Chapter 2: Theoretical Perspectives on Sexuality Flashcards
Define Sociobiology?
the application of evolutionary biology to understand social behaviours of animals and humans
Define Evolution
all living things have their present form because of gradual changes in their genetics due to successive generations
Define Natural selection
a process where greater rates of survival are of those plants and animals that are able to adapt to their environment - able to survive, reproduce and pass on their genes
what are two obstacles of reproductive success
- maternal death
2. infant vulnerability
What facilitates reproductive success?
- pair bonding (emotional bonding between mother and father)
- attachment between infant and parent
What is sexual selection?
selection that results from differences in traits affecting access to mates
what are the two processes of natural selection?
- competition among members of one gender for mating access to the other gender
- preferential choice by members of one gender (female) for the other gender
what is evolutionary psychology?
the study of the psychology of the mind that have been shaped by natural selection
what is sexual strategies?
behaviours designed to solve problems in short or long term mating e.g. choosing a mans resources in selecting a husband for long term mating strategies
what is psychoanalytic theory?
by Sigmund freud it the basic assumption that part of the human personality is unconscious.
what three parts does freud say human personality is divided into?
id, ego and superego
what does freud say libido mean?
sex drive or sex energy
what does id mean?
part of the personality that contains the libido and the pleasure (pleasure seeking)
what does ego mean?
personality that helps person have realistic or rational interactions (reality principle)
what does superego mean?
personality that contains the conscious, meaning it contains values and ideals from society that we learn.
what is are erogenous zones?
part of the skin that is extremely sensitive to stimulation.
what are the five stages of psychosexual development?
- oral stage
- anal stage
- phallic stage
- latency stage
- Genital stage
what is the oral stage?
sucking or stimulation of the mouth
what is the anal stage?
focused on elimination
what is the phallic stage?
interested in genital area - pleasure from masturbation
what is the latency stage?
sexual urges become repressed or in a inactive state
what is the genital stage?
sexual urges become more specifically genital and the oral, anal and genital urges all fuse together and promote the biological function of reproduction
what is the Oedipus complex?
sexual attraction of a little boy for his mother
what is the female Oedipus complex?
sexual attraction of a little girl to his father and feeling penis envy later - shifting her focus from mother to father
what are the criticism of psychoanalytic theory?
- cannot be evaluated by science to see whether it is accurate
- theory provides a view not of human personalities but of disturbances in the human personality
- male cantered theory
what is repression, the key to psychoanalytic theory?
a defensive act preventing people from remaining aware of certain information or motivated forgetting (happens in the frontal lobes)
Define learning theory?
how sexual behaviour is learned and modified through reinforcement and punishment according to operant conditioning
Define classical conditioning?
process of learning where a neutral stimulus (conditioned; learned stimulus) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned (not influenced by learning) stimulus that gets a unconditioned response (not influenced by learning). Eventually the neutral stimulus will become the conditioned stimulus and will evoke a response.
Define operant conditioning?
changing behaviour by following with positive reinforcement or punishment
What is psychoanalytic theory?
basic assumption of human personality is unconsious - unconscious desires drive personlity
what are two factors of social learning theory? what do they mean?
- imitation (imitating personality or behaviours they see from media or someone)
- identification (identifying with someone such as a mother and learning characteristics of the female role by identifying with her)
what is social exchange theory?
theory that assumes people will chose their actions that maximize rewards and minimize costs when we act with others
what is cognitive theory?
theory of the way we think
define schema
general framework about something that organizes and guides perception, it can help us remember and distort memory that is inconsistent with the schema (stereo-type inconsistent)
what is gender schema?
a set of attributes or framework we have that is associated with makes and females
what are the four statements of facts of feminist theory?
- gender as status and inequality - gender signals status in culture
- sexuality - women’s sexuality has been repressed and rarely expressed such as sexual assault, aborting birth control, sexual harassment on the job
- gender roles and socialization - gender roles tell individuals what they can and cannot do it is a social learning theory
- intersectionality - an approach that says we should at the same time consider a person’t identities such as race, social class and sexual orientation
What is queer theory?
about sexual orientation and It also means “odd”
what does queer theory argue and question?
questions gender binary that operates people into male and female and that social norms privilege heterosexuality and marginalize other sexual orientation
