PSYC 359 1st Edition Lecture 21Outline of Last Lecture I. Sexology—brief historyII. Attitudes about sexIII. Sexual orientationsOutline of Current Lecture I. Theories of human sexualityII. CybersexIII. Preventing Pregnancy and STIsIV. Sexual satisfactionV. Attachment style and sexVI. Sexual communicationVII. Sexual AggressionCurrent LectureTheories of Human Sexuality- Social constructionist Theoryo Based on the assumption that reality and experience are ultimately subjectiveo Truth is relative o Counter to positive way of thinking that is mostly used in science o Subjective reality o Margaret Mead One of first to tell us that human behavior is culturally relative Our beliefs about sexuality are essentially Eurocentric—sexual jealousy is not prevalent in Samoan cultureo It's not that they don’t concede something to biology, but they put emphasis on personal experience and culture- Feminist Sexologyo Same basic things of social constructivist theoryo That’s why men don’t understand women sexually…men/women are differento Relies on environmental influenceso Grew during Great Feminist Movement in 1970so They assert that general equality in all things are a product of constructionists - Evolutionary Theoryo Differential reproductive successo Great deal of behavior is hard-wiredo But they do believe there is room for environmental influences o Always room for learning o Belief is that natural selection guides humans to behave one way or anothero We’re not consciously aware of the decisions we make regarding sexuality and relationships- Psychoanalytic Theoryo Provides explanations regarding unconscious motivations and driveso Freud: humans are born bisexual and choose one gender - Social Exchange Theoryo Application of economic concepts o What does sex bring to lovers?  Rewards, pleasure attention Heartbreak, disease, unwanted pregnancies o Is sex a female resource? - Error management theory o Developed by Davis Buss (strong evolutionary roots)o Men seek to minimize the chances of missing on a sexual opportunity o Females seek to minimize the chances of engaging in the wrong sexual relationship - These theories frame the way we look at reality Cybersex - Pornographyo Only about 11% of population finds it offensive o Usually not related to negative behaviors unless it is violent o Most pornography does not depict women in dominant roles Doesn’t do much to promote positive role modeling- Sexual chato Often anonymous o Usually accompanied by masturbationo Men and women engage in it at equal rates o Could have negative effect on relationships- Intimates connections o Many people now have thiso Involves a lot of deep self disclosure online Some people are more likely to do this online and not face to facePreventing Pregnancy and STIs- Most college students have had sexual interactions with casual partners that last only one night- About half of these interactions involve intercourse or oral sex, and when intercourse occurs, condoms are used only half the time- They do it to avoid awkwardness- Getinonpronto.comSexual Satisfaction- Most people say they’re quite satisfied with their sex liveso People who have more sex are more satisfiedo Couples who are happy with their sex lives also tend to be happy with their relationships- Interdependency theory and sexual satisfaction- Sexual pleasure and well-being o The contrasting balance of potential pleasure on the one hand and deeply felt self-controls on the other gives rise to many problems of sexual healtho Many view it as a carnal actSexual Communication - Communicating desire- Sexual communication and satisfactiono Gays have better sex than heterosexuals because they understand sex better from the perspective of their partnero They talk o Role playingo Miscommunication Attachment Style and Sexual Experience - Measures of attachment related anxiety and avoidance, sexual coercion, and sexual experiences in their relationships- Avoidant attachment was related to two strategies for limiting intimacy in sexual relationships: avoidance of sexual encounters and avoidance of sexual fantasies about one’s partner- Anxious attachment appeared to interfere with comfortable intimacy, especially among men, who viewed their partner as avoiding sex and who applied more insistent pressure to have sex- The higher a woman and partner’s scores on avoidant attachment scale, the less often they had sex - More avoidant men reported having less sex if the partner was anxious - Tough one to follow….look at study online- This type of research can help therapists and counselors Sexual Aggression- Unwanted sexual experiences are very common- 13% of women and 3% of men have been victims of rape- 22% of women and 14% of men have been victims of sexual assault- Perpetrators underestimate the effect of their negative behavior - Our society has a thing where no sometimes means sex for women and that creates confusiono Encourages women to play hard-to-get- We need to train ourselves to be honest and talk about sex- Antioch college’s sexual consent policy o A way to ensure people communicate honestly about