Chapter 2 - Theoretical perspectives on sexuality Flashcards
What are the evolutionary theories of sexuality? (+ who developed them)
Sociobiology (E.O. Wilson)
Evolutionary Psychology (Buss)
Gender-Neutral Evolutionary Psychology (Gowaty)
What are the psychological theories of sexuality? (+ who developed them)
Psychoanalysis (Freud)
Learning Theory (Skinner)
Social Learning (Bandura)
Social exchange theory (Cook & Rice)
Cognitive Theory (Beck)
Gender Schema Theory (Bem)
What are the critical theories of sexuality? (+ who developed them)
Constructionist (Thomas Kuhn)
- Feminist Theory
- Perfomativity
- Symbolic interaction Theory
- Queer Theory
What are the sociological theories of sexuality?
Sexual Scripts
Social Institutions
What is sociobiology?
Some social and individual behaviours are partly inherited & affected by natural selection (genes)
Just like animals in the wild.
Courtship - prowess
Selection of healthy mates
pair bonding & attachment - (things that increase child survival)
males compete, females select
*Ignores cultural influences
What is Evolutionary psychology?
Psychological mechanisms are evolutionary. (mental dispositions change, not genes)
Just like sociobiology but:
- Motives change for short VS Long term relationships
- gender/personality differences (women more likely to compete/degrade among themselves)
Comparisons to ancient civilizations suggest that the psychological mechanisms involved in choosing mate change through time (aka, evolved to accommodate to environment)
What is gender-neutral evolutionary psychology?
Like evolutionary psychology but men will look for in women what women look for in men etc.
What is psychoanalytic theory?
Parts of the human personality is unconscious (ID, Ego, Superego) And that these aspects are what decides sexual partners.
^ motivated by Libido: sex energy/sex drive
- Endogenous zones
- Psychosexual stages of development
determinants of sexual preferences are made during childhood
What are endogenous zones?
part of skin or mucous membrane extremely sensitive to stimulation (fondling of which leads to pleasure)
ex. lips, mouth, genitals, rectum, anus…
What are the psychosexual stages of development
Oral (0-2)
Anal (2-3)
Phallic (3-7) - discover gender identity (oedipus and Electra complex: wanting to be with own mother/father respectively)
Latency (7-11)
Genital (11-adulthood)
Criticisms of the psychoanalytic theory
Can not be empirically researched (it’s all theoretical understandings of cognitive processes)
The data was mostly collected from Freud’s patients (therefore probably more descriptive of discrepancies than the general public)
did not put enough emphasis on environment and learning
What is learning theory?
Adds onto the idea that a lot of sexual behaviour is biologically controlled.
Classical conditioning of preferences and fetishes (if you have positive sexual experiences while smelling a cologne you may grow to get horny when you smell it)
Operational conditioning (if women frequently experiences pain during sex they may want to have less sex)
- Liking habituates
- Wanting sensitizes
Sexual behaviour can be learned at any point in life.
What is social learning?
We learn through imitation of others (ex. most young girls will imitate their mothers at a young age)
Try romance techniques you observe and stop using if they don’t work.
All of this is motivated by self-efficacy (to get what you want, as sense of self-fulfillment)
What is social exchange theory?
Based on principle of reinforcement: ppl will choose actions that maximize rewards and minimize costs
We are hedonistic (want the most out of it) so we are trying to get the best deal
Equity (my input = my output)
Equality (we get equal benefit)
What are some criticisms of the social exchange theory?
there can be economic limitations (even if it’s unbalanced people might be economically obligated to remain together)
Does not take into consideration love (which could make a relationship work even if the exchanges are uneven)
What is the cognitive theory?
What we think influences how we feel (if we think positively the outcome is more likely to be positive. Ex. good relationship)
Dominant in modern clinical psych (thing erection anecdote from class) CBT
Thoughts, feelings, behaviour
Automatic thoughts
cognitive distortions
Core beliefs/schemas (coping responses)
What is the gender schema theory?
Explain gender-role development and the impact of gender on peoples daily lives and thinking
gender schema: cognitive structure comprising of the general attributes we associate with men and women.
(men work, women clean…)
What is the constructionist theory?
The idea that our understanding of behaviours are all social constructions (made up by society)
constructionist theories are more interested in how the groups are created than the consequences for the individuals within them.
What are the characteristics of the Feminist theory?(constructionist)
male gender = unequal status
Male gender = unequal power
Female sexuality = unexpressed (suppressed as a form of sexual oppression)
Intersectionality
- Sex
- Gender
- Orientations
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Class (wealth)
What are the characteristics of perfomativity / symbolic interaction theory? (constructionist)
That we should/want to abide by societally sanctioned roles (ex. Women should be primary care givers)
Human nature and social order and products of symbolic communication among people. (A persons behaviour is constructed through their interactions with others)
ex. If a woman invites another woman to her house for drinks are they socializing or going to engage in sexual activities? gotta know that before going.
What are characteristics of Queer theory? (constructionist)
Major contemporary theorizing about sexual orientation.
questions societies categorization of sexuality and gender and challenges binaries (ex. Man & women)
categories vs continua
intersex
bisexuality
transgender & non-binary
What are sexual scripts? (sociological)
Sexual behaviour is scripted kind of like how a play is. (culturally defined sequences)
Ex Meet at a party
- Party
- Drinking
- Flirting
- Talking
- Dancing
- Leave Together
- Sex
What are social institutions? (sociological)
- Ever society regulates sexuality of its members
- appropriateness of sexual behaviour depends on the institution
- Basic institutions of society (religion, economy, family, medicine, law) effect rules of sexuality in said society.
