Theoretical Perspectives Flashcards
When thinking theoretically, what can be placed on each end of the scale?
1: Biological determinism: body + brain (nature)
2. Social Constructivism: product of our environment, sexuality is learned, we are socialized (nurture)
What are the theoretical perspectives influenced by that guide that most modern-day research is based on?
- Eurocentric and Hegemonic values and assumptions
- W.E.I.R.D
Biological Perspectives
Looks at structures in the brain, genes, and hormones to explain behavior
ex: looking at nuclei in the brain to describe homosexuality
ex: pedophilia
what is another term for evolutionary psychology? Who is a famous figure for this position? What are some KEY terms?
Sociobiological Theory
Darwin - his theory of evolution is seen as a principal motivator of all human sexual behaviors
ex: natural selection, adaptive behaviors and adaptive traits for mate selection, reproductive success, genetic transmission
What are the male and female positions regarding the evolutionary perspectives?
Main Point: Want to choose a mate to maximize reproductive success
Men:
- impressed by physical looks and reproductive organs to bear children
- want to impregnate the most females possible and ejaculate quickly so they can have children before anyone else
Women:
- wants a man with money and resources
- want to find a man who will stay with her
What are some examples of hypotheses related to evolutionary psychology and sexuality?
- Hypothesis: men cheat more than women: their reproductive success is about getting in, ejaculating, and getting out as soon as possible before the other ones get there…. The more women you impregnate = the more offspring survives
- Looking at females ovulation cycles: try to pair it with sexual desire -> more sex + horny during ovulation cycle
- Women who live together sync cycles
- Infanticide: step-fathers are more likely to kill the children who aren’t theirs
What is the Avuncular Theory?
Gay rich uncle will provide his resources (sperm) to his nieces and nephews so they can have many children
This explains the function of sexuality in evolutionary perspectives
Gender-Neutral Evolutionary Theory
It is most adaptive for individuals to be flexible in their behaviors… like depending on the environment
ex: Flexible mating strategy: selections for hookups and selections for long-term will be different
Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud!
Libido: Sex drive
id (unconscious), ego (reality), superego (idealism/morality)
oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital
Phallic stage importance: Oedipus Complex (boys vs. girls)
boy sexually desires mother and sees she doesn’t have penis but dad does and sees father as a rival, is afraid his father will castrate him, so he develops castration anxiety which motivates him to develop sexual orientation and gender identity like his dad’s
The girl sees she’s already castrated and develops penis envy cause she wants one. hopes her father will give her one but he can’t so she turns to her mother, copies her, and makes up for it by marrying a phallic and having a baby phallic (phallic symbolism)
Criticism of psychoanalytical theory + some research examples that have been done
There is a focus on the unconscious which is difficult to validate scientifically
Some research that has been done:
- Erectile dysfunctions according to psychoanalytic theory: afraid of being castrated in contact with the vagina
- Fetishism: whatever the fetish object is, becomes the symbol for a phallic that relieves the male of his castration anxiety
- Homosexuality: the boy identifies with his mother instead of his father which creates an ambivalence toward women as sexual partners
Learning Theories: 4 types
explains how human sexual behaviour is learned and shaped through various intrapersonal and interpersonal learning paradigms
classical, operant, behavioral therapy modification, social learning
Classical Conditioning
- Pairing a NS with sexual pleasure of orgasm which produces a conditioned response
- Ex: a boy playing with his mother’s high heels in a closet, be aroused and associates that pleasure with the shoe… as there is more masturbation, every time he sees a high heel he will now get an erection
Operant conditioning
- means a person is more likely to repeat a behavior if it is rewarded (reinforcement)
- Sex is a shaped behavior AND is a primary reinforcer
(sexual behaviour plays dual roles in learning theory: it can itself be a positive reinforcer, but it can also be the behaviour that is rewarded or punished) - Orgasm as a reward or sex being reinforced or punished through sexual pleasure
- Ex: Someone who experiences pain during sex, it will extinguish their desire to have sex
Behavioural (therapy) modification
- techniques used to change an individual’s behavior based on classical and operant conditioning principles
Ex: pedophiles: shown images of naked women and then naked children (when shown the photo of the child they would get an electric shock) to try to extinguish the desire
- Not super successful
- Illegal in Canada
