Lecture 14: Sexuality Part 1

Question 1

4 broad themes for why people have sex

Answer 1

physical, emotional, goal attainment, insecurity

Question 2

Why do we have sex? study

Answer 2

• Meston & Buss, 2007: “Please list all the reasons you can think of why you, or someone you know, has engaged in sexual intercourse in the past.”
• 443 participants -> generated 237 distinct reasons
• Identified 4 broad themes with 13 subfactors

Question 3

1 reason for why people have sex

Answer 3

I was attracted to the person (both men & women)

Question 4

Most frequently endorsed reasons for having sex

Answer 4

attraction, pressure, affection, love, adventure, desire to please, opportunity, celebration

Question 5

Least frequently endorsed reasons for having sex

Answer 5

• Retaliation, manipulation, desire to enhance one’s social status, desire to inflict harm
• Less frequent but potentially damaging

Question 6

gender similarities in sexuality

Answer 6

• Men & women were remarkably similar in most frequently endorsed reasons
• Not a lot of evidence that women are more likely to endorse emotional reasons

Question 7

gender differences in sexuality

Answer 7

• Men report higher frequencies for the majority of individual items and subfactors. They endorse more reasons centring on physical appearance of partner, experience-seeking, opportunity, enhancement of social status
• Evidence that men have stronger sex drives (strength of sexual motivation)
• Evidence that women exhibit greater relational focus when it comes to sex

Question 8

sex drives by gender

Answer 8

• Gap gets bigger after having children & menopause
• More spontaneous thoughts about sex, greater frequency, and variety of sexual fantasies, greater desired frequency of intercourse and desired number of partners
• More likely to succumb to sexual temptation (infidelity, mate poaching)
• More willing to incur costs to have sex
• Engage in more masturbation, casual sex, and pornography use
• Hold more permissive sex attitudes (except same-sex behaviour)

Question 9

relational focus by gender

Answer 9

• Women prefer sex within the ongoing, committed relationships
• Men express more desire for extradyadic sex
• Women’s fantasies are more likely to include familiar partner, affection and commitment, while men’s fantasies are more likely to include strangers & anonymous partners
• But, men feel happier with their sexual experiences when they’re happy with their relationship and when their partner is enjoying themselves

Question 10

Sociosexual orientation

Answer 10

measure of individual differences in sexual strategies; the extent to which individuals are restrictive or permissive in their attitudes towards casual sex

Question 11

Low SO (restricted)

Answer 11

• Tend toward long-term mating strategies
• Insist on commitment and closeness in a relationship prior to engaging in sex with a romantic partner
• Fewer sexual partners & one-night stands

Question 12

high SO (unrestricted)

Answer 12

• Tend toward short-term mating strategies
• Feel comfortable with sex without commitment or closeness
• More sexual partners & one-night standard
• Endorse more reasons for having sex (with the exception of love and commitment)

Question 13

gender & SOI

Answer 13

• On average, men are higher on SOI
• But, there’s much more variability within each gender than between the genders
• Gender differences account for only 9% of variance in number of desired sex partners, 20% of variance in consenting to sex with attractive acquaintance, 25% of variance in casual sex
• Approximately 30% of US men have less favourable attitudes towards casual sex than the median US woman

Question 14

evolutionary explanations for gender differences in sexuality

Answer 14

• There is asymmetry in minimal parental investment
• Women may increase their reproductive success by being choosier, selecting mates that will provide resources, care, and protection
• Men may increase reproductive success by pursuing multiple mating opportunities

Question 15

social roles theory for gender differences in sexuality

Answer 15

• Traditional view of men as initiators and women as gate-keepers
• Changing, but stigma against sexual permissive women still exists

Question 16

sexual double standard

Answer 16

• Harsher judgment of women (relative to men) for engaging in similar sexual activity
• Women are socialized to restrict feelings of sexual desire to the context of committed, intimate relationships

Question 17

“would you go to bed with me?” study

Answer 17

• Male & female confederates approached students on campus
• 75% of men and 0% of women accepted the offer

Question 18

recent replication of the “would you go to bed with me?” study

Answer 18

• Participants were asked to imagine that they were approached with an offer for casual sex
• Women were less likely to accept the offer
• Women also anticipated that they would be seen as more promiscuous, socially inappropriate, desperate, and less intelligent if they accepted the offer
• This perceived negative stigma inhibited their receptiveness (mediation)

Question 19

Were the women right to expect negative judgment?

Answer 19

In a separate study, participants rated a woman accepting an offer of casual sex more negatively than a man accepting the same offer

Question 20

concerns with men’s responses to casual sex

Answer 20

They were concerned about what would happen if they rejected the offer?

Question 21

casual sex and safety

Answer 21

• Women believe a male proposer is more dangerous compared to how men view a female proposer
• Bisexual women were more likely to accept offer from a woman
• Gender gap decreases when the proposed casual sex partner is familiar

Question 22

experience of pleasure in casual sex

Answer 22

• The gender gap disappears when the proposed casual sex partner is very attractive or believed to be sexually skillful
• This suggests that a key consideration is the expectation of pleasure
• Women orgasm 35% as often as men in first-time casual sex encounters

Question 23

sexual behavioural system

Answer 23

• Innate: basic operation does not rely on socialization
• Individual differences in sexual motives, emotions, behaviours reflect variations in functioning of the system
• Function (evolutionary purpose): passing on genes to the next generation
• But proximal cause (immediate cause for having sex) isn’t necessarily the same as evolutionary function

Question 24

sex vs. attachment

Answer 24

• Sexual system is separate from the attachment system
• Can mate without bonding and bond without mating
• Sexual orientation toward same-same or other sex partners does not need to correspond with romantic attachment to same-sex or other-sex partners
• Asexual individuals can still develop attachment toward romantic partner
• Sexual desire can motivate & promote the attachment bonding process
• Most sex occurs in the context of ongoing romantic relationships

Question 25

evolutionary view of sex and attachment

Answer 25

- Evolutionary view: - Big brains + bipedalism = serious adaptive problem - Solution: soft headed, helpless babies - New problem: how to keep soft headed, helpless babies alive? - Solution: biparental caregiving & bonding between sexual partners - Can help understand the somewhat unique sexual tendencies of humans - Missionary position promotes intimate face-to-face contact - Sleeping together after sex - Sex throughout the menstrual cycle

Question 26

growing intimacy study

Answer 26

- Had individuals watch an erotic video or a video about cats - There was more intimate self-disclosure after watching erotic video

Question 27

growing intimacy subsequent study

Answer 27

also more responsive towards a partner discussing an interpersonal dilemma

Question 28

growing intimacy studies takeaway

Answer 28

activation of sexual system promotes self-disclosure & responsiveness, which plays a key role in the development of intimacy

Question 29

strengthening pair bonds study

Answer 29

When subliminally primed with erotic cues, - More willingness to sacrifice for one’s partner - More preference for using positive conflict resolution strategies - More desire to do something to make partner happy

Question 30

reliving positive sexual encounters study

Answer 30

After reliving positive sexual encounter with partner, more enacted responsiveness during live interaction with partner

Question 31

relationship stage model of sexual desire

Answer 31

- Across different relationship stages (initial awareness -> early contact -> growing interdependence -> established relationships), sexual desire motivates expenditure of effort towards deepening & maintaining the relationship - May be particularly potent in early stages, but serve a protective role whenever there is adversity or vulnerability - Sexual desire also makes it difficult to detach if the relationship is terminated

Question 32

compensation for realtionship vulnerabilities

Answer 32

Relationship stage model predicts that sexual desire may be especially important to relationship persistence for couples facing different types of vulnerability in relationship

Question 33

neuroticism

Answer 33

tendency to experience negative affect

Question 34

compensating for neuroticism in relationships

Answer 34

- Generally linked to more negative interpersonal perceptions & experiences, lower relationship satisfaction, and greater likelihood of divorce - While related to lower marital satisfaction on average, unrelated when couples engage in frequent sex - See similar buffering effects of attachment insecurity

Question 35

Why does romantic conflict sometimes increase sexual desire?

Answer 35

- Relationship threat -> attachment system activation, seeking of reassurance and closeness - Relationship threat prime increases interest in sex with partner

Question 36

Caveats of make-up sex

Answer 36

- Individual differences (ex. Avoidantly attached individuals are less likely to desire partner following threat) - More effective when conflict is successfully resolved - Consistent conflict and feelings of threat/insecurity can damage relationship over time

Question 37

sexual satisfaction

Answer 37

evaluation of the quality of the sexual aspect of an intimate relationship

Question 38

sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction

Answer 38

Consistently associated with overall relationship satisfaction in both dating & married couples, same-sex, and different-sex couples, young, and old couples

Question 39

longitudinal sexual satisfaction research in newlyweds

Answer 39

- Bidirectional association during the first few years of marriage - Relationship satisfaction -> less decline in sexual satisfaction - Sexual satisfaction -> less decline in relationship satisfaction - True for men and women

Question 40

longitudinal sexual satisfaction research in long-term relationships

Answer 40

- Early sexual satisfaction predicts later sexual satisfaction - Early relationship satisfaction predicts later relationship satisfaction - Early sexual satisfaction predicts later relationship satisfaction