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Sexuality in other cultures (chp. 1) A. History of Sex Research 1. Sigmund Freud developed a theory of psychosexual development 2. Henry Havelock Ellis published Studies in the Psychology of Sex in 1896 3. Richard von Krafft-Ebing documented sexual pathologies 4. Magnus Hirschfeld founded first sex research institute and journal B. Culture and sexuality: the media 1. Three types of influence a) Cultivation theory: exposure to mass media makes people think what they see represents the mainstream of what happens in our culture b) Agenda setting: media defines what is important by what they cover (1) #MeToo movement c) Social learning: media provides us with role models whom we imitate (1) Imitation and identification C. Cross Cultural Perspectives on Sexuality 1. Ethnocentrism a) The tendency to regard one own’s customs and culture as superior to others and its customs as the standard 2. Enormous variations in sexual behavior cross-culturally a) Kissing (common in most, an exception) b) Inis Beag vs. Mangaia (1) Inis Beag: menopause causes insanity, repressive culture (2) Mangaia: 13 year old boys undergo puberty ritual→ given sexual instruction and practice with experienced women, female orgasm considered normal, permissive culture c) China: over last couple decades has been liberalized sexually (1) Due to media and contraception d) Enormous changes in US over last 50-60 years e) Social class and ethnic group variations in US (1) “I love lucy”: 1952, first pregnant woman on TV (2) Percentage of women 15-44 years old on the pill, pg. 12 (3) Ethnic group variations: pg. 12 (4) Family vacation in Estonia 2017 picture: nude swimming 3. Racial microaggressions a) Subtle insults directed at people of color, often done nonconsciously D. Ethnicity and Sexuality in the US 1. African Americans a) Sexuality of them different from whites due to African heritage, slavery, current economic and social conditions b) Less likely to engage in oral sex before intercourse than whites 2. Latinos a) Gender roles clearly established, machismo b) Familismo: importance of family 3. Asian Americans

a) Collectivism, conformity to norms, emotional control b) Most conservative 4. American Indians a) Great pressure in youth culture to have sex E. Summary 1. Implications of cultural variations a) Sexuality is shaped by culture b) Social norms about sex are often arbitrary 2. Cross cultural universals a) Incest taboo is nearly universal (1) Many cultures have discovered the negative effects/defects for offspring b) All societies regulate sex (1) Although for different reasons F. Cross Species Behavior 1. Similarities a) Masturbation: found among many species, particularly primates (monkeys, apes) b) Same-gender sexual behavior: bisexual is popular c) Sexual signaling: “flirting” d) Female orgasm 2. Differences a) Humans’ sexual behavior is driven more by environmental influences rather than hormones (1) higher species controlled by the brain, lower species controlled hormonally (instincts) females in “heat” → hormonal state

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G. Sexual Health Perspective 1. State of physical, emotional, mental and social well being in relation to sexuality a) Focus on sexual rights: basic, inalienable rights regarding sexuality, both positive and negative (1) Rights to reproductive self determination, sexual self-expression and freedom from sexual abuse and violence Theories (chp. 2) A. Evolutionary Theories 1. Sociobiology (E.O Wilson) a) Application of evolutionary biology to understanding the sexual behavior of animals including humans (1) Human sexual behaviors are under biological control b) Evolution (Darwin): present forms through gradual changes through generations (1) Natural selection: process by which animals that are best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass on their genes to the next generation

(2) Attractiveness as an indicator of health (3) Courtships to assess the other’s health (4) Sexual selection: type of selection that creates male-female differences (a) 2 processes (i) Competition among members of one gender for mating access to members of the other gender (ii) Preferential choice by members of one gender for certain members of the other gender (5) Implications for sex (a) Strong sex drive: in order to produce more offspring (b) Men’s preference for polygamy vs. women’s preference for monogamy: (i) Sperm are cheap: 200 million in one ejaculation (ii) Eggs are not cheap: 1 egg a month (c) Uncertainty of paternity (d) Female choice for fitness, resources, commitment to ensure offspring is taken care of c) Criticisms of sociobiology (1) It implies biological determinism (2) Outmoded version of evolutionary theory (a) Individual’s survival needs vs. survival of the group (3) The assumption that the central function of sex is reproduction 2. Evolutionary Psychology a) Psychological mechanisms are shaped by natural selection (Buss) b) Sexual strategies theory (Buss): long term mating strategies vs. short term mating strategies (1) Females (a) Long term: partner who is able and willing to provide resources for indefinite future (b) Short term: immediate resources, food or money (2) Males (a) May choose a sexually available female for a short term liaison, but not long term c) Criticisms (1) Studies show men and women are very similar in their mating preferences (2) Assumes that every characteristic that we observe must have some adaptive significance (3) Unclear if it can be applied to all societies B. Psychological Theories 1. Psychoanalytic theory (Freud) a) Libido: sex drive b) Concept of the unconscious

c) 3 parts of the personality (in order of development) (1) Id: pleasure principle (2) Ego: reality principle (3) Superego: idealism, conscious: sense of morality d) Erogenous zones: different body regions that are sexually sensitive (genitals, lips), libido in these regions e) Stages of sexual development (1) Oral (0-1): libido focused on mouth, sucking thumb, breast (2) Anal (1-2): libido focused on elimination, potty training (3) Phallic (3-6): (a) Boy: libido focused on penis, goes through Oedipal complex: falling in love with mother, fearful of father getting angry and cutting off penis→ identification with father (b) Girl: Electra complex: falling in love with father, not as fearful of mother→ never fully resolving the complex, issues with ego and superego (4) Latency (7-12): not as interested in sex (5) Genital (13/puberty- on): motivated for heterosexual sex f) Criticisms of theory (1) Concepts cannot be evaluated scientifically (a) Repression, defense act preventing certain information from becoming known, is untestable (2) Male centered theory that may cause harm to women (3) Theory was primarily based on his patients 2. Learning theory a) Classical conditioning (Pavlov) (1) US→ UR, add CS, eventually CS→ CR (a) Example: fetishes, masturbating and standing on furry rug b) Operant conditioning (Skinner) (1) Positive reinforcement: very useful (2) Punishment: not very useful in eliminating behavior (a) Kids masturbating→ punishment→ kids being sneaky c) Social learning theory= operant + imitation (1) Imitation: gender-stereotyped behavior, kids imitate same sex parent/ peers (2) Imitation + identification 3. Social exchange theory a) Uses the concept of reinforcement to explain stability and change in relationships between people (1) Maximize rewards and minimize costs b) People participate in relationships if they provide profitable outcomes

(1) Comparison level for alternatives (2) Equity: costs and benefits are equal on both sides c) Criticisms (1) Love is not about what you can get out of a relationship (2) Downplays other motivations such as altruism and martyrdom 4. Cognitive theory a) Perception and evaluation of events (1) What we think influences the way we feel b) Gender schema theory (Bem) (1) A cognitive structure comprising the set of attributes that we associate with males and females (2) Bem’s experiments (a) 5-6 year olds shown males/females doing stereotypical activities→ distorted the pictures by recalling females/males for doing the stereotypical activities C. Critical theories 1. Social constructionist approach: the way we think is a result of what we learn in our culture 2. Feminist theory a) Gender is a dimension of inequality (1) Power principle, ex: in jobs b) Importance of sexuality (1) Women’s sexuality has been repressed and depressed, but rarely expressed (a) Men make decisions for women, ex: abortion c) Gender roles and socialization: similar to social learning theory (1) Gender roles restrict females from certain activities and vice versa d) Intersectionality: approach that considers the consequences of multiple group memberships (1) Intersection of gender and ethnicity (a) Black woman vs. black man vs. white woman 3. Queer theory a) Challenges binaries (1) Sexual orientation binary (a) The assumption that people are heterosexual or homosexual (2) Gender binary (a) Classification of people into either male or female (b) Almost all science in this course assumes this gender binary b) Questions norms for behavior (1) Heteronormativity (a) The belief that heterosexuality is the only pattern of

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sexuality that is normal and natural D. Sociological perspectives 1. Symbolic interaction theory a) Human nature and the social order are products of communication among people (1) A person’s behavior is constructed through interactions with others (2) Views people as goal seeking and proactive b) Definition of the situation must be developed c) Process of role taking (1) Imagining how one looks from another’s standpoint 2. Sexual scripts a) Sexual behavior is a result of prior learning that teaches us an etiquette of sexual behavior (1) Culturally defined 3. Sexual fields a) A site populated with people with erotic dispositions that they project on the space and each other, creating a system of sexual stratification (1) Most interactions that lead to sex begin in a sexual field 4. Social institutions a) Three basic assumptions (1) Every society regulates the sexuality of its members (2) The appropriateness of a particular sexual behavior depends on the institutional context within which it occurs (3) Basic institutions of society affect the rules governing sexuality in that society Sex Research (chp. 3) A. Measuring sex 1. Self reports a) Questionnaires b) Interviews c) Online 2. Behavioral measures a) Direct observation b) Eye-tracking c) Police reports 3. Implicit measures a) Implicit Association Test (IAT) (1) Measures an individual’s relative strength of association between two concepts (a) Reaction time is key (b) Individual can’t hide socially unacceptable stereotyped ideas 4. Biological measures

a) Genital measures: assess arousal by using devices that measure erection in males and vaginal changes in females (1) Penile strain gauge (2) Photoplesmography (in the vagina) b) MRI and fMRI in sex research (1) MRI looks at anatomy (size/shape of brain regions or genitals) (a) Noninvasive way to look at brain (b) Provides good contrast between different soft tissue (2) fMRI looks at brain activity (relative levels of blood flow) (a) Limitations: person must be lying down, depends on contrasting difference b/w two stimuli c) Pupil dilation measures B. Issues in sex research 1. Sampling a) Population: a group of people research wants to study and make inferences about b) Sample is taken from population: a part of the population, it is a challenge… (1) Random sampling: each member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample (2) Probability sampling: each member of the population has a known chance of being included in the sample c) 3 stages of sampling (1) Population is identified (2) Method for obtaining sample chosen (3) People in sample are asked to participate (a) When the people chosen do not agree to participate→ problem of refusal or nonresponse: makes it difficult to study a random sample (b) As a result, researcher is studying volunteers→ outcome leads to volunteer bias (i)

Convenience sample: a sample chosen in a haphazard manner relative to the population of interest. Not a random or probability sample 2. Accuracy of measurement (self-reports) a) Purposeful distortion: purposefully giving false information in a survey (1) People may exaggerate their sexual activity: enlargement (2) People may minimize their sexual activity: concealment b) Memory: people may have a hard time recalling things from past (1) Overcome by using daily diaries c) Difficulty with estimates (1) Time 3. Ways to make self-reports better

a) Increase anonymity b) Evidence on the reliability of self-reports (1) Test-retest reliability: method for testing whether self-reports are accurate/reliable. Participants interviewed and interviewed a second time later to determine whether their answers are the same both times (2) Computer-assisted self interview (CASI): method of data collection in which respondent fills out questionnaires on a computer (a) Gives more honest results c) Accuracy of behavioral observations (1) Direct observations > self reports b/c they are accurate (2) But direct has problems too… (a) Expensive and time consuming (b) Sampling is more difficult 4. Extraneous factors a) Age, gender or race of interviewer may impact respondent’s answers (1) Wording of question and gender of interviewer 5. Ethical issues a) Informed consent: people have right to be informed before participating what they will be asked to do in the research b) Protection from harm: minimize the amount of physical and physiological stress to people in research (1) Anonymity of response helps to ensure this c) Justice principle: risks of participation should be distributed fairly across groups in society as should the benefits (1) Ex: testing birth control on poor people in Puerto Rico, but not on wealthy people in New York (2) Costs and benefits equally d) Cost-benefit approach: weighing costs of research against the benefits of research (1) Masters and Johnson C. The major sex surveys 1. Kinsey report a) Interviewed 5,300 males and responses were recorded in Sexual Behavior in Human Male (1948) b) 1953: Sexual Behavior in Human Female c) His interviewing techniques were very successful in minimizing purposeful distortions, but sampling was haphazard d) Accuracy: some statistics may be accurate, some may contain serious errors→ may be due to sampling overestimates (1) Doubtful figure is the high incidence of homosexuality 2. NHSLS a) Probability sampling of households in US, aged 18-59 (limitation b/c no

older people) b) 79% response rate c) Data obtained in face to face interviews with written questionnaires 3. NSSHB a) Probability sampling by random phone numbers/addresses from postal service, ages 14-94 (parents gave consent for their kids→ 62% agreed) (1) Ethnic diversity included in this survey (2) Adolescent sample b) Survey completed on internet→ anonymity c) 50% response rate d) Bigger sample size than NHSLS 4. Sexual behavior in Britain and Australia a) Britain conducts sex survey every 10 years: Natsal (1) Excellent sampling methods (probability sampling: addresses within postal codes), 58% response rate, interviews but on computers, urine tests for STIs b) Australia: ASHR (1) Computer assisted telephone interviews, 66% response rate, ages 20,000 men and women aged 16-69 5. Survey of Latino women a) SALAS: sexual assault among latinas b) 31% response rate, all interviewers were women, results indicated 17% of respondents have been sexually assaulted 6. Magazine surveys a) Poor in quality b/c sample is generally seriously biased D. Studies of special populations 1. Coxon study of gay men a) Sampling (1) First defined population not as gay men, but men who have sex with men (2) Divided population into two groups (a) Relatively more “out”: through gay bars, gay activist organizations, etc. (b) Hidden: used first group respondents to nominate the hidden group (i) Snowball sampling/ respondent-driven sampling: existing participants suggest names of future participants to be recruited b) Accuracy of self reports (1) Daily diary method E. Web-based surveys 1. Can recruit larger samples at low cost 2. Access to hidden populations, recruited through speciality websites

3. Advantages for studying special populations defined by their sexual behavior a) Homosexuals 4. Doesn’t address issues of self reports, but eliminates extraneous influences 5. Weakness a) Lose control of sampling F. Media content analysis 1. Content analysis: set of procedures used to make valid inferences about text (media). Issues include… a) Sampling: need to define population b) Create coding protocol (1) First define recording unit (word, sentence, text?) (2) Define coding categories (what counts as sex?) c) Intercoder reliability: correlation or percent of agreement between two coders independently rating the same texts (1) To determine reliability of coding (2) Correlation is 1.0 if two coders agree exactly G. Qualitative methods 1. Results conveyed in words rather than numbers, seeks to understand people in their natural environment and seeks a complete picture of participants and their context 2. Ethnography: research method that aims to provide a complete probing description of a human society, social setting, etc. 3. Differences b/w quantitative and qualitative a) Not random or probability samples, typically small samples b) More exploratory and focus on generating hypotheses (rather than testing) 4. Participant-observer technique: scientist becomes part of the community to be studied and makes observations from inside community a) S/M parties (Charles Moser) H. All above studies 1. Correlational studies: studies naturally occurring relationships among variables a) Cannot tell causation I. Experiments 1. Research in which one variable (IV) is manipulated by experimenter while all other factors are held constant (control) a) Can then study the effects of the IV on the DV (1) IV: 2+ groups, random assignment of people to groups (2) DV: measured outcome variable 2. Only research design that has causal influences (IV affects DV) 3. EX: discrimination against gays a) Stimuli: undergrads (8 male 8 female) entered 84 stores and posed as job applicants (1) Half wore Texan and proud hat (2) Half wore gay and proud hat

b) IV: gay vs. texan (control) → two group design

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c) DV: formal and informal discrimination (1) Formal: giving permission to complete application (2) Informal: number of words spoken to applicant d) Results: no difference in formal discrimination, but more words spoken to Texan on average (257) than to gay (169) (1) Being visibly gay causes people to behave differently in ways that reflect subtle discrimination J. Meta-analysis 1. Method that allows researchers to combine results of all prior studies of a particular question to see what, taken together, they say 2. We learn: whether there is an effect, whether it replicates across many studies, how big it is a) Gold standard for conclusions in science 3. 3 steps a) Researcher locates all previous studies on the question being investigated b) Researcher measures difference between males and females and the direction of the difference, for every study c) Averages all values ^ K. Statistical concepts 1. Average a) Mean: average of respondent’s scores b) Median: middle score, splits the sample in half 2. Variability a) Even with the same mean, the scores can be spread out more in one study 3. Average versus normal a) Not the same thing! b) So much variability in sexuality 4. Incidence versus frequency a) Incidence: percentage of people who have engaged in a certain behavior b) Frequency: how often people do something Sexual Anatomy (chp. 4) A. Female sexual organs: External organs 1. Vulva: entirety of external area (clitoris, mons pubis, inner lips, outer lips, vaginal opening) 2. Clitoris: the only exclusively sexual organ in the body, higher concentration of nerve endings a) Homologous to penis b) Composed of (1) Tip (glans): knob of external tissue in front of vaginal and urethra opening (2) Shaft consisting of two corpora cavernosa: spongy bodies similar to those in penis (a) Fills with blood w...