sex in the Victorian Era (1837-1901)

Love and sex were considered separate human experiences. Lustful passions were not to be let out of control lest people become slaves to their sexual emotions. Sex was not linked to love because the link was considered a threat to the love that was assumed to undergird marital stability. Prostitution and pornography flourished during this era.

Magnus Hirschfeld

One of the first professionals to take a stand on rights for homosexuals. He risked personal persecution and ant-Semitic repercussions for saying that homosexuals constituted an intermediate third sex that deserved the same rights and privileges as heterosexuals. He argued against the negative effects of masturbation believing them to be exaggerated and unfounded

Emergence of Sexuality Education in the 60s

Organizations were formed that encouraged and supported sexuality education programs. The most influential group, charted in 1964, was the Sex (now Sexuality) Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). Another organization formed in the late 1960s was the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT)

Sexologist

Person who studies human sexuality from a scientific perspective

Sexuality and Politics, and "Family Values"

Politicians are adopting sex-related issues as major planks in their political platforms. Perceptions of their personal lives can vastly influence voters. Elections are won and lost on candidates' positions on abortion rights or access to contraception. Political conservatives are anxious to make known their views about the ethics, morality, and legality of sexual behaviors and orientations. Liberals are equally intent on supporting the rights of gay males and lesbians, the freedom to use sexual words and display graphic representations of sex, and the right to make individual choices

Robert Sorensen (1973)

Published "Adolescent Sexuality in Contemporary America", based on responses of several hundred adolescents. His survey represented some of the most reliable data available on teenage sexual behavior

Theodoor van de Velde

Published "Ideal Marriage" a sex manual for an audience with Victorian inhibitions. It included suggestions for a more fulfilling sexual relationship described in a heterosexual, marriage-oriented framework with moralistic boundaries and an obsessive attention to cleanliness. The book described a variety of coital positions, discussed the use of oral sex foreplay, and offered suggestions for dealing with some sexual problems

Richard von Krafft-Ebing

Published "Psychopathia Sexualis", it portrayed various forms of sexual behavior and arousal as disgusting and pathological. Grouped sex into four classifications of pathology: sadism, masochism, fetishism, and homosexuality. Believed that masturbation was the cause of all sexual deviations and that hereditary "weakness" or "taintedness" was the cause of sexual behavior s other than intercourse for the purpose of reproduction. His biased conclusions labeled much sexual behavior sick and unnatural

Alan Bell, Martin Weinberg, & Sue Kiefer Hammersmith (1981)

Published the results of a unique study of sexual orientation called "Sexual Preference: Its Development in Men and Women". From a pool of 4,639 gay males and lesbians. They conducted extensive interviews with 979 individuals, obtaining the most in-depth data (using a survey) of any study on same gender sexual orientation ever conducted

Sexology

The scientific study of human sexuality

Phillip Blumstein & Pepper Schwartz (1983)

Sociologists from the University of Washington, studied completed questionnaires from 4,314 heterosexual couples, 969 gay male couples, and 788 lesbian couples who responded to questions on various aspects of their relationships. Their report, "American Couples" was considered to be a strong and important sociological study because of its large, diverse sample, and its thorough research design

Surveys

The 70s became the decade of the sex survey, books and magazines were filled with new peeks at the most private details of sex lives in the US. The methodologies of the surveys were highly questionable, yet their results generated a great deal of attention and solidified some myths and misconceptions about the variety and frequency of sexual behaviors

Ethnography

The anthropological study of other cultures

Sexual Revolution

The changes in thinking about sexuality and sexual behavior in society that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Ideals about sex and love in western cultures saw a dramatic shift

Informed Consent

The consent given by research subjects, indicating their willingness to participate in a study, after they are informed about the purpose of the study and how they will be asked to participate

The Playboy Foundation Survey

The largest survey on sexual behavior following the Kinsey studies was commissioned in the early 70s. It selected people from telephone books in 24 US cities at random. 20% of the individuals agreed to complete a 1,000 item questionnaire, and data gathered from 982 men and 1,044 women. The study was cited frequently in discussions of human sexual behavior even though the data were not very reliable

The National Health and Social Life Survey

The most comprehensive study on sexual behavior in the US to emerge since the Kinsey work. It was conducted by highly respected researchers. They had a sample size of 3,500 adults ages 18 to 59. Their random sampling techniques were among several characteristics that rendered their research particularly reliable and valuable. The questionnaire was carefully designed to avoid confusing people with technical language and to flow naturally from topic to topic without predicting responses. They decided on face-to-face interviews as the best technique to ensure that respondents understood the questions and to assure the respondents' identity. They had professional interviewers who were veterans of other surveys and carefully trained them. 3,432 people were interviewed, a response rate of 80% a reason why this study was considered to be so accurate. The research demonstrated that people will indeed participate in sex surveys when they are convinced that the research serves legitimate purposes, that their answers will be considered without judgment, and that their anonymity and confidentiality will be protected. The findings to the study were counterrevolutionary because they reflected a nation that was indeed involved in a wide spectrum of sexual activity but in general was much less sexually active than previously believed and that most Americans were content with their sex lives than had been assumed

Surveys - Disadvantages

The number of people who participate in a research study is NOT the most important component; what far more important is HOW the researcher recruits the participants. Flaws: 1) Who has actually been invited to participate: may pose a threat to generalizability 2) there is no way of knowing who has responded: some respondents may fill out the survey as a joke or may deliberately exaggerate their answers to bias results. Some men may have pretended to be women, and vise versa, or some might have completed more than one

Sexosophy

The philosophies and ideologies relating to human sexuality

Clinical Research

The study of the case, treatment, or prevention of a disease or condition by testing large numbers of people. These studies provide a foundation on which further research can build

Cultural Absolutism

The view that behaviors and values from one's culture of origin should be disregarded once the individual is living in a new culture. The expectation is that immigrants must abide by the cultural standards of their new country

Cultural Relativism

The view that one's culture determines what is normal and acceptable and that judgments about those standards should take into consideration their cultural origins

Melvin Zelnik & John Kantner (1980)

Used sophisticated research design and methods of statistical analysis to study sexual and contraceptive behaviors of teenagers. For years their surveys represented some of the most reliable data available on teenage sexual behavior

Otto Weninger

Wrote "Sex and Character", a controversial book that questioned views about gender and sexuality