Midterm – Lecture Flashcards
What are the 4 challenges of conducting human sexuality research?
- honesty
- representative samples
- bias in design (study design, data collection, interpretation of results)
- consent
Why is ‘honesty’ a challenge of conducting human sexuality research?
- asking someone to share their sexuality (innermost feelings and attitudes) is very intimate
- even if the research is anonymous and participants are not sharing their information with anyone in particular (ie. completing an anonymous online survey), most people wonder if someone will be able to connect their responses back to them
- socially desirable responding
What is socially desirable responding?
when participants tell you what they think you want to hear instead of what is actually accurate and true about themselves
- ie. men are likely to inflate their number of sexual partners, while women are likely to deflate their number of sexual partners, to fit in with societal expectations
Why are ‘representative samples’ a challenge of conducting human sexuality research?
typically find that people who are likely to participate in sex research are in no way random nor representative, and therefore biased
- most researchers prefer random representative samples in any kind of social science research
Who is more likely to participate in sex research? (3)
younger, more liberal sexual values, and sexually experienced
Who is less likely to participate in sex research?
- older, more conservative sexual values – these people often uncomfortable talking about sex
- sexually inexperienced – these people are not necessarily uncomfortable talking about sex, but rather they feel like they don’t have anything to contribute since they’ve never done it
What is the most common sample for sex research? Why?
university students – not representative
- typically younger, Caucasian, and middle or upper class
- most researchers are at universities
- students are a captive audience in class – easy to enter classrooms and distribute a survey, especially if extra credit is offered
Why is ‘bias in design’ a challenge of conducting human sexuality research?
- heteronormativity – focus of research is on heterosexual couples, and questions focus on penile-vaginal sexual activity
- cisgender – focus of research is on participants who are clearly female or male
Why is ‘consent’ a challenge of conducting human sexuality research?
challenging to gain parents’ consent to do research with minors
- parents are not interested in (and think it is inappropriate) letting their children talk with a stranger about sex, even if it is a teenager who is sexually active
- but finding out what pre-teens and teens are doing and thinking regarding sexuality is a very important area of study – most of what we know about their sexuality is from larger studies conducted in public schools that ask them about many timely adolescent issues (ie. smoking, drinking, drugs, bullying, suicide, school achievement, self-esteem, body image, and sexuality)
What are the 4 types of barriers to successfully implementing SHE programs?
- institutional barriers
- school principals
- teachers
- public opinion (parents)
What are the 3 types of institutional barriers to successfully implementing SHE programs?
- federal government
- provincial/territorial governments
- school boards
How does the federal government act as a barrier to successfully implementing SHE programs?
it does not necessarily get in the way, but is completely unhelpful because they do not provide guidelines
- considered a barrier because they provide no guidance at all as to what even school boards should do, which makes it difficult to implement a program
How do provincial/territorial governments act as a barrier to successfully implementing SHE programs?
they do not necessarily get in the way, but is completely unhelpful because they do not provide guidelines
- exception: Ontario requires a certain level of comprehensive sex education
- considered a barrier because they provide no guidance at all as to what even school boards should do, making it difficult to implement a program
How does the school board act as a barrier to successfully implementing SHE programs?
decides the type of sex education that occurs in all (usually public) schools in a particular region
- can pick an abstinence program if they want
How do school principals act as a barrier to successfully implementing SHE programs?
principals virtually have no power – can get fired if they go against the school board’s decision
HOWEVER, they can be a barrier if they do not feel the program is appropriate
- ie. if the school board wants a comprehensive program but the principal is very conservative, the principal may go along with the comprehensive program but tell the teacher to cover additional topics superficially
- ie. tell students to ask their parents if they have questions about certain topics
How do teachers act as a barrier to successfully implementing SHE programs?
- often not well-trained and have no idea how to teach sex education – especially K-5 teachers
- can teach a health class, but choose to not cover certain topics because they are not trained, they feel embarrassed, or they feel like it’s inappropriate
- will tell students to ask their parents when they do not want to answer questions
How does public opinion (parents) act as a barrier to successfully implementing SHE programs?
- almost always parents, but can also be conservative groups – ie. One Million March for Children (very anti-LGBTQ+ education in K-12 schools)
- 80-85% of parents want schools to teach their children sex education because they don’t want to do it themselves, but they never go to the school board –silent majority
- school board only hears from parents who don’t like the programs and think that it is not good for their children – vocal minority
- therefore school boards make their decision based on the vocal minority
How are heterosexual and same-sex/gender couples similar? (4)
there are no differences in terms of:
- how they interact with each other
- how they make decisions
- how they divide chores
- how they express physical and emotional intimacy, etc.
In what two areas do heterosexual and same-sex/gender couples differ?
- sexual behaviour
- conflict behaviour
How do heterosexual and same-sex/gender couples differ in sexual behaviour?
- frequency of genital contact: gay > heterosexual > lesbian
- this can be explained using the sexual double standard – two men together will involve a lot more initiation
What is the sexual double standard?
one standard for how men are supposed to behave, and a different standard for how women are supposed to behave (heternormative)
- suggests that men should be initiators, while women should not
- suggests that men are supposed to be more desirous of physical intimacy, while women are supposed to be more desirous of emotional intimacy
How do heterosexual and same-sex/gender couples differ in conflict behaviour? (3)
three different things that same-sex couples do:
- have a tendency to be more forgiving and take things less personally
- are more upbeat and positive and joking around when fighting
- get less physiologically aroused – ie. heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature
Why is it more challenging for lesbian and gay couples to adopt children?
- surrounded by idea that they would not make good parents
- fear that homosexual couples would make their children homosexual – BUT this is NOT true
What strengths do children with two moms have that surpass children with heterosexual parents? (4)
- more desire to be a mom and have children – moms are more likely to have kids than dads
- spend more time with children
- consider more things before becoming parents – heterosexual couples can make conscious decisions to become parents, but they do not necessarily make conscious decisions to get pregnant
- use more effective parenting techniques – part of conscious decision to become parents may involve reading parenting books, taking parent education course
How are children with two dads in comparison to children with a heterosexual dad?
better off in comparison with heterosexual dads:
- parent more like two moms, and less like a heterosexual dad
- behave more like a lesbian mom than a heterosexual dad
- less likely to be abusive – hardly ever spank their children
How are children of same gender-oriented parents similar to heterosexual parents? (4)
basic well-being
- psychological adjustment
- peer relationships
- emotion management
- levels of anxiety/depression/suicide
What are the advantages for children of same gender-oriented parents compared to heterosexual parents?
more likely to consider that they might not be heterosexual and explore their sexual orientation and gender identity
- usually determine they are heterosexual – but they are at least open to possibilities
- this also makes them open to other people who are considering their sexual orientation and gender identity (ie. be friends with LGBTQ+ individuals)
- most children with heterosexual parents are likely to assume they are heterosexual by default, and not explore their sex or gender identity
less likely to follow traditional gender role behaviour because they do not see this behaviour between two moms or two dads
- household chores, breadwinner-caretaker situation
- more androgenous, therefore more likely to be more flexible and do a larger variety of tasks, and be happier, healthier, and function better in the workforce and the relationship
- do not expect these roles in relationships
- do not expect people to behave in gendered ways – and majority of these children are heterosexual
What are the disadvantages for children of same gender-oriented parents compared to heterosexual parents?
they are disadvantaged not because the parents are not heterosexual, but because the outside world does not like that the parents are not heterosexual
- more likely to face discrimination and bullying
What are the 3 types of alternative forms of prenatal sexual differentiation (intersex)?
- gene exceptionalities
- chromosomal exceptionalities
- hormonal exceptionalities
What are the 2 types of gene exceptionalities?
- X chromosome – SRY gene is present (but should not be)
- Y chromosome – SRY gene is silent or lost