Chapter Ten: Motivation and Emotion

C. Sexual Motivation and Behavior

The section that some of you have been waiting for.

1. Determinants of Sexual Desire
2. The Mystery of Sexual Orientation
3. The Human Sexual Response
4. Playboy and Playgirl Revisited

Contents

Determinants of Sexual Desire

Believe it or not, sex is not essential to an individual's survival, but with so many influences it may seem like a necessity.


Hormonal Regulation -

Are you driven by the gonads? While hormones are influential in many other animals, its influence is less intense and more complicated as we move up the phylogenetic scale.

• Estrogen

• Androgen

Pheromones

Before you race out to buy the new pheromone laced perfume or cologne, read this section closely.

• Bad news
  - there is no convincing evidence that pheromones exert any impact on primate's sexual drive. You rats and moths are in good shape, however.

• Strange news
  - pheromones may be responsible for "ovulatory synchronization in humans" This study demonstrates how far scientists will go to obtain publishable research.

• Aphrodisiacs
  - at present no known substance can reliably increase desire through any known direct physical mechanism.

Attraction

Sexual motivation operates on the incentive model described earlier.

• Many organisms respond to the external stimulus of an available partner.
  • The Coolidge Effect - If I define this term, you'll think I'm making it up for a cheap joke.

• Many species are selective in their attraction to sexual partners.

Gender Differences in Attraction

Men are more motivated by the desire for physical gratification. Women are more motivated by their desire to express love and emotional commitment.

FEATURED STUDY: Evolution, Culture and Mating Preferences;

Based on sociobiological theory, it was predicted that women across cultures would emphasize the male's prospects for material wealth, whereas men would emphasize female reproductive capacity (e.g. young and attractive).

What do you think they found?

1. all men are pigs.
2. pigs protest the label.
3. all women are money grubbing.
4. there was no consistency across culture.
5. chastity is the only thing that really counts.

check it out!

Erotic Materials

I'll bet this will come as a surprise: Erotic material can stimulate sexual desire.

Are women less responsive to erotic material than men? (trick question)
Do women dislike erotic material more than men? If so, why?

Impact of erotic material on sexual behavior.

Evidence suggests that exposure to erotic material only modestly elevates the likelihood of sexual activity -- that is -- it doesn't initiate overpowering sexual urges that have to be expressed.

However,

• It may alter attitudes that eventually affect behavior, e.g. watch 6 pornography films a week for 6 weeks and you are likely to view premarital and extramarital sex as more acceptable.

• It may create unrealistic expectations about sexual relations that lead to less satisfaction with one's partner.

Impact of Aggressive Pornography

A very different story --bad news, all bad.

• In laboratory settings, aggression towards females is elevated after exposure to aggressive pornography.

• Exposure to aggressive pornography may make sexual coercion seem less offensive.

• Because aggression toward women is probably the key factor here, we should be worried because there is more violence in R-rated films and made for t.v. movies than in erotic pornography films. And almost everyone in the society is exposed to this kind of modeling of aggression toward women

Date Rape

A serious problem on college campuses.

Sexual Assualt Information Page
Prevention and Prosecution
Inner life of rapists

The Mystery of Sexual Orientation

The determinants of sexual orientation are obscure.

Definitions

• Sexual orientation
• Heterosexuals
• Bisexuals
• Homosexuals

Sexual orientation falls on an continuum

(Figure 10.10)

Theories of origins of homosexuality

• Environmental: Neither behavioral or psychoanalytic theories are supported by research.

• Biological theories have more support:
  • Hormone differences - no

  • Twin Studies - Identical twins of homosexual more likely to be homosexual than a fraternal twin or an adoptive sibling.

  • Genetic Mapping - x chromosome link.

  • Clusters of neurons in the anterior hypothalamus are smaller.

The Human Sexual Response

Yes, with the spaced aged technology of the artificial penile device with a camera, we are able to bring you a detailed description of the four phases of the human sexual response.


Sex on a Graph: Figure 10.12

• Excitement Phase
  • Everything "increases" rapidly.
  • Vasocongestion occurs.

• Plateau Phase
  • physiological arousal continues to build but at a slower pace.

• Orgasm
  • Occurs when sexual arousal reaches its peak intensity and is discharged in a series of muscular contractions that pulsate through the pelvic area.

  • Gender differences: Women are both more likely to be multiorgasmic and nonorgrasmic than men.

• Resolution Phase
  • Physiological arousal subsides.

  • Refractory period for men.

Playboy and Playgirl Revisited

Where was that in the text?

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