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PSYC 474 > Lecture 14: Sexuality Part 1 > Flashcards

Lecture 14: Sexuality Part 1 Flashcards

1
Q

4 broad themes for why people have sex

A

physical, emotional, goal attainment, insecurity

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2
Q

Why do we have sex? study

A
  • 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
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3
Q

1 reason for why people have sex

A

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

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4
Q

Most frequently endorsed reasons for having sex

A

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

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5
Q

Least frequently endorsed reasons for having sex

A
  • Retaliation, manipulation, desire to enhance one’s social status, desire to inflict harm
  • Less frequent but potentially damaging
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6
Q

gender similarities in sexuality

A
  • Men & women were remarkably similar in most frequently endorsed reasons
  • Not a lot of evidence that women are more likely to endorse emotional reasons
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7
Q

gender differences in sexuality

A
  • 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
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8
Q

sex drives by gender

A
  • 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)
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9
Q

relational focus by gender

A
  • 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
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10
Q

Sociosexual orientation

A

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

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11
Q

Low SO (restricted)

A
  • 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
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12
Q

high SO (unrestricted)

A
  • 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)
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13
Q

gender & SOI

A
  • 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
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14
Q

evolutionary explanations for gender differences in sexuality

A
  • 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
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15
Q

social roles theory for gender differences in sexuality

A
  • Traditional view of men as initiators and women as gate-keepers
  • Changing, but stigma against sexual permissive women still exists
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16
Q

sexual double standard

A
  • 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
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17
Q

“would you go to bed with me?” study

A
  • Male & female confederates approached students on campus
  • 75% of men and 0% of women accepted the offer
18
Q

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

A
  • 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)
19
Q

Were the women right to expect negative judgment?

A

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

20
Q

concerns with men’s responses to casual sex

A

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

21
Q

casual sex and safety

A
  • 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
22
Q

experience of pleasure in casual sex

A
  • 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
23
Q

sexual behavioural system

A
  • 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
24
Q

sex & attachment

A
  • 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
25
Q

evolutionary view of sex and attachment

A
  • 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
26
Q

growing intimacy study

A
  • Had individuals watch an erotic video or a video about cats
  • There was more intimate self-disclosure after watching erotic video
27
Q

growing intimacy subsequent study

A

also more responsive towards a partner discussing an interpersonal dilemma

28
Q

growing intimacy studies takeaway

A

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

29
Q

strengtheing pair bonds

A

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

30
Q

strengthening pair bonds study

A

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

31
Q

relationship stage model of sexual desire

A
  • 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
32
Q

compensation for realtionship vulnerabilities

A

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

33
Q

neuroticism

A

tendency to experience negative affect

34
Q

compensating for neuroticism in relationships

A
  • 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
35
Q

Why does romantic conflict sometimes increase sexual desire?

A
  • Relationship threat -> attachment system activation, seeking of reassurance and closeness
  • Relationship threat prime increases interest in sex with partner
36
Q

Caveats of make-up sex

A
  • 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
37
Q

sexual satisfaction

A

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

38
Q

sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction

A

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

39
Q

longitudinal sexual satisfaction research in newlyweds

A
  • 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
40
Q

longitudinal sexual satisfaction research in long-term relationships

A
  • Early sexual satisfaction predicts later sexual satisfaction
  • Early relationship satisfaction predicts later relationship satisfaction
  • Early sexual satisfaction predicts later relationship satisfaction

PSYC 474 (27 decks)

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